Dear 2009 Great Park Pursuit Families,

Well the finale is finally here and it’s all happening at Kettletown State Park in Southbury!

There are a couple of things that I wanted to reiterate regarding this weekend’s semi-final and final challenges as well as the campout.

There are 169 families this year that are eligible to compete in the semi-final challenge.  In order to get all of the families through in an orderly and timely fashion, the semi-final challenge will be administered between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and noon.  IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SEMI-FINAL CHALLENGE, FAMILIES MUST CHECK IN BY 11:00 AM.  For those families that visited the bonus location, there will be a question on the semi-final challenge pertaining to Weir Farm.

We ask that you leave all personal items locked safely away in your cars.  If you bring personal items with you, we will require that they be placed in a box while you are taking the semi-final and final challenge. 

After the semi-final challenge has been administered, we will have an informal speaking ceremony where we will acknowledge all of the semi-finalists and announce the top 30 families eligible to compete in the final challenge.  Once the informal speaking ceremony has concluded, we will then administer the final challenge and award the grand prizes.

With there being so many families eligible to compete, which we are really excited about, we suggest that families plan on being there until 4:00 p.m. Please note that the top 30 families must be present to compete in the finals. In addition to the semi-final challenge, there will be plenty of other activities for families to participate in between the scheduled events.  One of the activities entails making a No Child Left Inside – Great Park Pursuit quilt for Gina McCarthy to hang in her Washington D.C. office, where she was sworn in two weeks ago as the Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  There will be quilting blocks available for those families who would like to write her a message or just simply sign their team name.  The No Child Left Inside initiative is the legacy that she leaves to the State of Connecticut and one which we know she will still continue to support in her new position.

Due to the weather forecast for Saturday evening that includes predictions for severe thunderstorms, we have decided to CANCEL THE CAMPOUT.  We know that there are a lot of families out there that will be disappointed about this decision, but your safety is most important to us.  If the weather holds out for the early evening we will still have the bonfire and star gazing program and will have grills available for you to cook your dinner on.
 
Just to recap, we will still be administering the semi-final and final challenges on Saturday, but will not be having the campout.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  I saw Team Daddy’s Girls on Saturday and they are willing to give up their reigning crown but said they are still in it to win it so good luck everyone!

Sincerely,

Rachael Sunny