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Time to play the game

Scavenger hunt to bring families out to parks

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Erin Habben, the city’s recreation technician, holds a wooden sign at Loomis Park on Wednesday. Wooden signs like this one will be hidden throughout six parks in the area for the annual Park and Play Scavenger Hunt.

Erin Habben, the city’s recreation technician, is still pondering where she’s going to hide the wooden signs for the Park and Play Scavenger Hunt, which begins on Friday.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Habben said at Loomis Park on Wednesday. “I usually try to make at least one a little more challenging.”

The scavenger hunt is an event designed to get children and families out to some of the parks in Fort Dodge and Webster County. It’s free to play and involves possible prizes, Habben said.

Within the parks, wooden signs with words on them are carefully hidden for the participants to find.

Once all the blocks are found, the words on them create a phrase.

Families can send in the whole phrase or selfies of themselves with the words, Habben said. By finding the signs, families can then be entered into a drawing for three different prizes.

The prizes include a Wi-Fi sports action camera (six of six words in correct order); a two-day, one-night stay at the cabin in John F. Kennedy Memorial Park (four of six words in no particular order); and a family day at Fort Frenzy (submit a selfie picture with your family that includes one of the discovered word signs).

The scorecard for the scavenger hunt can be found on the city’s website (fortdodgeiowa.org/parks).

The city parks included in the challenge are Loomis Park (Loomis Park Drive), Exposition Park (North Seventh Street and 14th Avenue North), and R.D. Mitchell Park (North 25th Street and Second Avenue North).

The county parks are: Meier Marsh Memorial Park (170th Street, Manson), Becker Wildlife Area (1702 Madison Avenue), and Shirley Kirchner-Seltz Youth Prairie (Taylor Avenue, Vincent).

The scavenger hunt was going to be held earlier in the year, but was put off due to COVID-19, Habben said.

She said it’s a good chance to get outside and see the parks the Fort Dodge area has to offer.

“Our goal is get kids and families out to the park to play,” Habben said. “It’s something different. This summer a lot of family plans have been put on hold and gives families something to look forward to.”

She added, “It doesn’t have to be a one- day thing,” meaning families can choose to visit some of the parks one day and the rest the next day.

Habben is hoping for a good turnout. She said in 2019, over 70 families participated.

The event is made possible through Webster County Conservation and Fort Dodge Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department.

The hunt starts Friday afternoon and will end Monday at 11 a.m. At that time, scorecards are due.

Photos, or a scanned scorecard, can be emailed to ehabben@fortdodgeiowa.org.

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