MANSFIELD – We see it all the time – characters in beloved movies and TV shows following a map to dig up a jackpot of precious treasure.
Have you ever been jealous and wanted to do the same thing?
That opportunity has arrived.
On July 30, Cash Quest is giving anyone the chance to emulate their childhood heroes and join in an adventure around the community to find a buried $1,000 grand prize.
The top 20 teams will also have the chance to dig up local gift cards or prizes.
Teams will have to complete a series of three quests in Ontario, Lexington and Mansfield and then race to the secret dig site.
Each quest consists of teams going to five or six local businesses where they will have to complete challenges, solve puzzles, build objects and eat their way to completion.
Teams can complete the quests in any order they choose, but will have to take pictures at each location to ensure that the entire team is present at each location.
Brad Humble, owner of Exithis escape room, and organizer of the event, tested the idea a couple years ago at his other Exithis location in Pensacola, Florida. A roaring success, Humble said he received nothing but positive feedback which is why he wants to bring the idea back to his hometown.
The main goal behind the treasure hunt is to bring awareness to local businesses.
Humble and his wife Brittany own three local businesses in the shopping plaza on Stumbo Road – Exitthis, Just Hustle cycle and fitness and B.E Humble boutique. Obviously, the Humbles understand the challenges local businesses can face.
“I know the struggle of being a local business owner,” Humble said. “A lot of times, like for us, it’s not that our product is not good, or whatever it may be. It’s just that people don’t know that we’re here.”
Even though (Exithis has) been here for six years or something like that, there’s still tons of people that come who never knew we were here. So it’s important to me to get people into other people’s locations that maybe they didn’t know about.”
Humble used one example of Team Chitwood martial arts and fitness studio in Lexington. Humble said that while people might be intimidated by the studio or think that it is only for advanced martial arts, he hopes that Cash Quest shows participants the location offers more.
Humble said that just getting people through the doors of local businesses is a great way to increase awareness and hopefully bring more business to local owners like himself and his wife.
“That’s kind of the idea — to try to drive traffic to locations that people don’t know about or that maybe they’ve heard about but haven’t had the chance to go to,” Humble said.
“We’re trying to include as many local businesses as we can because we know it’s important.”
Humble plans to keep teams on their toes with a variety of challenges and puzzles to solve.
He was careful not to give away too many surprises, but said a lot of planning has gone into each quest and personalizing challenges to each business.
Teams can expect to make their way downtown to the Richland Carrousel, Nickel and Bean coffee shop and B.E Humble among many other stops along the way.
Sign-ups are ongoing and will cap at 50 teams. Tickets are $200 per team and there is no limit on the number of members per team.
The code “richlandsource25” can be used at checkout to bring the cost down to $150 per team.
Humble said he is looking forward to getting the community involved and hopes to grow the quest in years to come.
“Everybody wants to find some treasure,” Humble said.
“It’s a fun event for families or friends to be together, and I mean, you’re hunting down money so how can you go wrong with that?”
