Long Island museums host virtual history challenge
Cassandra and Colin St. George, 3, from Sound Beach learn about the history of Huntington. Credit: Darren St. George
The Town of Huntington has organized a virtual way to learn about its history.
In years past, historic sites within the municipality have taken part in a “Huntington Museum Challenge” scavenger hunt, but with each closed due to the health crisis, the challenge has moved online.
Darren St. George, the education and public programs director for Preservation Long Island says that the annual event — organized by the Town of Huntington Historic Partnership and town historian Robert C. Hughes — will now take its hunters into cyberspace to click on several websites related to the town’s past.
“This year it’s being done differently,” says St. George. “You can explore these things online.”
Questions will be found at each virtual stop. Stops include brief video presentations or other content, “which allow you to engage with the sites in a different way,” adds St. George. “The winner will be getting a collection of local history books, as well as a dozen rolls of toilet paper,” a prize considered to be something in-demand and which he admits has been collected from the closed offices of the participating organizations.
The contest ends at 11:59 p.m. on May 14, and the winner will be announced the next day; the winner will be chosen at random. Those who manage to answer all the questions correctly will be eligible.
"When we are past this, and the world does have a new normal, these [physical historic] sites will still be there … it will make for an exciting opportunity to remember what you’ve learned, and then go see these sites in person,” St. George says, while noting that the virtual scavenger hunt “is just a brief teaser of what’s always been around Huntington — a lot of rich history.”
To take part in the challenge, visit huntingtonhistory.com, which links to a Google document containing further links to all the participating stops on the hunt.
