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Brookfield resident David Harrison organized the "Pokemon Go Danbury Crawl" event, which ran from noon to 6 p.m. He created a Facebook page for the event and invited everyone he knows to it.
One person who came out to play was 25-year-old Danbury resident Angel Benitez. "I've walked 149.52 kilometers playing this game. I played throughout Danbury -- from Main Street to the War Memorial to Tarrywile," said Benitez, who is a factory worker for the Danbury Square Box Co.
Benitez's goal for the day was to find a rare Pokemon, "that we don't have on the Pokedex. If we're lucky, they'll appear," he said. A Pokedex is a mini-encyclopedia of Pokémon species, types, evolutions and moves.
He has already caught two rare Pokemon characters -- "Dragonair" and "Kadabra."
"I need to capture 150 Pokemon. They say in America there are only 142 Pokemon available," he said.
Benitez's friend Nick Musto, 23, of Danbury, was also at the event. He likes going to events such as these because "they bring the community together."
Musto, who works at Men's Wearhouse in Danbury, said he was excited recently when he found a Pikachu character near Smalley's Inn in Carmel, N.Y., in a place "that's supposedly haunted," he said. "I hope to get a good drop today."
According to Musto, there's a Pokemon party every night at Rogers Park. "It starts at about 6 p.m. and goes until 2 or 3 a.m. There are about 60 to 80 people who come out here. We bring Gatorade to keep hydrated and eat pizza and Chinese food," he said.
"We use lanterns to help us look for Pokemon. In the dark, more rare ones appear," Musto said.
"This area is a nice safe place to get people together to play," said Harrison, 29, who works in human resources.
Also at Rogers Park was 45-year-old Mary Siecienski of Danbury, who was playing Pokemon Go with her two children -- Jason, 15 and Megan, 9.
"I play two to three hours a day," said Siecienski. Jason said, "My mom plays 24-7."
"It's a great way to bond with my kids," said Siecienski, who works at the Stop & Shop deli counter.
Sieceienski said she has seen firsthand how the game can get dangerous.
"About a week ago, while we driving by Wooster Cemetery on Ellsworth Street, a man who was behind us drove his car onto the sidewalk and smashed his right front side. I pulled over to ask if he was OK and he told me it happened because he had been playing Pokemon."
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