Pictured above: The stones with messages that were hidden throughout the town for the scavenger hunt, and the successful searchers.

Community members of Paulatuk, NT were excited to take part in a creative rock-finding initiative organized by Northern store.

Michelle Bonneau, Northern Store Manager – inspired by a Geocaching event – organized a scavenger hunt called “Paulatuk Rocks” from August 1 to 5, by placing five stones painted with inspiring and positive messages around the Hamlet of Paulatuk for the residents to find.

The residents got a fun surprise when they learned of the hunt from a post on the Paulatuk Community Events Facebook page, which contained more information about the hunt, inviting residents to get on the hunt right away.  

Once the stones were located, the finders were instructed to bring them to the Northern store to win a $50 gift card. Although the challenge originally gave a week to find the painted rocks, they were all found within an afternoon of the first day.

The scavenger hunt was well received by the community members who expressed their thrill and gratitude to Bonneau for organizing such an unexpected and fun challenge. A boy with his family even stopped by her house to express his excitement about finding a rock.

This challenge has seemed to inspire other local companies in Paulatuk to come up with their own initiatives, some of them expressing interest in collaborating with Bonneau on similar projects in the future.

Bonneau remarks that organizing such challenges helps families as a whole get involved in the community.

“We wanted to do something fun for the community members since there was no event planned during this time. We wanted something that would bring families together, inviting them to get out of the house, to get some fresh air and exercise. This is a nice little way to show our appreciation for the community and how much we care about them,” said Bonneau.