‘Bolivar’ has been found for the last time this summer. The Strimple sisters found ‘Bolivar’ on Thursday evening, concluding the season’s exciting contest. The summer-long contest is the brainchild of David Harris and the Bolivar Tourism and Visitors Center. Each week, David would hide a pink flamingo somewhere on Bolivar Peninsula. Starting Tuesday mornings, he would give the daily clue about the whereabouts of ‘Bolivar’ during his morning Live Feed program. Enthusiastic followers would then begin to scour the peninsula in search of ‘Bolivar’. The first person, or persons, to find ‘Bolivar’ would bring the trophy to the Tourism Center and collect the $100 prize. David had clues prepared for each day through Saturday, but the search would never last that long. As with the Strimple sisters, on Friday morning, they brought ‘Bolivar’ to the Tourism Center to collect their cash prize. The Hunt ran for 12 weeks, starting after Memorial Day and ending with the Labor Day weekend “special” hunt. Named “special” because this week’s winner was awarded $550.
The Strimple sisters found ‘Bolivar’ on Thursday evening, concluding the season’s exciting contest. From Left, Tina, Bonnie, Patti, and DeeEen, pictured with David Harris.
The Strimple sisters were avid participants all summer. In fact, they found ‘Bolivar’ six of the twelve times. Each Tuesday morning they would get together to analyze the first clue and spend much of the day searching. On Wednesday they would refine their search and continue looking. By Thursday’s clue, they would have a pretty good idea where to focus. This past week, the clues pointed to the area in and around Fort Travis. By Thursday morning, several groups of lookers were all over the Fort. However, the sisters realized ‘Bolivar’ might not be in the Fort, but nearby. A string tied to the bridge on Anderson Ave just outside the Fort caught their attention. “That’s a strange place to be crabbing,” remarked Patti, as she tugged on the string. With a firm pull, out popped the plastic bottle containing ‘Bolivar’. The celebration began!
Each week’s contest was sponsored by a local business. Throughout the summer, most of the winners committed to spend their winnings at the sponsor’s business, or in some way give it back to the community. The Strimple sisters plan to sponsor a team in the upcoming PSP Flounder Tournament, where the funds raised will help pay for lights at the youth ball park in Port Bolivar.
Congratulations to the Strimple sisters and all the winners this season. Looking forward to another fun hunt next summer.
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