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I guess one of West Virginia Tourism’s latest marketing campaigns has done well, as Swingo is has launched for a second season.
For those uninitiated into the movement, Swingo is a combination game and travel effort, originally launched in the spring, and aimed at residents and visitors traveling throughout West Virginia to "check in" at some of the sites of our Almost Heaven swings.
You sign up through the state Tourism website to get a link sent to your smartphone, typically through email, and that helps to generate a Bingo-styled "card."
From there, you are tasked with visiting the swings, and filling out your card.
As with many of the Tourism campaigns launched in recent years, under the leadership of outgoing Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby, it’s a creative way to get people exploring our state.
With around 60 Almost Heaven swings already established, and more installed on a fairly regular basis, there are plenty of choices and ways to accomplish the task if you feel compelled.
Just look around locally, and, within a little more than an hour’s drive from Weirton, there are swings at Tomlinson Run State Park, the Wellsburg Wharf, the Wheeling riverfront area, Oglebay Park, Grand Vue Park, and the Wetzel County 4-H Campground.
My mom, my sister, and I took a Saturday in June and managed to make it to six spots outside of the immediate area on a fairly regimented schedule. They took another weekend, and went to several more spots.
I would think my only real gripe, if there is to be one, is the incentive package involved.
It does appear the initial prize of completing one Swingo is the same sticker as the original campaign. You get that by filling out five spaces - up, down, or diagonal - just as if you were playing Bingo. While I did get a bit of a late start in the spring version, I was able to get that far, and claimed my sticker. It came in the mail after about a week or so, and was…OK.
It’s a rectangular sticker of an illustrated version of one of the swings. It’s nice, but nothing spectacular.
The only other physical prize involved in the game is a seasonal magnetic picture frame for getting a cover-all of your card.
You have a five-by-five grid, with 12 possible combinations for a "Swingo." If you get five full rows or columns, you have the cover-all. All I’m saying is there could be some higher-tiered prize offerings to encourage more participation. The Waterfall Trail (another of West Virginia Tourism’s campaigns) has multiple prizes earned by how many waterfalls we visit. Maybe look into one more offering for those who get three "Swingos." Just a little something to keep the appetite of exploration going.
What I do appreciate about this time is there don’t appear to be any time-locked squares this time around. For the initial Swingo game, there were squares that had to be claimed on the Summer Solstice and West Virginia Day. If you didn’t check-in with a swing location on those days, those squares were locked and not able to be claimed, meaning you couldn’t completely fill the card.
That doesn’t seem to be happening this time, and that’s a good thing. We may not have an opportunity to get out on the Autumnal Equinox or the Winter Solstice.
It’s doubtful I’ll, personally, have an opportunity to fully cover my card, especially as I currently have only a couple of free weekends between now and the beginning of November. Then, we’ll have Christmas events coming in between parades and other community celebrations.
That, realistically, leaves only a handful of chances to do any traveling for me between now and the Dec. 31 end of this round of the game.
Theoretically, it’s do-able, but only time will tell.
For those who do feel up to the challenge, I wish you well and, most importantly, hope you enjoy the journey.
(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is part of the news staff of The Weirton Daily Times. He can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @CHowellWDT)