Community does not always mean participating in a city council meeting. Sometimes, it means participating in a scavenger hunt to find hidden gems in your own city.
Over the weekend, a new Greenbelt organization facilitated a two-day scavenger hunt to help residents cross into parts of Greenbelt they may not have explored and get a better feel for the larger community.
“I think it’s smart to join together and discover the amazing features of our community,” one participant said.
Residents Tom Adams and Lois Rosado created the organization, called Connecting Across Greenbelt, to foster the kind of social interaction many are missing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The only way that one can bring people together in understanding … is through conversation,” Rosado said.
The idea for Connecting Across Greenbelt came from Adams, who noticed Greenbelt residents have little context for what might be happening in another section of the city. He wanted to foster neighborliness across a city that is divided by highways, age and other barriers.
After the murder of George Floyd in May, Adams got involved with the Greenbelt Racial Equity Alliance, and when he started talking about his idea for community conversations with other activists, he was referred to Rosado.
Rosado used her network to bring together a group of about 10 people for a virtual planning meeting to work out the details of the organization. Since then, Connecting Across Greenbelt has had several Zoom meetings to facilitate topical conversations. Next month’s conversations will feature mental health awareness and resources for those feeling isolated because of the pandemic.
“Our hope is to continue to build a group of community leaders across the different neighborhoods,” Adams said. “The goal would be to have a mix of events that reach a critical mass of people.”
Which brings us to the scavenger hunt.
Greenbelt’s Own Scavenger Hunt (GOSH) is Connecting Across Greenbelt’s second activity and was co-sponsored by Random Unselfish Acts of Kindness, a kindness movement facilitated by Robert Goldberg-Strassler. Goldberg-Strassler also distributed donated children’s books to participants to promote literacy.
There were 18 different locations featured on the hunt, some easier to find than others. Developed from recommendations by Greenbelt residents, some gems, like the Greenbelt Museum or the Greenbelt Station Central Park Pavilion, can be discovered simply by driving around the city. Others, like Greenbelt’s cemeteries or the Toaping Castle marker, require a bit more exploring.
One participant put it best: “We thought we saw everything in Greenbelt, but there’s actually still more to see!”
“I love to see this,” said another resident who has lived in Greenbelt for more than 30 years. “This is a nurturing community.”
The scavenger hunt is something that will endure longer than last weekend, said Goldberg-Strassler. The hidden gems of Greenbelt can be discovered at any point. The event’s purpose was to bring people together from across the city to meet their neighbors and discover new features of the city they call home.
“Our purpose is … self-healing,” Rosado said. “This is for people. This is for social interactions.”
Julia Arbutus is a University of Maryland graduate student in journalism reporting for the News Review.