The form is one page long. It has blanks for your name, address, email and phone, then a short paragraph about a future City Museum. Below that sits a two-column grid of 20 checkboxes. Each box sends you somewhere in Minneola with a camera.
This is the Minneola Resident Exclusive Contest, the scavenger hunt at the center of the city's year-long Centennial Celebration. The City of Minneola describes it as a way to explore local landmarks, businesses and historical sites. The prizes include the latest iPhone, an iPad Air, an Apple Watch and AirPods Pro. The big party on December 5 gets most of the attention. The checklist is where the city decided what 100 years of Minneola looks like, and most of its answers are places you drive past every week.
Twenty Boxes, and Most of Them Are Ordinary on Purpose
Sort the 20 tasks by what they ask of you, and a pattern shows up. Very few are monuments. Most are civic buildings, parks, and people who keep the town running.
| What the box asks for | Checklist items |
|---|---|
| Civic buildings | Minneola Library, the new Fire Station, Santa's spot "here" at Minneola City Hall |
| Parks and outdoor stops | Ed Harvey Station, Mae Griffith Gazebo, Minneola Dog Park with a four-legged friend, one of Trailhead Park's amenities, the mural art on the trail, the community garden plots |
| Everyday errands | Visit a Minneola small business, check out a vendor at the Minneola Market, catch a game at the MAC |
| People | Thank a Minneola Crossing Guard |
| Photos around town | A street sign with "Minneola" in its name, the "Welcome" sign, your favorite spot to watch the Moonlight Parade |
| Dated events | Kids' Safe Night Out |
| Riddles | A city building built in 1930, a building built "inn" 1906, Minneola's "highest point" |
A few of these stops come with details the form leaves out. Mae Griffith Gazebo sits at the corner of Lake Minneola Drive and West Silverton Street. The city rents community garden plots by the season through its East Chester Street Park page: $25 for residents, $50 for non-residents, plus $2 for an optional garden-shed stall. The Minneola Market & Food Trucks runs on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 5 to 8 p.m. in the City Hall Gymnasium.
The crossing guard box stands out. It's the only task on the sheet built around thanking a person rather than visiting a place.
Three Clues the City Left Unanswered
Most boxes name their destination. Three of them don't. The form's own wording:
This city building was built in 1930. This building was built "inn" 1906. Visit Minneola's "highest point".
The city's published materials don't say which buildings or which spot these clues mean. We won't guess either. The pun in "inn" is clearly a hint, though, and the dates line up with the town's history in an interesting way.
The city's history page starts with Captain William G. Smith, the first settler after the Civil War. Henry Wilson arrived in 1881 and planted a grove that became Minneola's best-known mainstay. In 1882, George W. Hull of Duluth, Minnesota, settled on nearly 200 acres beside what was then called Cow House Lake. Hull got the town surveyed and mapped in 1884. His wife chose the name Minneola for both the town and the lake. Minneola incorporated in 1926, and Archibald A. Pitt served as its first mayor.
So the 1906 clue points to a building older than the city itself by 20 years. The 1930 building went up four years after incorporation. The centennial counts from 1926, and the city's Main Event Flyer labels it "1926 - 2026." The riddle clues reach past that year, back to the settlement Minneola grew out of.
The Box Above the Grid
Between the contact blanks and the checklist is a paragraph that's easy to skim past. It asks whether you're a long-time resident of Minneola. The city is gathering oral histories and historical memorabilia for a future City Museum. At the Centennial Celebration there will be a special booth where people can share memories and donate items. If you check the box, the city will contact you to book an appointment at that booth.
That gives the scavenger hunt a second job. The checklist sends newer residents out to learn the town. The booth collects what longer-tenured residents remember about it. The prizes will be awarded on one afternoon. The museum collection is the part of the centennial built to last beyond it.
The city also lists Legacy Talks on the main event schedule, one at 3 p.m. and another at 6 p.m. Speakers and topics haven't been published yet.
December 5, Hour by Hour
The centennial's main event runs from 2 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 5, 2026, at Minneola Trailhead Park, 315 E. Madison St. The city's centennial page lists this schedule:
- 2:00 p.m. Food and activities open, and Gilly & the Girl perform
- 3:00 p.m. Opening ceremony with a welcome from the mayor, plus the first Legacy Talks
- 3:30 p.m. The cooking contest begins, and Tyme Peace performs
- 4:30 p.m. Cooking contest judging begins, and winners are announced for the cooking contest, the scavenger hunt, and the car show
- 5:00 p.m. iHeritage performs
- 6:00 p.m. More Legacy Talks
- 6:30 p.m. Corey Marshall Band performs
- 7:30 p.m. Closing remarks by the mayor
- 8:00 p.m. Drone show
The scavenger hunt winners are announced at 4:30. The city hasn't published a separate deadline for turning in your sheet, so it's worth confirming the cutoff with the city before you plan around that afternoon.
The cook-off has a narrow theme. Every entry must be Chicken Perlo, which the official rules describe as a traditional chicken-and-rice dish. Individuals and teams can enter, but must register in advance. Cooking must finish within 60 minutes. Contestants bring their own equipment and ingredients, and they can prep ingredients and cook the chicken ahead of time. The Minneola City Council judges on taste, presentation, creativity and how well each entry fits the Chicken Perlo theme. The winner takes home a HexClad cooking set, which the city values at $2,000.
The Centennial Vintage Car Show is open to cars built from the 1920s through the 1980s. Owners register through a form on the same city page.
Between Now and the Parade
Some checklist boxes depend on the calendar, so the next two months are worth tracking. As of today, here's what the city calendar lists:
- Wednesday, October 28: This is the fourth Wednesday, the Minneola Market's usual slot. The city held a market on September 23, but its October 28 calendar page doesn't show one, so check before you go.
- Saturday, October 31, 5:30 p.m.: Safe Night Out. The checklist includes a "Kids' Safe Night Out" box. The form doesn't give a date for it, so confirm with the city that this is the event it means.
- Saturday, November 21, 6 p.m.: Holiday Movie Night.
- Saturday, December 5, 2 to 8 p.m.: The Centennial Celebration at Trailhead Park.
- Saturday, December 12, 6 p.m.: The Minneola Moonlight Parade. The route starts at Disston Avenue and Silverton Street, winds around Main Avenue and circles back.
The city billed last year's parade as the eighth annual. The 2026 parade falls one week after the scavenger hunt winners are announced. Any photo for the "favorite spot to watch Minneola's Moonlight parade" box will likely come from an earlier parade year, or from the spot itself.
If you're working through the grid this fall, the 2026 Moonlight Parade might be a good place to pick next year's viewing spot. If you have photos or keepsakes from older parades, the museum booth on December 5 is where the city is collecting them.
Questions about the hunt, the riddle clues, or where to see the drone show on December 5? I'm based in Lake County and happy to compare notes on Minneola's centennial year. Reach out to Kara Wisely. Let's Connect.
