SpikeQuest pays off big

Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008

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Heather Marlow went to Lake Atalanta to rent a paddleboat on Saturday, Aug. 9. When she left, she was $ 500 richer.

Marlow, of Pea Ridge, didn't know about the pre-Frisco Festi val event known as SpikeQuest. She hadn't been picking up clues or searching through the downtown area. Luckily, her boyfriend knew immediately what the beige railroad spike was and why it was lying around in Lake Atalanta Park.

On Tuesday, Aug. 12, Marlow took the spike into the First Western Bank in downtown Rogers and claimed her prize.

"We were looking around the little cabin, and we just came across it," she said. A Northwest Arkansas Community College student, she'll spend her prize money on her education. Eventually, she plans to transfer to the University of Arkansas and earn a degree in education, she said.

SpikeQuest started on July 31, said Amy Tucker, marketing coordinator at First Western. The bank provided a written clue each day, and on the next day, the clue was posted on the Main Street Rogers Web site. As always, the first few clues restated the rules of the contest. The next few revealed the perimeters of the area where the spike could be found. When Marlow found the spike Saturday, only eight clues had been revealed.

Later clues would have led the way down to Lake Atalanta, Tucker said. Several people visited the bank every day to pick up the clues, she said. Even branch offices outside of Rogers distributed clues. She speculated that more people would have been involved in the search if it had lasted a little longer.

Only two people knew the location of the spike, Tucker said.

It wasn't the shortest Spike-Quest contest, Main Street Rogers director Marge Wolf said. Three years ago, a man found the spike as he was walking down the street on the second day of SpikeQuest. In 2006, the contest lasted through 14 clues, and the spike was found just before the opening of the Frisco Festival that year.

Marlow will pick up her winnings at the opening ceremonies of the Frisco Festival on Aug. 22.

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