Following on the heels of the Pokemon GO craze and in the spirit of geocaching is BridgeportWVRocks – a recreational activity that has picked up momentum in communities across the U.S.

 

The hide-and-seek game has made its way to Bridgeport by way of Marion County. Utilizing Facebook as a communication base, the Marion County WV Rocks page has upwards of 2,500 members. Anyone who frequents the page knows that anyone and everyone is getting in on the action. Included are extended family members of Bridgeport’s Carisha Prunty, who – along with her husband Willie and kids Janie and Brodie – started the BridgeportWVRocks group.

 

“There’s a Harrison County group, but the rocks are hidden mostly in Clarksburg, so we wanted to start it in Bridgeport,” she said. “My husband and our kids got together, painted a bunch of rocks and we went (Tuesday) night and hid them.”

 

The Pruntys are hoping locals go exploring throughout the city and look for the unique rocks which are adorned with bright artwork and/or inspirational sayings.

 

But then what?

 

“You can either keep the rocks you find and replace them with your own painted rocks or you can re-hide the ones you find,” Prunty said. “If you want, you can just hide some painted rocks and not search for any.”

 

Local organizers request that if you play, you post to the BridgeportWVRocks Facebook page, showing what rock or rocks you find and whether you’re keeping them or hiding them in a new spot. If it’s the latter – or if you’re adding a new rock to the game – provide a clue as to the general location.

 

“We hid rocks at (Bridgeport) Recreation Complex, at Bridgeport City Park and some in the downtown area,” Prunty said.

Some of the rocks paid tribute to city and athletic pride; some seasonal, like the cleverly-camoflaged baseball rock pictured above, found Wednesday by Adam King and his son Brooks.

 

The Prunty family painted and hid approximately 15 rocks, all which are marked with the #BridgeportWVRocks hashtag. While they were hiding them, they noticed several freshly-painted rocks outside of The Starving Artist on West Main Street. It just so happened that those rocks were being created for the very same purpose.

 

“We’ve been thinking about doing it for a long time and decided to launch it during our kids’ (summer art) camps,” said Jenny Reed, art instructor.

 

The game combines inspiration, visualization and creativity; three major elements involved in art, not to mention thatthe actual rocks beautify the city while they await to be discovered. While creating the rocks with their summer camp participants – age 6 to 13 – business co-owner Bill Leaseburg asked the kids to concentrate on things they particularly liked. The kids quickly got ideas and began painting away, considering the rock's shape and characteristics when deciding upon their designs.

 

“We had a rainbow, kitty cat, dog, duck, bear, a tree and an ice cream cone,” Reed said. “One even put a cross on hers so someone could find Jesus.”

 

One clever young artist created Leaseburg’s profile. Leaseburg made one too. His triangular rock was transformed into a slice of pizza. After the rocks were all painted, they were sprayed with polyurethane to protect the painting and to provide a coat of shine, Reed said.

Then came the hiding.

 

“And they were crazy excited about it,” Reed said.

 

All the rocks painted by Starving Artist students were hidden in the downtown area. Combined with the Pruntys’ rocks, there are about 30 presently hidden throughout the city.

 

The Starving Artist plans to implement the activity in all summer camp sessions, Reed said.

 

The Prunty family will likely be painting some additional rocks, too, and they encourage other families, clubs and groups to do the same.

 

“Enjoy the summer weather and the sunshine and get outside and have fun together,” Prunty said. “This isn’t just for kids; it’s something for family, friends and anyone to do.”

 

Players are welcome and encouraged to post to the Starving Artist Facebook page, as well as the statewide 304WVRocks page. 

 

Editor's Note: Pictured top are rocks created by the Prunty family and below, rocks painted by The Starving Artist art camp participants. Pictured just above are art students painting and hiding the rocks. Also pictured above are Adam King and son Brooks after finding the baseball-theme rock at Brigeport Recreation Complex. The re-hid it for another baseball player or fan to find.