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Holiday Scavenger Hunt in Guilford

As people work through all of their holiday shopping, the Guilford Parks & Recreation Department is adding an element of fun to the process. The department is holding its third annual Elf on a Shelf Expedition, encouraging residents to explore town and shop local this holiday season.

Elf on a Shelf is a scavenger hunt across town. Participating locations, including businesses and town buildings, will have an elf (in the form of a laminated photo) somewhere on the premise with a stamp attached. Residents participating in the scavenger hunt will have a passport to record the stamp and elf location.

Residents need to find six elves around town, but Parks & Rec Program Director Corey Patrick noted that there are upwards of 12 elves around town. To get started, residents can pick up an elf passport at the community center or print one at www.guilfordparkrec.com.

“We gave extra passports to all of the businesses, so if someone goes in and sees an elf they can say, ‘What is this?’ and the business will have the rules to reference and they will have the passports there so anyone can get started anywhere,” he said.

The search began on Thanksgiving and will end on Friday, Dec. 23 at noon. Patrick said residents are already participating.

“The whole idea is to get people to shop local, explore the town of Guilford,” he said. “Rather than drive to the nearest mall, go shop around Guilford...This is a little incentive to do that.”

All completed passports must be turned in on Friday, Dec. 23 and will be entered into a raffle. The winner will receive $250 in Guilford Dollar$—certificates that can be used in town.

“The idea is not only to explore around small businesses, but to also put that money back into the local economy,” he said.

Patrick said people who have participated in the elf search before shouldn’t expect to find elves in the same locations as previous years.

“We try not to use the same businesses back to back because we don’t want it to be too easy,” he said. “The idea is to get people to go explore town.”

The Elf on the Shelf expedition ends Friday, Dec. 23 at noon. For more information, visit www.guilfordparkrec.com.