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1999 Pioneer Press Medallion Hunt

Submitted by Casey Trauer on

It's time for the Medallion Hunt! The first clue will appear on PioneerPlanet just after midnight Saturday, Jan. 22. Come back here to compare notes with other treasure seekers, but be certain you read the rules on the Planet's Winter Carnival page.

Wish

Whatcha need, flipnat?

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 4:21 PM Permalink
FOOLED YA

I estimate about 50-75,000 dollars damage to that poor piece of land!

The bushwackers were insane!

A little reflection of our world today!

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 4:30 PM Permalink
lucky

Just some more facts #3 9,5,4, were not adorn the front door they were on a separate wall on the house? #8 you could not see the sunray peaks from the treasure

spot. #11the hockey rinks were not even close to the same size,& their was no ice at the treasure spot. I'm very disapointed with the news paper&how they came

up with these clues.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 4:37 PM Permalink
FOOLED YA

I never expected to find it although if I had, it would have been nice!

All this Circus showed me was that the carnival is becoming more bush league every year!

People are absolutely nuts!!

The Press should be ravaged with picks, shovels, and lanterns, then chased down like Frankenstien!

It was a monsterous blunder that those baffoons pulled on the general public.

The whole media has gone mad with their non-sensical reporting!!!!!!If that's what you'd call it!!!!!!

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 4:42 PM Permalink
SueBee

lucky, I have to agree. I guess they weren't very careful about details. Where do they get 'stretched quite tight' for the croched thing?

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 4:42 PM Permalink
Wish

Why defame the PP???????

They try and do a

NICE

thing by contributing to the ST. PAUL/MINNESOTA Winter Carnival in a POSITIVE way and people complain!!

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 5:28 PM Permalink
Wish

Minnesota Nice

Remember??

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 5:31 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

Boy, I must still be tired. My typing is way off.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 6:43 PM Permalink
Leah Lis

I think we're all tired, I know I survived on miraculously little sleep the past ten days, because I now realize I was over-analyzing every clue! It's sad. I hope next year they do the hunt justice and someone finds it who is really searching.

Has anyone discussed the rumor that the PP just went and threw it in the tree on the last day? How is it possible that tree was missed by the horde?

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 6:47 PM Permalink
Terry

Hello Everyone.

You know, the media has shown up at the dig site just about every year that I can remember - and I've been digging for 29 years....and once the media was covering people who were at the wrong park! I think there has been more people aware of it this year because of the extra money.

We spend lots of time tearing apart clues and trying to find hidden meanings. In the end the trick is to find the right park, make sure you see everything you are supposed to see, pay attention to anything the clues didn't mention so that some obvious park fixture is not very visible and dig. It has worked that way since the beginning of the hunt. Nothing is different this year. It is the luck of the shovel.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 6:47 PM Permalink
Leah Lis

Or that the Med. was actually buried at Conway and the PP dug it up and threw it in a tree? There were NO CLUES on it being in a tree, not like previous years. Oh well, c'est la vie, I guess.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 6:51 PM Permalink
Terry

Leah - Don't believe everything you hear. The medallion finder said it was in the snow. You can hear the audio yourself from the Pioneer Planet front page.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 6:52 PM Permalink
AllieGo

Treasure Digger....Steve and Maureen were humble winners and good people...Neirdork is a jerk and far from humble.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 6:53 PM Permalink
Brian S

The only park I saw on the news was Como. They kept showing these poor misled people thinking they would find it there. That was tuesday while the rest of the world was in Conway. Next year when the prize is back to normal fewer people will be out. I can't wait!!!!

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 6:53 PM Permalink
Leah Lis

I can't wait until next year either. It sounds crazy, but I do hope they reduce the prize $$$.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 6:55 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

Hey, how about a conspiracy theory? The medallion really was hidden by the north/south running utility poles, but when the PP realized they had misprinted the clue Tuesday night they sent a guy to go get the medallion. Then the next day, they arranged to have it "found". They contacted someone on the WC committe who got her boyfriend to "find" it after making a token appearance in the park. Then they changed the explanations of the clues to say it was the hockey rinks they were talking about, as well as changing some other clues to fit the new spot. Some suspicious facts: 1) Someone on the Winter Carnival Button Committee didn't register their button? 2)The medallion was found along a row of trees just as was mentioned in clue #7, yet the explanation doesn't say anything about it being a double meaning. 3)It was found in a container of clean white yarn after having been buried in snow for at least two weeks. 4) The hockey rinks are not the same size. 5) Clue #12 and its explanation was suspiciously absent in the initial posting of the explanations. 6) It is highly uncharacteristic of them to use something as precise and explicit as an address, even if the numbers were scrambled. Plus, that was the first and most commonly dug up stretch of land in the park. Hmmmm.... Believe what you will.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 6:58 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

Not to mention a lot of the important landmarks weren't visible from the hiding place.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:01 PM Permalink
Brian S

The thing I was never looking for was the 9 5 and 4 together. It made it sound like the 4 was somewhere away from the 9 and 5. If I knew I was just looking for

some address combo of 954 on the same door it would have made things a helluva lot easier.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:04 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

Where I was digging the clues made so much sense it was actually a thing of beauty. Where it actually turned up, the whole thing was pretty lame. One would have

expected better in general, but especially this year. Maybe they were at one time.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:05 PM Permalink
Leah Lis

Hmmmm, not to sound like a fanatic, but it sounds pretty convincing to me!!! Anyone who isn't a least a LITTLE suspiscious is naiive, I think.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:05 PM Permalink
Leah Lis

Yeah and I heard someone say that the 4 in the paper read as "sometimes a 4" and on the website it was "somewhere a 4" ???

