Bristol Market vendors’ first car rally and scavenger hunt a success

Carole St-Aubin
Bristol Oct.16, 2021 

Members of the Bristol Market organized their first car rally on Saturday.

The group hosts their market every Saturday throughout the summer months at the Norway Bay public beach, with up to 20 vendors who offer a variety of goods throughout the summer, according to one of the organizers, Lana Cowley.

“We thought it would be Covid-friendly as the people will be staying in their own vehicle,” said Cowley.

As they prepared for the event, they set out care packages for the participants which included drinks, snacks and novelty items to set them off on a cheerful note despite the inclement weather.

Cowley, who has had a hand in coordinating car rallies in the past, said they organized it on the same day as the Quyon rally inadvertently and will plan it better in coordination with them next year as they wish to continue with this tradition. Approximately 60 people registered for the event nonetheless.

“We didn’t want to wait much longer to host it because the weather could easily take a turn,” Cowley explained.

The grand prize package consisted of donations from all of the Market’s vendors. “It’s actually quite interesting, there are a lot of good things in there,” said Cowley. 

“The route is predominantly in Bristol, it doesn’t leave the municipality, it’s just about taking their time and enjoying the day” said Cowley, whose focus for the questions for the scavenger hunt was mainly related to  Bristol and its history. 

“Traditionally we would have had a meal and a party afterwards, but because of Covid restrictions we had to keep it simple,” Cowley added. 

Part of the rally took teams through the backroads of the area looking for clues throughout the community, including a graveyard. They also had to collect particular items including a raspberry and a juniper branch, a pumpkin or gourd, business cards from 2 businesses in Bristol, feathers, newspaper and several other items, as well as taking specific photos in the area.

The first group to leave the starting point at the public beach were anxious to get started.

“We’ve done car rallies together as a group before, we’re making this our fall girl’s outing,” said Amy Taylor

“We’re in it to win it and to have fun,” added team mate Jen Russell, and that’s exactly what they did, as the first team out of the gate was the winning one. 

The Kid-free Mums team was made up of players Katie Taylor, Jen Russell, Amy Taylor, Jen Rusenstrom and Kari Richardson.

The Darling Dowes came in a close second, having scored one point less than the Kid-free Mums.