11th Annual Downtown Scavenger Hunt Winners Announced

On Sept. 2 through 3, The University of Scranton’s Office of Community Relations hosted its 11th Annual Scavenger Hunt in downtown Scranton, offering students an opportunity to explore the City of Scranton, including businesses, historical sites, landmarks, and murals. For many incoming University students, this event is their first chance to explore the downtown. This year it fell on First Friday and the first day of La Festa Italiana.

Over 30 participating locations from across the downtown hosted “Iggy” posters in their windows for students to find. Students could scan QR codes on the posters to receive a clue with more information about the next location; they could participate completely outdoors and at any time during the event.

In addition to the Scavenger Hunt, this year’s event also had two additional photo contests: one focusing on downtown landmarks and artistic murals and the other to mark the most creative photo overall. This year’s hunt also included a First Friday event with free Scavenger Hunt t-shirts for the first 100 registered students, with water ice and popcorn from Carolyns Corner Carnival, games, and an interactive exhibit where participants could pin either their hometown or the road that led them to Scranton.

“We had a beautiful two days in downtown Scranton and it was so exciting to see our University students engage with the city of Scranton in this special way. I hope that this event serves as an introduction to all the wonderful things that our city has to offer,” said Carolyn M. Bonacci, community and civic engagement coordinator at the University.

This year’s winners are as follows:

Scavenger Hunt Winners:

Grand Prize: Maggie Ho ’23 and Gwyn Cruz ‘24

Runners Up: Annika E. Stager ’24 and Brian White ‘25

Downtown Murals and Landmarks Photo Contest Winners:

Grand Prize: Chyenne Ward ’24 and Bridget Nucatola ‘25

Runner Up: Lindsay M. Csaszar ‘25

Creativity Photo Contest Winners:

Grand Prize: Veronica Romanek ’24 and Steve Holguin ‘25

Bonus Clue Winners:

Grand Prize: Arissa Chambers ’25 and Alexandra Shomali ‘25

There were 199 students registered for the event and 32 downtown businesses and cultural and city venues offered students a chance to experience different facets of the city.

This event was held in collaboration with The Center for Student Engagement, The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center, and The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce & Metro Action, and Scranton Tomorrow.

Follow Community Relations on Facebook to view a full album of the winning photos.

Participating Businesses and Locations

Photo Gallery