Scavenger Hunt for Scholarship

Ready for an adventure? It’s the third annual Donald O’Connell Scholarship Scavenger Hunt! On March 21st, fifteen teams (60+ participants) were ALL IN to have fun and win prizes while uncovering unique clues about our island paradise. The teams gathered at the Winterberry Athletic Field for their final instructions and were given a list of over 50 clues. 

As the teams and judges assembled, the vibe was filled with elements of mischief and adventure. Leave it to the softball players to inject a friendly sense of rivalry in the quest for hidden treasures. The friendly taunting began weeks earlier, with the defending champs for 2025, Permanent Vacationers, issuing a challenge to the 2024 Champs, the Beagles and Eagles: “You’re going down, sorry.” The Scavenger hunt has gone international with an entry from the Deutschland Stuarts, with John and Kathy Stuart joined by their daughter Katharina and her husband Thiemo Gerhardt, who traveled thousands of miles to take part in the action. 

An anonymous team asked, “Should the Golden Bachelors (Romeo Polston, Don Juan Downs, Casanova Reale, and Fabio Golan) be dropping the G from Golden?” Terri Falls also wants all to know that finishing second last year has only inspired the Lucky Nickels to dominate the field this year! 

Other members of the Senior Softball League who are not able to participate have made donations and according to Chris Flynn, “Donations to the fund have been steady and most welcome.” Bill Cookson, the unsung superstar of Marco senior softball and field groomer extraordinaire, is a generous supporter of the scholarship fund. A big shout out to friends who are on vacation in Arizona such as Pat and Sue Schilling, who have made another donation to the scholarship. 

The final instructions were given to all the teams; they were to take photos of the listed items/sites and send them to their assigned team judge. Marco Island has a long list of Italian restaurants, and one clue stated, “Find an Italian Restaurant in Marco with the name of an Italian composer mostly known for his operas.” For walkers and e-bikers, this clue should be easy: “find a green and white painted sign that shows a 12 MPH speed limit.” Getting tired, hungry, and running out of time, the last one should have given them hope, such as “Come back with a menu from a Chinese or Thai restaurant.” Julie Whitney of Team Todd Squad added, “The clues were very cleverly worded.” 

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2026 Senior Softball Scavenger Hunt!