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PRIVATE-SCHOOL TEEN IS ITTY BITTY CHAMP

September 13, 2009 12:36 am

By LAURA L. HUTCHISON

More than 600 people turned in entries in the fifth annual Itty Bitty City Scavenger Hunt.

Sponsored this year by Shop Fred and presented by The Free Lance-Star, the scavenger hunt invited readers to stroll through downtown Fredericksburg, looking for 20 items or architectural elements captured by our photographers.

Jenna Sullivan, a 16-year-old student at Fredericksburg Christian High School, was the grand-prize winner. She said her cousin Katie Supples gets the family together every year to go hunting for clues.

"I like it because I think downtown is a really nice place to hang out, and it's a fun family activity to do," she said.

Jenna couldn't pick the toughest clue to find.

"I think they're all hard," she said, adding that the family went out several times to find all the answers. "They're pretty tricky."

David Hopkins went hunting with his whole family--wife Donna and sons Jacob, 12, and Zachary, 22, who was home briefly after graduating from Christopher Newport University.

They had a hard time finding Clue No. 4, at the Prince Hall Lodge on Sophia Street.

"We'd been looking and looking, and knew it wasn't something obvious," Hopkins said. "We were walking past the parking garage, and Zachary said, 'It's here, on the gate.' He'd been home five minutes and he got it. We'd stumbled all over downtown looking for it."

Katerina Bartman also came home from college to help with the hunt. Now back at Clemson starting work on a master's degree, she said the hunt has become a family tradition. Her family also struggled to find No. 4, as well as No. 15, the "watch step" notice on Wolfe Street.

"I made sure to get home after we knew when it was coming out, because we had so much fun last year," she said. "It's great to walk around with the family; it's a wonderful, free activity.

"We don't spend as much time in downtown as we'd like because my parents work in Northern Virginia, but it's great to just walk around, stop and get an ice cream, and see what's changed."

Melissa Battito, 15, hunted with her grandmother, Irene Theriault, and her sisters, Jordan, 12, and Ashley, 11. Her grandparents wound up finding the last clue as they were driving around.

Sheryl Harm has played Itty Bitty City for several years, but submitted an entry only this year. She took her grandkids out when they were visiting from Florida, then brought a family with children from church.

"We were bound and determined not to give up," she said. "We were tickled to go out with kids, since ours are grown!"

Joe White is a second-time winner in the scavenger hunt.

"I have a degree in historic preservation, and this helps make me keep up with things," he said. "And I meet a lot of people walking around."

Amanda Clift hunted with her five boys: Nicholas, 20; Aaron, 18; Chance, 16; Wyatt, 14; and Deacon, 6.

"It got us downtown, got us out and walking," she said. "It was a great family activity."

Pamela Fogg, who lives in King William County, said kids were her key to success. She went hunting with her daughters, one of whom lives in Fredericksburg, and her four grandchildren, ages 5 to 9. It was a drizzly day.

"Somewhere in between putting umbrellas up, taking umbrellas down, and deciding who got to carry the umbrellas, we found all the objects," she wrote in an e-mail. "Despite the weather we all had a ball, and if it had not been for the children's sharp eyes, we adults might not have found them all."

Find the answers in advertisements all this week, or go to the Web at fredericks burg.com/News/ittybittyci ty/answers.

Laura L. Hutchison: 540/374-5485
Email: lhutchison@freelancestar.com