For years my family has hunted for the treasure. The pioneer press in conjunction with the “coolest celebration on earth” the Saint Paul Winter Carnival has held this treasure hunt for years.
It starts the Sunday before Carnival with a clue in the paper letting people know its in a park in saint paul.
My old man used to take us kids out with every kind of digging tool known to man. Shovels, rakes, ice choppers, ice pics, hoes, broken broomsticks. One year I remember bringing a paint roller on a long stick just for looks.
He would have us read the clues back to him and would use his powers of elimination to get us to the correct park. One year I remember him putting a coin in the void of a tree in hopes that another hunter would stumble upon it and think they “found the treasure”.
Later in life, brother Fred would get us to help him sell “Hoozier Doggie Hot Dogs” at the parks. We would make a killing! No other food vendors anywhere, and once the hunters smelled the great smell of steamed hot dogs, they lined up and bought hot dogs and talked about theory and clue meaning. One year our hot dog stand was with in feet of the spot where the medallion was found.
Every year I love to dream about finding it. It gets harder and harder because of technology. People at the Pioneer Press office, txting the clues to people at the 10pm nightly release of the next clue. GPS and other tools bring people closer faster.
My thought is to watch the “main” parks early on… See where the clue writer might be placing the treasure well before the snow falls.
This year I would have thought it would go the 12 clues due to the heavy snow fall – but some smart people figured it out on clue #7.
There is always next year! And the dream continues! Thanks Pioneer Press for doing it, and thanks mom and dad for the years and hours we spent as kids looking and digging and dreaming about finding the loot!
