by Melissa Preddy

Hiller’s — and Elly — have loyal fans far beyond Michigan borders, as my sister’s family proved at their recent holiday gathering in St. Claire, Missouri.

Michigan native Lisa Preddy loves her “Show-Me State” home — but misses Hiller’s quality so much that relatives have been known to transport tenderloin in carry-on luggage during visits, much to the delight of the Missouri clan, who also get a kick out of the ”Find Elly” feature in Hiller’s sales circulars. Perhaps that’s because their canine companions outnumber the humans at most family get-togethers.

Knowing all this about my sister and her family — and since I share her sentiment as a frequent Hiller’s shopper myself – I crafted an elaborate beat-the-clock party game using several months worth of Hiller’s flyers and other props including a timer, a sealed answer key and a magnifying sheet to aid the searchers.  Then I glued a photo of Elly’s face onto a Santa-motif gift box and shipped it all off from Metro Detroit to St. Clair.

“Chuck and I could barely restrain ourselves from playing right away,” Lisa e-mailed, when the jolly package arrived.  But they held out until after the family’s holiday feast.

Here is Lisa’s report: ”There were a few tense moments when teams thought they had found the hidden Elly, only to be told that the Elly on the gift card or “We ID” sign was not the Elly they needed to locate! Round 1 was extended for 3 minutes when no team was able to find Elly within the originally allotted five minutes. Finally, one of the teams found Elly — cleverly concealed in a bouquet of flowers. They were awarded a dog bone as their Round Prize (much to the delight of the assembled canine onlookers).”

The teams swapped flyers and played round after round of the Find Elly game. “As the rounds progressed, the play became more competitive, with players calling out false clues and hoarding the magnifying sheet,” Lisa said. “At the end of five rounds, Team #3 had found three Ellys and was declared the champion. After a celebratory ‘high five,’ they were presented with a winner’s trophy — a brass 2008 Christmas Tree ornament adorned with a picture of Elly — and bragging rights until next year.”

Next year?  Guess I’d better start working soon on the new, improved 2009 version of “Find Elly.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 12:11 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.