Community event

Road Rally will shadow Sullivan Trail

Road Rally 2012 is set for Saturday, June 16.

The starting and ending point will be J.T. Sound at 21 Collin Lane in Livonia (by the parking area across from Embers Restaurant on Big Tree Road).

You will be given the riddle and clue book, and coupons to redeem at local businesses. First entrant will be out of the chute by 8 a.m. and the last no later than noon.

To register for the rally and get an assigned starting time, call Tom at 346-0110 or email tdferlicci@hotmail.com.

J. T. Sound owner Tom Ferlicca says the $20 fee will get you a memorable day of cruising the local countryside, solving some fun and sometimes frustrating riddles, and the opportunity to see and learn something about the area’s local and natural history, not to mention geography and topography.

The charge is only per-vehicle, so bring as many people as your vehicle can hold. The more brain-power you have available, the easier you’ll be able to solve the riddles. Kids will especially enjoy the stops and discovering the answers, Tom says.

For those who have no recollection of the grand road rallies of the 1970s and early 1980s, they might be described as riddle contests across the countryside, gathering clues at stopping points and along stretches of highway. The winning scores have everything to do with solving the riddles and nothing to do with fast time or speed, so you are encouraged to take your time and enjoy the day.

Expect a fair fraction of the route to be along rural back roads. Individual participants are assigned different starting times, which serves to keep rival clue seekers out of sight and keeps clue sites from getting clogged with searchers.

First stop will be the old cemetery along Volunteer Road, opposite the Wegmans plaza. Some folks don’t even know this cemetery exists. The graves are of one-time residents of the County Alms House. The answer to the riddle will be found on a particular headstone, unique among the rest.

Next will be stops at the Livingston County Museum, Fall Brook (hint: pay attention to the graffiti), Tired Iron Tractor Museum and Groveland Ambuscade Park.

By the end of the day, you will almost certainly have seen at least one fascinating site you didn’t know existed, such as, perhaps, the castle on the Marrowback. (And while you’re on Marrowback, get ready to count dormers in the old monastery.)

Tom notes that the route will follow the leg of General Sullivan’s campaign trail after his Continental troops destroyed the large Seneca village known as Little Bread’s Town in 1779 and commenced their eastward retreat. Ralliers will visit Geneseo, Leicester, Groveland, Scottsburg, Hemlock, Honeoye Lake, Naples and then look for a clue along a backroad Bristol cemetery which barely postdates the Revolutionary War.

Riddles get more difficult during the second leg of the trip, where specific stopping points are not designated — only stretches of highway, somewhere along which is the answer.

There will be five additional stops for tie-breaking poker cards at Twisters, Buzzos, Minnehan’s, Vincenzo’s and at a hippie van parked in Hemlock. However, with approximately 50 riddles to solve, odds of a tie will be small.

Winners will receive prizes from local businesses, including J.T. Sound, suppliers of automotive window tinting, remote starters or just about any other electronic device you may wish to install in your vehicle.

First place prize is a remote starter; second place a window tint; third place a $50 J.T. Sound gift certificate.

Tom has organized several rallies over the years, but this will be the first based from Livonia, and his first in about 14 years.