Recap of Clue 2013: Original Edition

Well, another year of the Clue Game has come and gone! It's amazing how months of planning all comes together and is over in a flash! This was a great year and somehow was much less stressful for us. If you don't know much about Clue, it's our biggest outreach event of the year. We transform our church into a themed setting and load up all the rooms with clues and activities to solve a mystery. Students are encouraged to invite friends as they play the game in teams. At the end of the night they hear a message about the Gospel and we send them home with a book that explains more about Jesus. This year we also structured our calendar around the game so our students have lots of opportunities to invite their friends back for events like Gross Night and the Youth Oscars.

Our theme this year was "Original Edition." We used the same six suspects as the board game, but changed the crime. Instead of a murder at Boddy Mansion, our setting was the Town of Bethany and the Grand Diamond had been stolen from the museum. Our setting inspiration was twofold: the true original board game edition came out in the 1950s, and Sheldon loves this British spy movie, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, so out of those two things the game was born!

The "Clue Team" is made up of Sheldon (who plans the clues, story line and game logistics), Carlon (who plans the alternate tasks to earn prizes as well as game-day set up) and myself (I do all the admin work and volunteer coordinating). We all work in our own quirky ways but this year everything came together surprisingly well and without a lot of stress!

This year we had 20 teams competing (about 80 students) representing two churches (our guests this year were Oxford Church, where my friend Nancy is the youth director). Over half of the students were non-Christians and many heard about Jesus for the first time! We had over 70 volunteers in a variety of roles. I LOVE that so many different people are a part of the game - it's one of the more intergenerational events at Bethany. Young families bring their kids, seniors volunteer, and every age in between is represented.

The storyline and clues are always complex (it's a 4 hour game!) but I'll try and explain it in a nutshell for any curious folks! Teams visited each room and wanderer to piece together the witness statements and suspect alibis. The diamond was stolen some time during or after the Championship Basketball Game at the Stadium. Mr. Green (Jake) was at the game and then went to the tavern with his buddies before heading home. Ms. White (Sue) was overheard bragging about her diamond but as it turns out, she got engaged that day. Professor Plum (Adam) took a week off from teaching to study the Diamond at the Museum because he's a gem expert, but it was confirmed he put the Diamond back. Miss Scarlett (me!) went to a party at the Ballroom, then to a movie, and then home. Colonel Mustard (Steve) was at the same party and then at the docks to pick up an army shipment. And Mrs. Peacock (Kathleen), who owns the museum, took out an insurance claim on the Diamond that very day and refused to talk about it. Once the students pieced together these stories, they gained security clearance from Chief Parker (Sheldon) to enter the crime scene, where they discovered three pieces of evidence: a red cloth, a footprint, and a fingerprint. The fingerprint was the only true lead - they had to find the Museum blueprints to discover the secret entrance, where they found a matching print. Then, they had to get all of the suspect fingerprints and get them back to Chief Parker. The first team to do this won the game.

Mr. Green ended up being the guilty party - most kids suspected Mrs. Peacock, the most obvious suspect, but if there's anything to learn from games like this, it's that the guilty party isn't the person you least suspect or most suspect - it's the person you most medium suspect! Mr. Green was a construction worker, the only person not to come from old money. He snuck out of the game (leaving his coat behind in the lost and found - this was a clue) to steal the Diamond. By the time he met his buddies at the tavern, the diamond was in his pocket.


When we first started planning the game, we expected it to be much more low-key than last year (the theme was "Night at the Movies" and we went ALL OUT - we even made a 15 foot paper maché Jaws!). In one sense, that was true. It was easier to plan, costumes were easier to find, and so on. But by game day, everything came together beautifully! We staged the Opening Session as the "1953 Town Hall Meeting" where all of our volunteers participated in accusing each other while Mayor Timber (Carlon) schmoozed his voters and kissed babies. It really set the tone for the evening! Volunteers also came up with back stories for their characters which added to the authentic feel (for example, if students had asked why the Park was called Boddy Park, they would learn that the year the town was founded, Mr. Boddy was killed, and the six suspects in the unsolved murder were the great-great grandparents of the current 6 suspects - this is the board game storyline). Having a town hobo (my brother!) also added to the setting... and most kids didn't realize he had a clue!

