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On a rainy Saturday in October, the 79th annual Lewis Family Treasure Hunt–also called the Lewis Emery Treasure Hunt–was in danger of being dampened by the weather. Our gang of three joined a sparse crowd that was assembling at the Hillsdale County Fairgrounds. The sun broke through the clouds just minutes from the scheduled 6 o’clock start. The numbers rapidly increased until 89 carloads with around 400 participants had arrived to compete in this much anticipated annual Fall event in Hillsdale County.
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The first clue sent everybody running for a long unnamed white building at the fairgrounds where a puzzle was waiting to be solved. 10 clues sent carloads of treasure seekers around the county trying to get to the finish line where food and a cash prize were waiting. There was an alphabet puzzle, an Olympics quiz, a road sign map, cryptic directions, a telephone dial, a picture, a word search, a puzzle map, a difficult-to-read font, and a gatekeeper.
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Our team was easily recognized by our attire and our antics. We chose to wear professional football jerseys to distinguish ourselves from the rest of the pack. We chose “Gangnam Style” as our theme song and had it blaring from our truck at every clue location. We did the horse dance as we returned to our vehicle and solved the puzzles in high spirit.
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Our team did not finish is the top 10, but we arrived at the final destination by 11. We finished at 10:41 and traveled 132 miles–without leaving the county. We came in with our “79” token and danced “Gangnam Style” in the cafeteria. Our crew consisted of a driver, a dawg, and an Eagle Scout. The things that we found most useful in our supplies this year included head-gear flashlights, smart phones, county maps, phone book, pencils, clip boards, hi-lighters, scissors, tape, Mountain Dew, and “Gangnam Style”.
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Congratulations and good luck to the winners who will be designing puzzles, hiding clues, and hosting the 80th annual Lewis Emery Treasure Hunt sometime in October of 2013.
Mike Venturini
“Life is good in Jonesville”
My favorite…the video…you guys cracked me up!!!!Wendy