Today was a big day for Ilona. For weeks (months!), she has been putting together a "scavenger hunt" on behalf of the Historical Society. The goal was really to raise the profile of the Society: while they have a "historical village" with a few buildings and many artifacts from the the Island's history, many on the Island have never visited, and many have never heard of the society or village.
The scavenger hunt was a new idea for the society, and Ilona put in a huge amount of work on it. She found about 20 sponsors who provided prizes, support, food for the "sausage sizzle", and other goods. She solicited questions and put together the questionnaire. She arranged for lots of press coverage (with three weeklies on the island, there is generally pretty good press support for local activities).
The questionnaires went out yesterday. Mike returned from a trip to the US, arriving on a 6AM flight. By 10AM, he was camped outside the supermarket, handing out the questions and selling raffle tickets. Others from the society handed out the questionnaires and all the island top spots: the Saturday market, the library, and the museum.
Sunday (today) rolled around, and the weather didn't cooperate very well: very windy with periodic rain. And would anyone answer the questions?
It was a great relief to have the questionnaires come in, starting shortly after after noon. By the 4PM deadline, 24 questionnaires had been returned, which greatly exceeded most guesses as to the likely response.
The questions were a real mix. Some required current knowledge, while others went well back into history. Some were "collection" type questions ("Get a bus ticket"), some required activity ("Make a sculpture of recycled material"), and one even involved a public performance ("Sing 'Beautiful Waiheke' in front of the minimarket and get the cashier to sign the form). Check out the full questionnaire with answers.
Surprisingly, most of the participants got at least 20 of the 30 questions, and the winner got 29. People on Waiheke know their history! The "sausage sizzle" was a great success, since Ilona arranged for great sausage and buns. More than 70 people went through the museum at some point during the afternoon, with many staying for the awards.
It was a fabulous day.
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