For over ten years, local families explored Morgan Hill businesses to find an elusive book character named Waldo and to help out a good cause.
The month-long event is part of an annual national celebration of “Find Waldo Local”, a campaign sponsored by Candlewick Press (publishers of the Where’s Waldo books) and American Booksellers Association to help unite small business owners across the U.S. and to promote to consumers the value of shopping locally. Local independent bookstore BookSmart and their affiliated non-profit, BookSmart Community Advantage (BCA), organizes the fun hide-and-seek adventure throughout Morgan Hill, partnering with the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce and wonderful businesses throughout town.
Where’s Waldo Local is designed to get people to shop local and explore businesses they may not have known before. According to Brad Jones of BookSmart and organizer of the event, “One of the best parts of Find Waldo Local is connecting families more closely to their community and celebrating the love of reading!”
The iconic children’s book character in the red-and-white-striped shirt and black-rimmed specs hides out in over twenty local businesses throughout our community each July. People are able to pick up a passport that contained a list of participating stores, and then go around to the local shops and try to spot Waldo hidden among the store shelves and displays. BookSmart Community Advantage also participates each year in the Morgan Hill Fourth of July parade with a truck filled with volunteers dressed as Waldo to build excitement for the activity.
Each of the participating businesses donated fun prizes and completed passports were entered into a drawing for one of the prizes, which were awarded at the wrap party at Booksmart around August 1st.
Brad Jones of BookSmart commented, “Find Waldo Local this year was a HUGE success and we want to extend a big thank you to all the businesses that participated in this great family event. Let’s do it again next year!” Nick Gaich, CEO/President of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, added “The local businesses that participated love being part of such a fun community event! It is a chance to draw existing and new customers into stores and restaurants. We’re all looking forward to doing it again next year and encouraging even more to join in!”
Morgan Hill was one of 300 communities around the country participating in the initiative. Where’s Waldo?, published in 1987, is the title of the first book in the popular book series of children’s puzzle books by author Martin Handford. The books consist of a series of detailed illustrations depicting dozens or more people doing a variety of amusing things at a given location. Readers are challenged to find Waldo and other characters and objects hidden in the group.