Admiral Heights offers celebrations, adventures, learning

Runners, walkers and bikers frequently go up and down the streets of Admiral Heights. People frequently mow, prune, weed and plant in the yards. Now, with the advent of COVID-19, scavenger hunters have been added to the mix, and many residents have gotten involved in the action.

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, many pictures of shamrocks adorned windows and doors. For Easter, not only are colored pictures of Easter eggs appearing on windows and doors, but purple, pink, blue and yellow plastic eggs dot lawns and hang from trees. A few bunnies are also scattered around.

Children are keeping busy, first with coloring, cutting and decorating and then with walking around the community, counting their finds and noting their locations.

While sitting on her porch Admiral Heights resident Barbara Hendricks noted all the increased activity around St. Patrick’s Day. “I noticed people walking by and looking at my house and yard,” she said. Once she realized what was going on, she decided to organize a real scavenger hunt. She asked residents to set out items for scavenger hunters to find and then compiled a list of about 45 items scattered throughout the neighborhood.

In her instructions for the hunt she wrote that “items/objects are located all over our Admiral Heights neighborhood, but definitely including Goodrich, Baldridge, Williams, Porter, Ford Circle, Dewey, King Court, Howison, Cedar Park, McDonough, Nimitz and Halsey.” Items included bottle trees, Super Mario, a Little Tykes construction hat, flamingoes and gnomes. Originally the hunt was scheduled to last for about three days, but it was extended because of some rainy days.

Another hunt to reach Admiral Heights was the “zoofari” where stuffed animal locations can be added to a zoofari “map.”

One of the newest hunts is called “Admiral Hunts” and is located at https://admiralhunts.app/. Joe Flasher, a member of the Admiral Heights Improvement Association Board of Directors, came up with the idea which involves finding hidden spots around the community and scanning QR codes with a telephone. He lists three different “adventures” on a “Leaderboard:” “Find the Admirals,” “Pirate’s Cove,” and “Admiral Haunts.” For more information about his website or alerts to new adventures, email joseph.flasher+ah@gmail.com. He welcomes questions, comments or ideas.

What will be next? No idea, but Admiral Heights residents are trying to keep their children active, busy and challenged.