Seventy-seven people making up seven teams paid money to get into the game.
LEWISTON – As their white stretch limo cruised through Lewiston-Auburn Sunday, John Roy, Heather Carpenter and others in their team huddled, trying to figure out what the words on the paper Carpenter was holding meant.
The clue hinted their next location had the “namesake of New York, Indiana, California.”
After some wrong guesses, someone yelled out: “U-Haul in Auburn!”
That’s it, they agreed. They urged their driver to get to U-Haul. Behind the wheel of the stretch Cadillac Escalade, the driver maneuvered some quick turns without spilling the beers and Margaritas in the cupholders.
“That a-way, Glen!” Shawn Metayer yelled as the rest of the 13-member “Red Team” – which included nurses and paramedics for LifeFlight – whooped and cheered.
The limo riders were part of a game, an elaborate “treasure hunt” to benefit Lewiston’s Public Theater. With corporate sponsors, 77 people making up seven teams paid money to get into the game and into limousines that carried them around town while they solved clues, enjoyed each other’s company, a few drinks (they weren’t driving) and snacks: cheese, crackers, chips and cookies.
By 4:30 p.m. the game had ended. An estimated $5,500 had been raised for the theater, said organizer Ben Lounsbury.
The game began around 2 p.m. outside the theater, where seven white stretch limos and drivers waited for players. Once inside, each team leader opened an envelope and read the clue aloud. After they figured out what business location the clue was talking about, they directed their driver to that spot.
The Red Team’s first spot was Radio Shack at the Auburn Mall. When the limo reached the mall, eight members ran inside together and announced: “We’re the red team,” and asked for their clue. If they solved the clue correctly, the store worker didn’t think they were loony and handed them the envelope with another clue, which led them to the next spot. If they were wrong, they had to start over. Each team had 12 clues to solve.
“The first clue was hard, but now we’re in the groove,” one woman said while laughing. “It’s jelling. We all work as a team,” team leader Carpenter agreed.
As she spoke the eight members were smiling as they ran back from U-Haul, where they met success and held the envelope. Cheers filled the limo while the words were read aloud: “At Heritage Park go south about 3/8’s of a mile. At the corner where you would turn across a major bridge, stop and claim your clue.”
All the while the limo drove through streets, attracting stares. “Hey, can we put red or blue lights on the top?” paramedic Roy joked.
Players were struggling to figure out where was Heritage Park, and which business held their next clue? Was it F.X. Marcotte? An Auburn restaurant? A bar? No, it was the Corner Variety on Lincoln Street in Lewiston.
Several hours later an awards ceremony was held at the theater. As a band played, Lounsbury, dressed in a black tuxedo, made the big announcement: the Green Team won. The Yellow Team came in a close second. The Red Team finished “pretty far back,” he said.
Lounsbury came up with the idea for the treasure hunt and wrote the clues. It was logistically challenging “to get the envelopes loaded and planted,” he said. “It was a huge success. This is the biggest one I’ve ever run. A big thanks to the seven corporate sponsors.”
A second treasure hunt will be held next year, he said, adding the theater plans to make it an annual event.
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