A scratch-off Grounded Activity Card (Provided image — Peakquest)

SARANAC LAKE — The Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce is co-hosting a new community event this Friday to Sunday called Grounded: Get Down to Earth in Saranac Lake, with organizing partners Woods and Waters and Peakquest.

The event is meant to highlight the activities the Saranac Lake area has to offer during what is typically seen as an undesirable time (“mud season”). The weekend will consist of a fishing challenge hosted by Woods and Waters and a downtown scavenger hunt hosted by Peakquest, alongside other suggested activities that highlight things to do during spring.

“Just because it isn’t summer doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the Saranac Lake area. We are always in season!” Patrick Murphy, executive director of the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, said in a press release. “We know that this event will provide a fun opportunity for area families to get out and shrug off the long winter, but it is also our hope to provide an offering for tourists to visit during a time of year that businesses could use the extra foot traffic.”

Grounded was developed in late 2019 and early 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down large events and area businesses. The inaugural event was intended to occur the first weekend in May 2020, but was postponed. This year, the chamber has decided to alter the offerings of the event so people could self-select activities and remain socially distant while doing so.

“Grounded is a self-guided, choose-your-own-adventure kind of event,” said Chris Grimone of Woods and Waters, a hunting and fishing sports shop in Saranac Lake.

Grounded activity suggestions are grouped into specific actions, provided to participants in a brochure. Participants can choose to Fish, Learn, Eat, Create, Grow and Hike. As people go through and complete their Grounded actions, they can keep track on a scratch-able Grounded Activity Card.

“We really wanted to provide something fun for families to do this spring, especially after a long winter and dealing with a lot of COVID-19 restrictions,” said Lynne Murphy and Jennifer Moore of Peakquest, a business based in Saranac Lake that creates hiking scratch-off challenge cards.

The fishing challenge requires no registration or fee. Every participant who registers will receive a door prize from Woods and Waters. People can fish the Saranac River between the Main Street dam and the Pine Street bridge, to try to hook a tagged brook trout. If they do, they can get entered to win a guided fishing trip down the Saranac River with local fishing guide Battlefish Charters.

Peakquest will host a table downtown for scavenger hunt registration and provide additional information for how to search for their clues. The hunt will take families to local businesses and public spaces.

People interested in participating in the event can stop by the Saranac Lake Welcome Center at the Harrietstown Town Hall, 39 Main St., to pick up a Grounded brochure and activity card from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 8 a.m. to noon Sunday. All participants must adhere to guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including but not limited to wearing a mask and social distancing.