LAURINBURG — Dell Parker has done it again, this time with some help.
Parker, Scotland County Board of Elections director, and Chassidy Brewer, Scotland County elections assistant, put their heads together to find the The Laurinburg Exchange’s Golden Egg on Thursday.
The reward for finding the Golden Egg is $300, which Parker and Brewer plan to split. The pair worked together to figure out the clues that lead to the location of the egg, which was secretly laid at the Morgan Complex, on the ninth out of 10 clues.
The actual not-so-golden egg was placed on the walking trail around the complex. According to The Laurinburg Exchange General Manager Althea Simpson, the egg was hidden about 15 to 20 yards from the footbridge behind a large tree in a patch of purple azaleas.
If the egg had not been found by the last clue, an extra clue mentioning the purple azaleas would have been released. But according to Parker, as soon as the clue stating “You’ll find it where Bryan, Tammy and Jeff are” she and Chassidy knew exactly where to head off to in order to find the egg.
“It’s so much fun coming up with the clues,” Simpson said. “You want it to be fun for the people searching and you have to write the clues so it creates a challenge. You can’t give the location away too soon.”
Simpson added there were a handful of clues that were created just to lead people in the opposite direction. Her favorite was the one that mentioned the egg was hiding in an empty lot in Wagram.
The clues lead people in a variety of locations around Scotland County, from Laurel Hill to Wagram, before the ninth clue lead them to the Morgan Complex.
“When I spoke to Dell she was really excited about finding it,” Simpson added. “I teased her about taking the money and riding off into the sunset on her new motorcycle. She told me about how Chassidy and herself had gone over the clues over and over again to get an idea of where it was hidden.”
Parker won a raffle two weeks ago for a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle. When she came into The Exchange office on Thursday with the Golden Egg, she joked about her winning streak.
“Everyone keeps saying I should start buying lottery tickets,” she said.
Parks and Recreation Director Bryan Graham called The Exchange office on Thursday to inquire about why so many people were out exploring the Morgan Complex. But once he learned the Golden Egg had been found, he had to break the news to those who were still searching.
Reach Katelin Gandee at 910-506-3171 or at [email protected]