38 Nebraskaland • May 2022
t had already been an enjoyable day: wading in Pawnee
Lake, picnicking along the shore, chasing Frisbees and
etching names in the sand. But it was perhaps a simple
green post that garnered the most excitement of all.
"I see it! I see it!"
Spotting the familiar outline along a wooded trail, Kenzie
and Ellie Muma of Papillion took off at a breakneck pace,
racing to get there fi rst. Once their laughing parents caught
up, the girls took turns pressing a sheet of paper to the top of
the post, making a rubbing with a crayon.
It's an experience the Muma family enjoyed several times
that summer: visiting a Nebraska park, following clues to a
post, making rubbings and mailing them in for a chance at
prizes.
That's much of the idea behind the Great Park Pursuit, a
free treasure-hunt-style program that plays out each year
at parks across Nebraska. Twenty offi cial sites are selected
each year, including city parks, state parks, natural resource
district areas and sometimes national park areas. Teams can
visit as many as they choose, following clues to Great Park
Pursuit posts and logging their visits on paper or in a mobile
app for entry into prize drawings.
In Hot Pursuit
Story and photos by Renae Blum
I
After following clues to a Great Park Pursuit post, Kenzie Muma creates a rubbing to mail in for entry into prize drawings.
Participants can also log their visits to a post with the Great Park Pursuit app, but this family prefers the rubbing sheets.
