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COOL STUFF
Summer’s game—scavenging for fun in the heart of the city
By Joann Pan
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Four participants get a handle on last year’s hunt.
Photo by Blake Walker.
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On the streets of Buffalo last summer, a myriad of people huddled in groups contemplating a long to-do list of unusual activities—numbering in the hundreds—to decide which ones they would work on first.
Some took razors to full heads of hair to achieve a “reverse mohawk.” Others prowled Allentown and Elmwood in search of chicken bones. Groups of four showed up dressed like Ninja Turtles. Team members took pictures to confirm their list of tasks accomplished, including changing shirts with strangers and drinking ketchup out of dispensers. By the end of the day, there were body outlines chalked on the sidewalks; Buffalo Sabre Paul Gaustad even paid a visit.
On August 14, some of the same brave souls and many new ones will once again gather and seek out the treasures that will help them win the only summer competition that matters: the Buffalo Scavenger Hunt.
“People come to this with no idea what it entails and leave having a blast; they’re the first to sign up the following year,” says Charlie Riley, event organizer and Spree contributing writer. “We love seeing people come together, enjoy themselves, and support a charity that is very important to me.”
All the proceeds of the hunt go to Camp Good Days and Special Times, the nonprofit organization founded by Gary Mervis that helps children, adults, and their families who have been affected by cancer. The camp provides young cancer patients and those around them a chance to get better while having a memorable summer experience. Every summer, approximately 1,500 children head to the Camp Good Days’ recreational facility near Keuka Lake.
The scavenger hunt got its start when Riley and his girlfriend Kristin Jordan wanted something to do with friends during the winter. Now moved to the summer months, it has grown from a casual diversion to include corporate sponsors and a large group of volunteers.
“This will be the fourth time doing it, and it really has taken on a life of its own. Teams of four people get a list of items and photos to acquire. [They] have a few hours to get as much as they can. The list is fun and can get a little wild, but a lot of the feedback we receive says they have never had so much fun exploring the city of Buffalo,” Riley says.
The game works like this: Every activity on the list garners a certain number of points according to the difficulty of the task as determined by Riley and Jordan. The pair savors the job of coming up with the list every year because of the fun they have: “We keep this to ourselves because it’s the fun part for us. We like making the list too large for anyone to acquire all of the items so teams cannot quickly finish and be done early. It also allows teams to be strategic about where they will go; we spend a lot of time figuring out points so a team can be in Allentown and still win as opposed to having to run all over the city. Harder-to-acquire items or more drastic things are worth more points. It’s easier to get a team photo in the back of a police car than to find a straight banana—and if you’re willing to temporarily dye your hair or jump in the [downtown Buffalo Athletic Club] pool, that’s worth more,” Riley adds.
Game rules prohibit players from using cars. Travel by foot, bus, and subway is encouraged instead; to further promote walking, the race is limited to downtown Buffalo, Allentown, and Elmwood. “We do encourage public transportation, but the teams have fun walking around the city. Teams could be looking for anything; we have the most fun creating a new list each year, with some wild items, but we make sure you do not have to do the extreme things to win,” says Riley. “Last year, teams had to get photographed cannonballing into the BAC pool, getting tattoos on the bottoms of their feet, and so on.”
This year’s check-in and afterparty both take place at D’Arcy McGee’s Irish Pub on Franklin Street downtown.
Participants have typically been from eighteen to fifty-five years old, meaning you don’t have to be young to have fun—or to win prizes for the best team costumes and team name.
It’s an accomplishment just to sign up for the scavenger hunt, since the limited space and unlimited appeal of the event have made it sell out every year. “We have had around 200 participants each year, and probably could have had more, but we want to control the scoring and make sure it doesn’t get too crowded,” Riley notes. “We plan to expand that number this summer.”
“We put a ton of effort into making this run smoothly, but it’s well worth it to provide those who say there’s nothing to do in Buffalo with a fun event to look forward to each year,” he adds. “Sometimes you just have to make your own fun.”
Joann Pan was a spring 2010 editorial intern at Buffalo Spree. Teams may sign up for the Scavenger Hunt at www.buffaloscavengerhunt.com until all remaining slots are filled.
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