by Kate Evans
The Paw Paw Christmas Gnome Hunt is back this year with more children and families enjoying the fun than before. Devin Abe and the Paw Paw PTO are leading the event.
Game organizer Tina Badley, Morgan County Starting Points program coordinator, said that the gnome game began this year on December 1 with Starting Points staff hiding gnomes around the Town of Paw Paw. The gnomes have free goodies inside that people can find and keep. Organizers then fill the gnome with a note or small gift and hide it again in town for someone else to find.
The rules of the game are as follows:
- When you find a gnome, take what is inside it to keep. You will also take the gnome to pass him on.
2. Post a picture of yourself on the All Things Paw Paw Facebook page with the gnome and the name of the gnome. The name is found on the bottom of the gnome. - Take the gnome and send him back out with something in him (kind of like a geocache) for someone else to find. Post the name of the gnome you put back out and let us know that he is back in play.
4. All gnomes go back anywhere in the town of Paw Paw.
5. You can put an encouraging note, a collectible or any small gift that you would have or would enjoy getting inside the gnome.
The game will end on January 1, 2025. At the end of the month-long gnome hunt, they’ll have a gnome coming home party where all the gnomes are returned. The party will feature arts and crafts and games. Prizes will be given for the most names of gnomes found. If all goes well, organizers plan to continue the game.
Badley got the idea for the game after Starting Points received a large donation of gnome cookie jars. Badley said she has always enjoyed fairies and cryptids of all kinds so hunting for gnomes sounded fun. Cryptids are creatures whose existence is disputed or unproven such as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster.
“I was excited to think about the family fun and kindness that we could share as a community. Devin Abe and the Paw Paw PTO became my partner in fun to fill and hide the gnomes,” Badley added. Abe is a Starting Points VISTA staff member and a Paw Paw Schools PTO leader.
Organizers filled the gnomes with toys, coins, and collectibles that might interest a child to become a life-long collector, she said. They also encouraged kids to put a positive note inside the gnome or a gently used toy and not to worry about filling it with anything expensive or valuable. Badley said they didn’t want the game to be a financial burden.
Badley said she’s been so happy to see all the gnome hunt photos posted on the social media page. At least 10 families have posted photos of their kids with gnomes they found with an estimated two or three postings a day.
“I love that the children and parents can get outside together and make memories,” Badley said.
