Lucia here. I celebrated Clover’s first birthday back in 2009. And the other month, Rob, who runs Clover Westford, reminded me that Clover turns 8 this year. I thought it would be fun to do a scavenger hunt. So here you are, the Clover 8th birthday scavenger hunt. As you can see from the tweet above, some people have already gotten an early start in the quest (hi Heather and Finn!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLOVER SCAVENGER HUNT

We opened the first Clover truck 8 years ago today, on October 29, 2008! It was a week before election day and a few days before Halloween, we were an hour late our first day and ran out of sandwiches in about an hour. We were so busy that first year that we didn’t even publish our address. There was so much to figure out! So, for a long time Clover was a little secret, tucked away behind MIT Medical and known only through word of mouth.

We’re still figuring everything out, and with your help we’ve been able to pop Clovers up in some far-flung places and crazy spaces. There’s a 24-hour location; a location inside of a Whole Foods in the suburbs; a location that used to house one of the first fast food chains in the US; a location inside an old shoe factory; a location where folks cure cancer above us. . . .  Julia just told me we’re in the same building where the Ponzi scheme began in 1920. So let’s celebrate where we’ve gone, where we’re going, and where we are today. The race is already on, and the clock starts NOW! How many Clovers can you find?

RULES:

You have one week. The scavenger hunt will run from this Saturday (10/29/16, Clover’s 8th birthday) to next Saturday (11/5/16 at midnight). Who can play? This scavenger hunt is open to all customers and staff, so feel free to forward this to any other Clover fans out there.

HOW TO PLAY:
-Visit a Clover location.
-Take a picture of yourself at that restaurant, preferably with a Clover staff member or your favorite part of the location
-Post it to your favorite social media site with the hashtag #ifoundaclover or #cloverturns8
-There are a bunch of different ways to play and a bunch of prizes you can win depending on how you choose to strategize. Look below and see which one you want to try for.
-When you’re done with your journey, send an email to Lucia (lucia@cloverfoodlab.com) with links to your posts. We’ll get back to you about how to claim your prize.

GRAND PRIZE: A WINTER CSA!
TASK: Be the first person to visit all 10 Clover restaurants, in the order they were opened.
PRIZE: A Winter CSA from Winter Moon Roots (farmer – Michael Docter) or Enterprise Farm (farmer – Dave Jackson). Food for you all winter grown in the most fertile region in New England. Pick up your bounty at Clover every other week through the dark winter months.
NUMBER OF WINNERS: 1

KNIFE
TASK: Visit all 10 Clover restaurants in the order they were opened.
PRIZE: A Chef’s Knife designed by Adam Simha for Clover (http://www.mksdesign.com/adam-simha-bio.html)
NUMBER OF WINNERS: UNLIMITED

KNIFE SKILLS FOR FRIENDS
TASK: Be the first person to visit all 10 Clover restaurants, not necessarily in the order they were opened.
PRIZE: A knife skills class for you and 8 friends on a weekday evening with founder Ayr Muir at the Clover commissary kitchen, with a reception afterwards featuring local beer and Clover snacks.
NUMBER OF WINNERS: 1

COFFEE SKILLS FOR FRIENDLY FRIENDS
TASK: Visit at least 5 Clover locations . . . and have the most total combined likes for your posts.
PRIZE: A Coffee 101 class for you and 9 friends on a Friday morning with founder Ayr Muir at CloverFIN, with a reception afterwards (we’ll even make you guys a batch of our elusive apple cider donuts.)
NUMBER OF WINNERS: 1

BOSTON 
TASK: Be the first person to visit all 5 Clover restaurants and trucks located in the City of Boston, in the order they were opened.
PRIZE: Our newest catering option. Breakfast for you and your office, includes 10 breakfast sandwiches (classic or that new Delicata Squash everyone’s been loving), plus just-cut fruit salad for 10 (right now it’s featuring local apples from Autumn Hills Orchard) and a box of hot coffee.
NUMBER OF WINNERS: 1

WHOOPIE PIE
TASK: Visit any 5 Clover restaurants after 5pm.
PRIZE: A box of whoopie pies for you to share with your friends on Whoopie Pie Friday, every Friday evening for an entire month
NUMBER OF WINNERS: UNLIMITED

TRUCKER
TASK: Visit 2 Clover trucks on the same day.
PRIZE: A Clover trucker hat for you and a friend.
NUMBER OF WINNERS: UNLIMITED

FOOD SYSTEMS
TASK: Visit 4 Clover restaurants in the order they were opened, but must include the location where we bake pita and where farmers drop off produce to be made into Clover food.
PRIZE: A shopping trip for you and a friend to the Clover retail wall for a book and a food magazine of your choosing.
NUMBER OF WINNERS: UNLIMITED

HOT DRINK
TASK: Visit 3 Clover restaurants, not necessarily in the order they were opened.
PRIZE: A free coffee or tea with your breakfast next time you’re at Clover.
NUMBER OF WINNERS: UNLIMITED

A few helpful hints:

1. The website is a treasure trove of open dates.
2. We’ll consider HSQ (which relocated) to still be the first restaurant to open.