Hunting Coconuts in the Rain

The yearly Fourth of July Coconut Hunt went on despite the rain this past Sunday, right on schedule, well a few minutes late, but it was well attended and lots of fun. Hundreds of painted coconuts were hidden all over Coconut Grove and the participants were given clues to where they were hidden. The start and finish line was at The Bookstore and the hunters had 45 minutes to do their thing.


Prizes were given for the most brought in also the first group to bring in five and there were prizes for those who brought in special red, white and blue glitter coconuts. Also there were random raffle drawings, to coordinate with the numbers affixed to certain coconuts. Above is the El Gatos Negros team which came in first with the most coconuts -- 15!


Fifteen is pretty good considertng that there were 30 locations with coconuts, so they managed to get a coconut from 50% of the participating locations. The rule was that only the team captain could carry in the coconuts alone, without the help of team members or shopping bags or anything other than their arms. Team members helped load up the captain and the captain had to carry the load the last 25 feet or so to the finish point. As the teams were out and about searching, anyone was able to help carry the coconuts.


The Delembert and Stampler families were one large team, they came in second place with 13 coconuts. You can't see, but he has a couple of coconuts held with his teeth by the stems.


The Druckers, left, and the Glassers, right, each brought five coconuts in first (a tie) and they won prizes for that and then the Druckers went out again after they checked in with five, and they got a few more, hence the many you see here.


Prizes were given out to everyone no matter what they brought in, but some of the bigger prizes included spa visits, hotel rooms and even a bay cruise. Stores, restaurants and galleries donated gift certificates and the prizes were all first class. There were dozens of movie tickets given away as well. We'll go into detail later in the week about the actual prizes and we'll post some of the clues that the hunters had to follow in order to find the coconuts. Casey Korge, right, was exhausted after the hunt, but she brought in a fair supply.


At left: Ed Ferenczi, Sandy Roche, Tye Roche and Jordyn Ferenczi; at right: Jon Weislow and Erin Sullivan.


The great part was that the rain did not stop people from participating. There were more people this year than last and everyone enjoyed themselves from start to finish.


Richard Issa from the BID brought out a huge box of t-shirts, mouse pads, stickers and other goodies from the movie, "Despicable Me," which were generously donated and given out at the very end of the hunt, so everyone went away happy.