The first place winners were a group of new girls (Mary, Abigail, Rachel, and Becky) who were invited by Dale (who wasn't on their team - poor Dale!). Second place went to CJ, Josh, Jordan, Harlen, and Brennan. Third place went to Temi and Iana. We had two runner-up teams: Noah, Matt, Hannah, David and Mikaela won fourth place, and Matt, Kellen, Eric, Tallan, and Liam won fifth. Students could also compete in an alternative to the game, which we called Civil Duties. These were tasks given by Mayor Timber. The winning team was Brady, Riley, Jason, Sam and Tyler. We also gave out chocolate bars to Dale and his six friends because he was the one who brought the most people. Congrats to all the winners!

The winners... Mary, Abigail, Rachel and Becky

Well, they were second! Harlen, Brennan, CJ, Josh and Jordan

Third place winners Temi and Iana begging me for info because they "didn't get it!" - you figured it out ladies!

The Civil Duty winners - Jason, Brady, Riley, Sam and Tyler at the Museum (the exhibit was Clue Games of old!)

A big thanks to Sue for also taking photos (Ms. White owned the town newspaper). She managed to get shots of ALL the rooms, so there are a ton of photos under the cut - enjoy! Both her and Bob have photos on Facebook so be sure to find the rest of them there!




Below are photos of almost every room and volunteer!

Bonnie & Clyde (Simon and Desirée) ran the Town Jail

Bethany Police (Jennine, Elysia, Sean and Glenn) with Chief Parker (Sheldon)

Kaitlyn and Richter were Bethany Police

Mayor Timber (Carlon) leading the Town Hall Meeting

Crossing the Waddington River means paying Ernst and Ron at the Toll Bridge!

Gord and Toby at the other end of the Toll Bridge

Nancy as Ms. Blondshell at R.D. Blair Secondary School

Mr. Boring (Stef) spurns her advances

Dale's team working hard at the School with Micah and Josiah

Even Faith was there to help at the School!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Shoemaker had shoe puzzles for the kids to do (these are my parents, Helga and Harv!)

Tiffany, Robyn, Marvie, Sandra and Asia hanging out with the Hobo (Paul, my brother both in the game and real life!)

Cody and Jesse at the Stadium

Ryan working at the Stadium

Mark, Nancy and Karston ran Oxford Church (which is their real church name!)

Shawna and Eva danced the night away at the Ballroom

Here's the whole family... Isabella, Shawna, Peter and Eva

Taylor and Tolu as Mayor Timber's assistants at City Hall

Mr. Green (Jake) and Professor Plum (Adam).. Mr. Green was the only "lowlife" of the suspects

Heidi and Kathleen were two of the ladies at Boddy Park

Kristina and Lauren at the Park

Laura the old woman at the Park

Janine and Mayette ran the concession along with Jenna and John

Kayla, Rhoda and Cora as the lovely librarians

Tyler showing off some Clue costumes (from Movies and Medieval) at the Museum

Bob keeps us sane as we plan... and he also found all the props for our "Old Clue Games" exhibit at the Museum!

Rick wasn't going to let ANYONE into the crime scene without BIB Security Clearance!

Keith was a hardworking Museum guard

I'm taking a break at Parker Brothers Tavern with Joanna and Gord

Ms. White (Sue) and Mrs. Peacock (Kathleen)

Miss Scarlett didn't need to steal a diamond... because her goal was to get one from Chief Parker!

Chief Parker cashing in on Miss Scarlett's "old money"

Tiana working at the Rio Grande Theatre

Who can resist Singing in the Rain? Not Glenn and Bernie!

Thanks Steve for running our Coat Check!

Colonel Mustard played by Steve, our wonderful custodian!

Some of our mobsters (David, Rob, and Jeff and their mama (Val)

Tassian was a great mobster! We never managed to get photos of Michael, Josh, and Taryn, our other mobsters

Joseph and Heidi ran Fizzy's Soda Shop

Paul and Amy at Fisherman's Wharf

Whew! Thanks Sue and Bob for the photos. Sorry if I missed anyone!