by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Linda Tate isn’t from Jacksonville, but it sure didn’t hurt that three of her teammates in the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art’s “Great Race” grew up here. The fact that her entire team works for the public library system didn’t hurt, either.
The inaugural race was Saturday and featured 14, four-person teams deciphering 75 clues that led to answers all over the First Coast. The team that deciphered the most clues, took a team photo in front of the answer and checked in at Burrito Gallery by 5 p.m. won $2,000. Tate and her team won when they produced 57 correct answers, a feat that JMOMA Director of Special Events and Marketing Troy Spurlin said is nothing short of remarkable.
“I was amazed they got 57 out of 75 clues,” said Spurlin, adding he wasn’t surprised the team deciphered that many. “It’s great they were able to get to that many locales. It was brilliant.”
Tate, Kema de Segrada, Alisha LeVasseur and Bryan Roseberry signed up as soon as they found out about the event — and then started plotting. Well aware of the rules that permitted the use of virtually any technological information gathering device, Tate said she and her team created a fairly simple plan that dealt with both the local knowledge and logistics.
“We used cell phones,” said Tate. “We would call people and say, ‘Google this.’ I brought my laptop, but we didn’t use it.”
Tate also said Roseberry, who’s married to LeVasseur, knew many of the clues right away. Several of the answers were in the Orange Park area, so the team headed there first. On the way, they deciphered other clues, divided the answers into geographical quadrants and chased as many as possible.
“We knew if we drove around willy-nilly, that wouldn’t be smart,” said Tate.
Aside from the sheer fun of the event — and the $500 extra each now has — Tate said the day-long event was informative for those from here and especially for herself.
“It was amazing. I spent the day with my best friends and I learned a lot about the city,” said Tate, whose husband is stationed at Mayport. “Bryan knew a lot of the clues off the top of his head. Mad props to Bryan.”
Not all of the clues involved an answer. For example, one “answer” was to take a team photo at a bowling alley — any bowling alley — with everyone on the team holding a bowling ball. Another answer that didn’t require much brain power was to take a team picture at a garage sale with a perfect stranger.
Fourteen teams signed up for the event, a number that suits Spurlin fine.
“That’s a great turnout for the first year,” said Spurlin. “As in all of our events this year, it was an inaugural event. We are looking to offer diverse events that will attract a multitude of people to the museum. The people playing had an amazing time and we will bring this back next year.”
As with all JMOMA events, Spurlin asked all the participants to fill out a survey. He also asked everyone who participated in the Great Race to offer suggestions for next year’s race.
“Some suggested that rather than have the event all over the First Coast, maybe it should be within the urban Jacksonville environment,” said Spurlin. “We may also expand it from photos to found objects that include an art activity as well. Some said the clues should be more difficult.
“In this particular case, we were looking to get people racing around the city and going to parts of the area they might have never been in.”