Beth Rumsey
Staff Writer

What is part Sunday afternoon drive and part scavenger hunt?

The answer is the Ripley County Spring Road Tour sponsored by the Ripley County Tourism Bureau and the Scenic Road Rallies in Sunman. The event held on Saturday, April 25 gave teams from Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana the chance to see the unusual or unknown in their own backyards while competing for prizes such as a gift certificate to Ertel Cellars, an overnight stay at the Newman-Vollmer Bed and Breakfast in Osgood, tickets to the Lore of the Laughery and a Versailles State Park pass.

According to Scenic Road Rallies President Satolli Glassmeyer, this is the third year for the tourism sponsored event. “The road rally is one of the smaller venues for Ripley County,” noted Katharine Taul, Ripley County Tourism Director. “It’s a fun event for the family,” she said. It’s a way to learn about the area and build the local economy.

Fourteen teams left the Versailles State Park on that bright Saturday morning on an adventure that led them past grazing bison and elk; almost forgotten family cemeteries; and magnificent scenic valley views. The driving tour wound through Versailles, Friendship and Milan via the county roads with opportunities to stop along the way to visit the Friendship General Store, the Milan 54 Museum, or take photos of picturesque covered bridges and steel truss bridges.

While navigating the course, the teams answered questions particular to the course. For instance, the location of Goose Island was discovered on Perry Street in Versailles, Stephen Harding’s birthplace in New York found at the courthouse square; and other information located along the course.

As an added challenge, the teams looked for horse hairs, blades of grass, a comic from Bazooka bubble gum, and other items for the scavenger hunt. Each correctly answered question and scavenger hunt item found was worth five points for a possible 200 points total.

“It was a lot of fun,” said participant, Robert Holt. “I would like to do it again sometime.”

Scenic Road Rallies offer other events throughout the year in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Massachusetts, according to Glassmeyer. “We visit towns that time has forgotten,” he said.

For more information on upcoming driving tours, visit www.scenicroadrallies.com or contact Satolli Glassmeyer at 812-623-5727. For more information on upcoming events in Ripley County visit the Ripley County Tourism Bureau website: www.ripleycountytourism.com or call 812-689-7431.

BETH RUMSEY PHOTOS Pictured above are teams coming from Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio to participate in the Road Rally sponsored by the Ripley County Tourism Bureau on Saturday, April 25. Satolli Glassmeyer is pictured explaining the rules of the road. Left: Roselyn McKittrick and Ruby McDonald were pleased to spend time with visitors to the Milan 54 Museum. The museum was one of the stops on the road rally. Here visitors learned about the exciting events surrounding the state championship as well as view memorabilia from the movie "Hoosiers."