NEWBURYPORT — The young men of Boy Scout Troop 251 are proud of their hometown and sharing their excitement with the rest of the city by selling their new Newburyport-opoly board game during Invitation Nights.
Assistant Scoutmaster Jeff Gordon said Newburyport-opoly plays similar to the popular Monopoly board game and includes roughly 45 local restaurants and other businesses, such as Tiles Gone Wild and Newburyport Lighting, that are featured as destinations players may be land on along the way.
The board game was created to help raise money for the troop, he said.
“Each space is sponsored by a local business and we have their name on the property card,” Gordon said. “It’s a really neat concept. Because of the generosity of these businesses, we were able to print out about 400 games.”
The Newburyport Boy Scouts began selling the game in the Market Square bullnose during the Invitation Nights celebration Friday night and they will be back for the event’s third outing Friday, Dec. 16.
The games cost $25 each if paying with cash and $26 if paying with credit card. Newburyport-opoly is also being sold at Gordon Rug Company, 149 State St.
“We have a table with one of the games set up as soon as you walk in the door,” Gordon said.
Gordon’s son, Thomas Gordon, is a member of Troop 251 and said the new board game plays very similar to Hasbro’s classic.
“The game is pretty much Monopoly,” the Scout said. “The same rules apply, just in a Newburyport version. All the locations are local companies and restaurants, and it has pictures from Newburyport.”
The younger Gordon also said he has played “a decent amount” of Monopoly in the past and the new board game is even more fun to play because of the local connections.
Thomas has been tasked with overseeing sales of the new board game and said the money raised by Newburyport-opoly will fun Scouting events, activities and camping trips for Troop 251.
“We should get a pretty decent turnout,” he said.
Jeff Gordon said Troop 251 is chartered by The Salvation Army of Newburyport and involved in plenty of community service projects in the city.
“We’re happy to get the word out and let people know who we are,” he said. “We’re here in town and we’re always willing to help people in need. Of course, if anybody wants to sign up and join, we’re more than happy to have more Scouts involved.”
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.