The Children’s Museum of Rock County (CMRC) has partnered with The Sterling North Society in Edgerton, WI to host “Where’s Rascal?”, a virtual scavenger hunt around Rock County. Since the event’s launch on October 9th, numerous people have been solving the three weekly clues about Rascal’s whereabouts and posting selfies to the “Where’s Rascal?” event page on Facebook when they find him. It was the goal of CMRC to create a family-friendly, socially-distanced activity during COVID that brings people together in the spirit of fun and play. We are excited to see so many participating and making it a focal point of their weeks. Check out the story NBC15 did on the event and some of the families tracking him.
Beloved by generations of Rock County elementary students, Rascal is both the title of Rock County author Sterling North’s autobiographical novel and the name of his pet raccoon. North’s childhood home in Edgerton, Wis. has been restored by the Sterling North Society and serves as the site of the Society’s literary center, museum, and educational programs.
“The Sterling North Society is so excited that Rascal is going to be visiting places around Rock County,” said Betty Leonard, President of the Sterling North Society. “We encourage people who have not read Sterling North’s book Rascal to get a copy at the library.”
Rascal, a three-foot tall wooden cutout raccoon will spend one week at 11 different “selfie spot” locations in Rock County. The CMRC will post three clues each week to its Facebook event: “Where’s Rascal?” regarding Rascal’s upcoming location and informing participants when Rascal moves to the next “selfie spot.”
Participants must then find Rascal, take a selfie, and post it to the “Where’s Rascal?” event with the hashtag #CMRCRascal to be entered for a prize drawing. Prize drawings will occur each week, with a grand prize drawing for Janesville Jets’ swag, delivered to the winner by a Janesville Jets player, at the conclusion of the event. The scavenger hunt kicks off on Saturday, October 3 and concludes on Saturday, December 19.
“We are grateful to all the area businesses that have made this event possible as ‘selfie spots’ and prize sponsors,” said Olivia McCarthy, Board Member for the Children’s Museum of Rock County. “We hope this socially-distanced event encourages families to get out and have fun while supporting local businesses.”
The CMRC has continued to work diligently during COVID to create community outreach events and to develop its plans to open an accessible physical museum space for play in Rock County.
