Scavenger Hunt Brings Fun To Hundreds In Mt. Greenwood

CHICAGO — Families and teams of families were out in full force this past Saturday morning for some good, old-fashioned fun. The most recent neighborhood scavenger hunt organized by longtime Mount Greenwood neighborhood business S & T Provisions included participation from more than a dozen businesses and provided a mystery several hundred people spent a couple of hours determined to uncover.

It turns out that only the Puetz family was able to figure out where the "Golden Ticket" that had included in it more than $2,000 worth of local goods was. The fun game that had everyone on the lookout throughout the area surrounding 111th Street finally ended when the family found the ticket tucked underneath the mailbox on the southeast corner of 103rd and Kedzie.

Some were lined up outside S & T as early as 6 a.m., and by the 9 a.m. start time several hundred were arriving to pick up their first clue. In all, S & T Provisions Owner Brian Giaretta said more than 1,000 people showed up on the morning of July 27.

"It went exactly as we planned," Giaretta said. "It was an awesome turnout, we had perfect weather and everyone had an absolute blast."

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First, participants needed to pick up their first clue at S & T Provisions, where they were then directed to pick up about a dozen other clues at other businesses participating along 111th Street and Western Avenue.

The clues revealed that the geographic boundaries of where the ticket was located was between Western and Pulaski Road, 95th and 115th streets. But the other clues turned out to puzzle many of the participants.

1971 Conception.

"I don't think anyone got that one... and that was the best clue," Giaretta said, noting that the Puetz family did get all other clues to lead them to the mailbox in about two hours. 1971 is the year the United States Postal Service started.

Newish Jam Featuring Halsey: That's "Eastside," which led the Puetz family to the east side of Kedzie.

NEAR an intersection: Meaning not far from the busy 103rd and Kedzie.

No two-color combination makes me: Blue, meaning the color of the mailbox.

And Many thoughts come from within me: letters in the mail.

"I wanted to put it on public property and a place where I could get a lot of clues out of it," Giaretta said in explaining why he picked the mailbox.

Giaretta said the Puetz family quickly realized it might be a mailbox, and started in the northeast section of the geographic boundaries to find the golden ticket relatively fast.

Their reward is the jackpot of giveaways provided by the many businesses who participated.

The reward for the other families who participated was a Saturday morning filled with fun.

Giaretta says a neighborhood-wide scavenger hunt involving numerous businesses will likely turn into an annual mid-summer event. But S & T Provisions will likely hold their own scavenger hunt near the store again in the coming months.