Eagle eyes or no, medallion hunt has stumped - Treasure Hunt could go down as one of the few --

St. Paul Pioneer Press - 02-03-2016

and the first in 12 years -- to reach the final clue

JAIME DELAGE - PIONEER PRESS STAFF WRITER

Unless the hidden medallion turned up sometime between when this edition went to press and 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, the 2016 Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt will be the first in more than a decade that has gone down to the 12th and final clue.

As of Wednesday evening, nearly 23 hours after Clue 11 was published, there still was no clear consensus among hunters about the specific public land where the medallion might be hidden. If the medallion isn't found by 11:59 p.m. Thursday, the official rules say, the Pioneer Press can end the hunt and donate the prize to charity.

The last time the hunt went to the last clue was 2004, when Luis and Virginia Ibarra found the medallion about eight hours after the final clue was published. The medallion was loose in the snow at Phalen Park after apparently being dislodged from the green frosted doughnut it was hidden with.

The doughnut, perhaps eaten by squirrels, was never found.

The final, most-specific clue for the 2016 hunt was made available about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, but Jesse Anibas, author of "Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt History," said he thinks people still will be searching for the medallion well into Thursday.

"I believe it will go to 12 clues, and I think it will go down as the longest hunt on record," Anibas said Wednesday afternoon. "There's a lot of snow out there."

In 66 previous hunts, the medallion always has been found. The latest it turned up was 5 p.m. on the final day of the 1984 hunt, nearly 18 hours after the final clue came out.

Even before a foot of snow fell on much of the hunt area Tuesday and Wednesday, the clues this year have kept hunters scratching their heads longer than usual. After Clue 10, Anibas said hunters still were noodling over Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, Battle Creek and Bald Eagle Lake among other possible hiding sites.

Anibas said he has a park in mind for his final effort, but he's only about 90 percent sure it's the right place.

"I wish I could go 100 at this point, but we could get thrown in another direction with (the final) clue," he said.

Anibas said that while this year's clues have been vague, that's usually the case the year after a short hunt. Last year's medallion was found after just five clues. The last 12-clue hunts, the 2003 medallion in Como Park and the 2004 medallion in Phalen Park, followed a 2002 hunt when the medallion was found after six clues.

"The clue writer this year did exactly what we expected him to do after a short hunt," Anibas said. "If you look back to 2003, the clues were so vague we never got to Como until Clue 11."

Here’s a list of other hunts that went down to the final clue, gleaned from the Anibas book, which is available at his website, www.wintercarnival.mysite.com .

  • 1962: Mr. and Mrs. John Michaud found the medallion about noon in a hard-packed cake of snow on a site leveled out for the future Interstate 35E, just west of Lawson Avenue and Mississippi Street.
  • 1967: Harvey and Rita Etzler found it about 12:45 p.m. in a horseshoe on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds Midway.
  • 1970: Linda and Mary Hollanitsch, Kris Rayment, Margaret Anderson and Jerome Wandschneider found it about 11:30 a.m. in a metal vise on the 50-yard line of the football field at Battle Creek Park.
  • 1971: John F. Fastner found it about noon in the wheel of a baby buggy near the shore of Wakefield Lake.
  • 1973: Michael Hurley, Chris and Todd Bunde and Jim Zielinski found it about noon near a light pole north of the Phalen Park Pavilion.
  • 1978: Bev and Diane Gerber and Rita Taylor found it about 10 a.m. in a frozen ball of watered-down milk near the Harriet Island Pavilion.
  • 1981: Frank Klapak and Wesley Etzler found it about 3 a.m. in two oak leaves near the Acorn Park skating rinks.
  • 1984: Kirk Condie found it about 5 p.m. in a broken 45 record near a Newell Park footpath.
  • 1988: Mike and Donny Madland found it about midnight, shortly after the clue’s release, in a chunk of almond bark near the bathrooms at Tony Schmidt Park in Arden Hills.
  • 1989: Mike and Dan Reinartz and Jim Murphy found it about 1:45 a.m. in a pair of white earmuffs between the hedgerows near the State Capitol Veterans Memorial.
  • 1993: Tom and Dan Opatz, Phil Sinn and Mark Nicklawske found it about 12:15 a.m. in a diaper south of the Hidden Falls picnic area.
  • 1996: Charles Kester and Eric Taylor found it the morning of the final day in a Skoal tin near the Harriet Island picnic shelter.
  • 2003: Michael Corrigan, Craig Black and Josh Stender found it about 11:45 p.m., minutes after release of the final clue, in a block of ice near the old fireplace in Como Park.
  • 2004: Luis and Virginia Ibarra found it about 7:45 a.m. loose in the snow after it fell out of its green frosted doughnut between Round Lake and Lake Phalen at Phalen Park.

    • The medallion will be worth as much as $10,000 if the person who finds it brings it promptly to the Pioneer Press office ($2,500) along with clippings or printouts of all the clues ($2,500) and a St. Paul Winter Carnival button registered to that person by Jan. 22 ($5,000).

    The Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt is presented by Fury Jeep. Rules, clues and discussion boards can be found at TwinCities.com/TreasureHunt. First printed editions of the paper are available about 11:30 p.m. at Gabe's by the Park.