On May 31st HRJA held its first ever “search and rescue challenge”. This event was basically a Jeep scavenger hunt. The course covered over 60 miles of back roads throughout northern Allegheny and Butler counties. The 18 teams in their jeeps lined up at 10:00 AM at Carmodys restaurant off of Rt. 910 near Wexford. From there they had to drive and try to answer various “clues” that were along the way. About half way through the course, there was a mandatory “pit stop” the the 3 B’s grill in Zelienople, where there was a trivia quiz to figure out that allowed teams to score deduction time with correct answers. After the “pit stop” the teams continued on their way traveling and completing the various tasks to the final point, which was at the Butler Days Inn on Rt. 8. The teams did not know ahead of time where the “pit stop” or “final destination” was. Scoring was based on time, the correct “clue” answers helped to reduce the final time. Prizes were awarded for best time, most perfect run (most correct clues and trivia answers), slowest time, and most average time. Jeff Matthews team in his Cherokee had the best time, and Kristin Gaydosh’s team in her TJ Wrangler had the most perfect run. In addition to prize awards, a general raffle for all participants and volunteers was done with lots of great prizes. The real winners of the day though were the group of volunteers from NOVASAR. NOVASAR is the “Northern Ohio Valley Search and Rescue” group. The event was a fund-raiser for the group, and HRJA was proud to present them with a $200 check at the end of the day.  They also raised a little more funds through a 50/50 raffle. Overall, everyone had a great time, and it was for an excellent cause. Hopefully, HRJA and NOVASAR can team up again in the near future for another “Search and Rescue Challenge.”