Questing


The Courtney Family Team with their Questing completion patches.
Link to our new Overlook/Hemlock Hollow Trail Quest at Raymond R. "Andy" Guest, Jr. Shenandoah River State Park!  Designed by prize-winners Cindy, Madison, and Cindy Courtney.  The Courtney Family team not only won our Questing competition, but was also the first team to complete all five inaugural Quests (see Press Releases).




It's here!  The FRIBA One-Day Dine-Around Quest! Complete it in one day: July 7 by midnight.  Five clues, five restaurants!  Finish it all and win a chance for $25 in restaurant coupons! Eat local, buy local! Yum!  No purchase necessary (but we hope you can't resist!)


FRIBA on Facebook




 
 Hike Five Inaugural Quests by October 15 and Earn a Patch!
Be one of the first 200 people to hike the five Quests below by October 15, 2012 and earn a patch (above). Purchase a passport for $1 at the Visitor Center in Front Royal (414 E Main St) and make yourself a Questing stamp. When you arrive at the end of the Quest, use the ink pad in the treasure box to stamp the log book with your stamp.  Then stamp your passport with the stamp you find in the treasure box.  When you have collected all five stamps, take your passport to the Visitor Center and claim your patch:



Design a Community Treasure Hunt and Win A Prize!

Front Royal/Warren County Questing Competition Guidelines

What’s a Quest?  Quests are treasure hunts designed by local community members – and a really fun way to learn about special places, history, and people in your community.  You can participate by making a Quest (see guidelines below) or by being a Quester – or both.  To go on a Quest adventure, just stop in at the Visitor Center in Front Royal or just download clues and a map for free above. 

If you want to be a serious Quester, buy a Questing passport and stamp rubber for $1.25 at the visitor center and ask for instructions on making your own personal Questing stamp.  When you reach the treasure box, stamp the log book you find in the box with your personal Questing stamp, and stamp your passport with the Quest logo stamp you find in the box.  Prizes and patches may be available for completing certain Quests, so be sure to ask about these or check online.

The Contest: The Front Royal/Warren County Appalachian Trail Community™ Steering Committee invites you to share your favorite places in Warren County by creating a Warren County Valley Quest.  Submit your entry to the Front Royal/Warren County Visitor Center (414 E Main St, Front Royal, VA) by July 15. Promote it to your friends and family. Quests will be posted online, and on July 15, we will issue ballots for people to test and vote on their favorites. Ties will be decided by the Appalachian Trail Community™ Steering Committee. At least part of the Quest must be in Warren County. 

Prizes: You will be awarded a special patch for designing a Quest.  The winner will receive a weeknight stay at Skyland Lodge in the Shenandoah National Park.[*]Anyone testing two or more Quests will also win a patch by exhibiting a passport with stamps from the registered competition Quests. Passports are available from the Visitor Center for $1 each.

How to Design A Quest
Design Your Quest: Individuals, families, school groups, Scout troops, nonprofits, businesses and others are welcome to create Quests for the fun and educational experience they provide. To create a Quest, you research a place and pass that knowledge on to those who will follow your Quest. A good reference with lots of pictures is the book Questing: A Guide to Creating Community Treasure Hunts (Clark, Delia and Glazer, Steven, University Press of New England, 2004), available from Samuels Public Library. Or you can check out the following resources online: www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest or www.poeticsofplace.org/quests.htm(some great examples here). To make your Quest, follow the simple directions below:
1. Find your spot, a place that is special to you. Perhaps this is a unique natural or cultural feature in Front Royal or the Shenandoah National Park.  Warren County’s your oyster.  Explore it.
2. Find out who owns or manages this property and request permission to make a Quest.
3. Make a few trips to the site to see it in different conditions, uncover its details, and think about the best approach to making a Quest there.  Will your Quest feature history? Nature? Human stories? A canoe trip down Shenandoah River? Little-known trivia? Or just all the cool things you can find and do there?
4. Research your site. Find people in your community who can teach you more about your site. This could be community elders, Master Gardeners or Master Naturalists, your church, a librarian, Tree Stewards, your teachers, Warren Heritage Society members, anybody. If possible, invite them to take a trip out to the site with you.  Take good notes!
5. Decide on your Quest strategy: a detailed map Quest; a map-less Quest; a jumble Quest (collecting words); a Pict-O-Quest (no words-only following pictures). Or any combination. Use your imagination and creativity. You’ll find plenty of suggestions in the resources mentioned above. - It's up to you!
6. Draw rough maps of your site. Sketch or note unique features that would make good clues.  Figure out how to direct people from one clue to another without making things too easy or too hard.
7. Make a rough draft of your Quest Map and riddles or accompanying text.
8. Test your Quest with as many different people as you can - and make appropriate changes.
9. Create a written description of what makes the site special. This should be small enough to be laminated and glued inside the cover of your Quest Treasure Box. You can focus on whatever you think visitors will be most interested in: historical significance of the site to the town; a true story about something that once happened at the site; the natural history of the site--trees to look for, special rocks, plantings, etc.; why people in your town love this site so much; fun or interesting things to do; amazing-but-true trivia facts about the site (height of steeple, age of building, number of orchid species, whatever…)
10. Draw your final Quest Map. You do not have to be a great artist. Your drawing is as unique as your site – and you.
11. Include instructions on how to get to the Quest’s starting point from Front Royal.  Include tips on how long the Quest might take, difficulty of terrain, distance walked, and any special requirements like field guides, binoculars, a sketch pad, or sturdy shoes.
12. Pick a name for your Quest.  Design a logo for your site and make a stamp out of an eraser or rubber. (You can purchase stamp rubber at the Visitor Center or you can order a custom design from the Heaven Sent Shoppe at 119 Chester Street in Front Royal. Do not use a ready-made stamp.)
13. Get a waterproof box to use as a Quest Treasure Box. Waterproof your written introduction to the site and attach it securely to the inside cover of the box. Place in the box: a log book (spiral notebook is fine); pencil/pen; your Quest logo stamp; ink pad (with washable ink); pencil sharpener.
14. Hide the box.
15. Make sure you have someone adopt the box, checking monthly for long-term care and monitoring.  Quests boxes may have to be taken indoors over the winter. You’ll definitely have to run the Quest through each year to update.
16. Register your Quest by bringing a copy of the Quest and logo to the Visitor Center in Front Royal. Fill out a contest registration form.
17. If you decide to discontinue your Quest, please notify the Visitor Center.


[*] Restrictions apply. Winner must be accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older. Subject to ARAMARK booking.

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