Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Autauga County held the third annual hometown nativity scavenger hunt, with a new twist this year.
This is the first year that the scavenger hunt was held with vendors prior to the event starting. Local vendors were encouraged to set up in the Chamber parking lot, two hours before the first clue was given, where participants could shop locally and get the last-minute gifts before the holiday this weekend.
“We were excited for this to be our third annual event and tickled that we have the vendors here, they set up at 4 p.m. and have had people visiting their booths since, and it’s just fun to see the community come together and were excited for this year’s scavenger hunt,” Autauga County Probate Judge Kim Kervin said.
The President of the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce, Patty VanderWal stated that Kervin was the mastermind behind the nativity scavenger hunt three years ago when it all started during covid.
Local businesses such as the Prattville Honey Farm, Scentsy, Linen and Pinen and Calhoun Law LLC and others were present as well as the Bens Soft Pretzel food truck. Participants could enjoy some last-minute local shopping and grab a bite to eat.
“We added the vendors out here and kicked it off with last minute Christmas shopping, and we’re always about shop local,” VanderWal said.
To kickstart the scavenger hunt with a bang, Autauga County Sheriff Mark Harrell shot off a cap gun, or a fake gun, into the air with a plume of smoke in its wake to signal to participants that the hunt had started.
This year also differs from the previous years as there were two separate clues given out as the first clue to follow in order to not send everyone to the same place at once. This was used to spread participants out to ensure everyone’s participation was authentic and fun.
Each clue entailed a fill in the blank word, which had specific highlighted letters that would indicate a word to tell the next clue and where to go next for the following clue. Many local businesses participated such as Uncle Micks, Smith Byrd House Tea Room, and the Prattville Way Off Broadway Theater, to name a few.
“We’ve partnered with Autauga County and the probate office, and Kim since it started. We feel like this is a great partnership and something that we can do with Autauga County but it’s also a really neat thing for the community to be able to go around to businesses, which is important to us, patronizing them and to help people to know where a lot of these businesses are,” VanderWal said.
The scavenger hunt led to a live nativity at the Calvary Baptist Church, which was only a very short drive from all the festivities. Cookies and Cocoa were served and kickstarted the holiday weekend off early.
Whether participants celebrate the holiday religiously or partake in a different way, the third annual hometown nativity scavenger hunt brought the community together over the spirit of Christmas as Prattville Patiently waits for Christmas this Monday.