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:06 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

I heard that too, though it was a little early to fit into the theory.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:10 PM Permalink
Terry

Call me naive then. Everything that was supposed to be there at that spot was there. You could see everything. I know. We spent the better part of Tuesday digging

around that area.

But if everyone wants to believe in conspiracies, go ahead.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:10 PM Permalink
Leah Lis

I guess it just helps in swallowing the bitter pill of not finding it!!! Has anyone here participated in other types of hunts or ones in other states?

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:14 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

Oh but conspiracies are so much fun. Besides, it gives us something to talk about on this board.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:15 PM Permalink
Terry

Leah - There are bock (wooden goat) hunts in Winona at Schell's Brewery on the 13th of February and at Fitger's in Duluth during March. We've done the Fitger's

hunt....and other cooler crew members have done the Schell one. Ittiz great fun...and only lasts part of one day.

I gotta go. Need to take care of some things that haven't been taken care of for too long.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:18 PM Permalink
Wish

Allison

You are such a STAR

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:18 PM Permalink
Leah Lis

I think it's a sickness, this hunting and the fact that I'm here even AFTER it was found!

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:18 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

I don't give a rat's ass that I didn't find it, or that the Hunt is over. Translucent is not transparent, 459 is not a nine and a five, and somewhere a four, etc. etc. etc.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:22 PM Permalink
Ziggy

Here's some more titbits to add to a conspiracy theory, ms wonderland. Yesterday, when i did a search under Aaron Niedorf there were numerous postings under

that name that indicated that he had been hunting for a week or more,but yet in the paper he said he only started this week.And they were almost all mean-spirited

and petty.So today I wanted to look at them again and compare the e-mail address to the posting on the evening of the find from the "nice guy" Aaron. But to my

dismay, THEY ARE ALL GONE!! Could it be that PP doesn't want us to look too close at their new hero? What are the odds of two men hunters with the same

not too common name? There are NONE in th St Paul phone book!

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:22 PM Permalink
Leah Lis

Well thank god for that! I don't think I could take another ten days of hunting! (Although I probably could....)

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:23 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Allison: I did a search for "Conway" and I believe you were the first to mention it. Is this true ??

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:23 PM Permalink
Leah Lis

Yes Paul!! I noticed that too, when i went today to read the posts because I heard everyone talking about him--suddenly it is only him on Feb 3rd. people are saying

that someone posed as him, but how could they pre-pose as him, before he even found it???

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:24 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Paul, it was one of the juveniles screwing around. The name(s) kept changing.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:25 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

As soon as the finder was named, they went to preferences and changed the name they posted under. VERY simple to do.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:27 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

On Tuesday night at 11:30 when the mad rush began at the hockey rinks I decided I didn't want to fight the crowd so I just wandered around and watched. As I

did, I discovered the hockey rinks weren't at all the same size plus I had a few other problems with them. So I went home and found out the clue had been

misprinted. I figured, of course, because there's no way they could have been talking about the rinks. Then I went back at 5AM without sleeping because I thought I

had figured out the true meaning. I dug for four hours before finally giving up. It annoys me now to think that my whole theory was based on the idea that Clue#11

had accurate information in it.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:28 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

I want pictures back !!!!!!!!!

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:28 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Has anyone seen a map pinpointing the location ??

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:31 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

I believe I was the first person to mention Conway on the net. The first time I went out there, there were a couple of people out there, including The Medallion Kid,

but the kid stopped posting and the other people may not be posters here either. So I wasn't necessarily the first person to figure it out, but I may have been the first

to post. I think I was the first to post the Woodrow Wilson thing too, though again, that doesn't necessarily mean I was first to figure it out. But there is some sense

of victory in that. By the way, WishYouWereHere, I hope you're not flirting because Allison is my last name. David is my first.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:34 PM Permalink
Leah Lis

Yeah Ian, but you can't back date it, can you?

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:36 PM Permalink
freshman

how's it going everyone?

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:38 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

I haven't seen anyone produce a map. Maybe they CAN'T! Also, I would find it very very strange if Mr. Nierdorf had been posting here that much and then only

spent such a short time searching. Also, I don't know about those of you, but I would have mentioned this site and these conversations in the interview and I'm sure

the PP would be willing to print such a reference. I just don't see him as a Cooler Crew person.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:38 PM Permalink
freshman

uh-oh, homework is calling, see you all later!

Have a nice day!

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:39 PM Permalink
green

HOLLYWOOD!!! I'M TRYING TO GET REALLY IMPOTENT MAIL TO YOU AND I CAN'T!!! E-MAIL ME SOS I CAN PICK UP YOUR

ADDRESS!!!

NOW!!!

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:45 PM Permalink
J. Damien

THE GAME...WANNA PLAY? Hell yes you do! Hunt the treasure all year round. Game 1 begins May 1st. Pre-register now. jrdamien@yahoo.com

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:47 PM Permalink
Wish

Allison

I wasn't flirting, I just feel like sometimes I know what's going on and other times I don't.......All I know is that some people on here are friends and others aren't and

I DON'T KNOW WHICH IS WHICH.....

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:48 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

Well, I need to go eat and get some work done. I'm sure we can do some more conspiracy theorizing to replace the clue theorizing on Sunday.

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:48 PM Permalink
Wish

I DO know that David Allison sounds familiar though?

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:48 PM Permalink
Allison Wonderland

Well, WishYouWereHere I hope you know I meant that in a joking way. I didn't know anyone here when I started, though I have met a few since. But in that

context, which category does star fall into?

Thu, 02/04/1999 - 7:50 PM Permalink