What started as a whatif dream among friends who have talked about participating in treasure hunts around the world has become a reality, albeit on a much smaller scale, for the people of Hopkins County. In a charitable move, Kody Sayler of Sulphur Springs with his compadres have organized the first-ever Sulphur Springs Treasure Hunt for kids and adults with proceeds benefitting Community Chest.
“Me and a couple of friends have talked about these treasures that are hidden in the mountains … and all over the world. We’ve always just kind of played with the idea. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could go, if we had the money to go hunt for these treasures with the clues that they give us?” Sayler said. “We knew we would never be able to do it, but it was like, wait a second — what if we brought that to our local community and offered the chance to hunt for a treasure. It just took off from there.”
The treasure hunt will separate hunts with grand prizes up to $500 value for adults and smaller grand prizes for kids. Water slides, bounce houses sponsored by Jerry’s Jump Zone and “just different kinds of festivities” will be available, as well as food and drinks.
“It’s going to be a small treasure hunt; it’s not as big as we feel like we could go with if we had more space like in a bigger city park or something,” said Sayler of the possibility of organizing a second event. “We feel like we could offer pieces of a map and … text clues to where it might or might not be. We’ve had a lot of fun with it. I hope we can do it more than once. I hope that this is something we can be successful at and really contribute to helping people in our community and bringing unity in our community.”
Sayler said they are very conscious of public health and safety and will be selling masks at the treasure hunt and encouraging other safety practices.
“We’ll definitely have a couple of big bottles [of hand sanitizer] out there. We’ll make an announcement when we get the event started and remind everybody to have safe practices with our social distancing,” he said.
To raise the money the group want to give to the local charity, Sayler said there will be an entry fee — $10 per adult and $5 per child — and they will be selling hot dogs, water and merchandise. Additionally, he said, they are working with Wayne’s Warriors, an area group raising funds for Wayne Fenton of Como, who will undergo heart transplant surgery soon. The money they raise will go toward his lodging and other expenses incurred during his recovery in Dallas.
“They’re going to be putting some of their t-shirts and merchandise out there,” Sayler said.
According to Judy Moore with Community Chest, the charity has added 148 families to the previous 680 they help since the COVID-19 pandemic began negatively affecting the Texas economy.
“We were open throughout COVID-19 when everyone else was cutting down. Our clients needed us more than anybody ever needed us before. I have five true heroes down there every day opening the door,” said Moore about the additional need.
“We’ll help with transportation to medical appointments; we’ll help with utility bills, rent, just pretty much whatever their needs are,” in addition to the food pantry, Moore said. “We are a full-service operation.”
That tenacity with which Community Chest has operated, since March particularly, is something that Sayler can appreciate personally. Organizing the event has become a passion, he admitted, especially since he was in need of help not too long ago.
“There was a time a couple years ago where I needed help paying my electric bill and found out about Community Chest, and when that happened, I was like, you know what, I hope that one day I can pay them back. When we came up with the treasure hunt idea, …we thought it would be perfect to do that, take the opportunity to replenish those funds,” Sayler said.
“I’m an electrician and carpenter. I’m good at it, but it’s not a passion. I have had more fulfillment getting this event ready and talking to people about it. It’s been nothing but support and green lights. It seemed like at first it was going to be such a challenge and almost impossible to accomplish. We’ve just had nothing but support the whole way. It’s been encouraging; it’s been fulfilling,” Sayler said.
The Sulphur Springs Treasure Hunt will take place at Kids Kingdom in Buford Park in Sulphur Springs 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, July 4. Donations are accepted and reservations are needed. A confirmation email sent to paid participants will be required. Fees and donations may be made through the Cash App cashtag $SSTreasure Hunt or at paypal.me/the treasurehunts.
For questions about the treasure hunt, call Sayler at 903-715-3206.