Andrea Harwood Palmer
By Andrea Harwood Palmer
Bryna Haldeman has spent summers in Silver Bay in the town of Hague in Warren County for as long as she can remember.
The 16-year old high school student created the Silver Bay game, a board game utilizing the real-life destinations of Silver Bay.
Haldeman thought of the idea with her grandfather, Bob Haldeman. They worked on the idea together over the years. Bob died not long ago.
“We thought it would be a really fun idea to create a game that would remind people about all the great things in Silver Bay. It’s a way for people, friends and family to enjoy time together,” said Haldeman. “We started writing our ideas on a piece of paper, and it grew from there.”
“It’s a great game, in the board game style. The game path goes in the pattern of an ‘S’ and a ‘B’, for Silver Bay. There’s different destinations on the board, destinations you also find in Silver Bay. You want to get as many destination cards as you can, and that’s how you win,” said Haldeman.
“Silver Bay is a community that is all about being good citizens. So we added Helper Cards to the game,” said Haldeman’s mom, Tracey Haldeman. “We wanted to incorporate that feeling into the game.”
“My favorite thing to do while I’m in Silver Bay is going to the ice cream shop,” said Haldeman, who volunteers to scoop ice cream at the shop during the summer.
Haldeman has a prototype game on hand, and recently launched a Kickstarter campaign (www.kickstarter.com/projects/traceyannh/the-silver-bay-game) to crowd-fund capital for manufacturing and distributing the product. After raising capital, the teen plans to partner with area stores to potentially carry the board game.
During the school year, Haldeman attends a music and art high school in Baltimore. She is a classically trained violinist, considering college for music. “I’m hoping to go professional,” said Haldeman.