O’Mazing race camp fundraiser set for March 12
Posted on Feb 20, 2016
by Brian Johnson
PLAINVILLE — The Wheeler Regional Family YMCA’S seventh annual O’Mazing Race will send teams on a St. Patrick’s Day scavenger hunt across town March 12.
The O’Mazing race will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., beginning at the Veterans of Foreign Wars headquarters at 7 Northwest Drive. Teams of participants will search throughout Plainville and Southington for clues and items or complete special tasks to win points. The event will be followed by a dinner with beer, wine and food provided by California Pizza Kitchen at a discounted rate. Proceeds from the event support scholarships that help families who could not otherwise afford to send their kids to summer camp to register for Wheeler’s summer camp.
Mary Pelini, business manager at the Wheeler Regional Family YMCA, said the event has been very successful in past years. In some years, as many as 16 teams and a total of 65 team members participated in the race, collecting as much as $15,000. 13 teams have already registered for this year’s event.
“There is no deadline, but the earlier a team registers, the better clue they will get at the start,” said Pelini. “We’re making things a little more intricate this year so it will be a tactical decision whether teams want to try to figure our riddles for bigger points or just try collect a lot of smaller point items.”
Pelini said some of the tasks teams had to complete in previous races included getting a Christmas tree, collecting the most bottle corks, taking a picture in a store in St. Patrick’s Day garb or taking a video of themselves putting something into a shopping cart without the person pushing it noticing.
“I participated for the first time last year and we made quite a spectacle of ourselves at Target,” said Pelini. In addition to California Pizza Kitchen, sponsors include The Petit Family Foundation, Sno-White Outdoor Power Equipment, J Timothy’s Tavern, Crazy Bruce’s Discount Liquors, City Oil Company and Jainchill & Beckert LLC. Pelini said the YMCA is seeking additional sponsors.
Participants donate $50 each or $200 for a team of four. For more information, or to register as a sponsor or team member, call 860-793-9631 and ask to speak to Mary Pelini or visit ghymca.org/wheeler.