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.
You know, I've been thinking. It matters not much when they start publishing the clues....it only matters that they will stop when we find it. The better hunters we are, the sooner it will end.
Greg, I'll photo copy some of this for Green or scan it in and send it to her to type. Then we can get this stuff done. If you are almost done with the 80's, that leaves the 50's, 60's and 70's. I'll get started here and send it to you as an attachment. Which order do you want it in? You might recall that I learned how to do that right after the last hunt. Now I can do that anytime!
I'm back just for a short while. Dinner took me away but I'm tired from an early start this morning. Anyway, back to the hunt! I was at Cherokee Park talking to the man (can't remember his name)who found the medallion last year less than 15 minutes before he found it. I could have killed myself when I found out he found it. I tried to convince the group I was with last year to start digging around that tree on the Saturday before. The others were convinced it was hidden elsewhere in the park. Well, this year I'm going with my own beliefs. My previous thought is that it won't be in a park (possibly the Capital) but I'm not familiar with the northern Ramsey County area. Hopefully, like last year, the clue will tell you if it is in a park. I have a binder full of the last 10 years clues and am studying it daily to get the feel of decoding them. I do know that this chat room helps out a lot with many minds together than just one by itself. I'm anxiously awaiting the first clue. Yes, you're right, I haven't bought a button. I'm doing it tomorrow. I'm not missing out on the extra money.
Treasure, you got any udder stuff, besides the last 10 years of clues? Like pictures, any old stuff? Reason I ask, We're looking for stuff to scan/type/etc. for the Web site, and we have the last ten years of clues.
Also, if you want to put your story down about meeting Steve Hursey, it was he and his sister, Maureen, that found The Med last year, and send it to our Web Master, Greg Sax, it mite go up on the Web site. Check out our Web site - www.coolercrew.com - as we're looking for things, all kinds of stuff, to record for posterity regarding the St. Paul PioneerPress Winter Carnavial Medallion Hunt.
Too, you mite want to check into "Shooting The Breeze With The Cooler Crew." Maureen dropped by tonite - she does occassionally. Quite a large group of Diggers have gathered there over the past year, even meeting in real time like once a month at Patrick McGovern's (we're meeting for a Pre-Hunt get togther on the 23rd) and even cleaning Chair-O-Key Park for Earth Day, volunterring at MomPlant's booth at the Great Minnesota Get-Togehter, and having cookouts during the summer! Don't stay a stranger! Jump in!!!
Green, thanks for the invitation to add information to the CoolerCrew web site. I took pictures last year at Cherokee Park but I'll have to see if I can find them though. I remember the day Steve found the medallion, but I didn't see his sister digging by him. A few days earlier I talked to both of them around the bathrooms during my lunch break. I asked them if they were in the Water Cooler and Maureen said they mainly just read what everyone's ideas were. Anyway, I visited your web site last night. It looks great! It was nice to see that "Mom" was helping out and encouraging your "Cooler Gang" to prepare the information. Unfortunately, I don't have much to donate. I down loaded several maps from the Ramsey County web site of the regional parks as well as any other map that might be useful when reading the clues. I figure if it's in a park this year, a map might come in useful. If you're able to scan maps and place them on the web site, that would be very useful. Also, I find that many people aren't even aware that Ramsey County is as large as it is. A map of Ramsey County indicating all the park (regional/public) would be very useful. Just some suggestions. I've also been looking for these. If I find them, I'll let you know. My neighbor has been doing the hunt for many, many years. I'll see if he might have any info. that you can use. I know that in 1997 when the medallion was found, he was standing right next to the guy. What a feeling to be so close but not close enough. I'll have to check with my better half and see if we can make it down to Patrick McGovern's for the Pre-Hunt party. It sounds like a lot of fun and you and the Cooler Gang has made it last after the hunt was over. I know my plans for the day includes going out and buying a Button and registering it before January 29. I'm not losing out on the extra money. I'll check back here later today. Have a great day fellow hunters!!!!
I really hope its not a $10,000 prize. That is a possible problem too much money can be a bad thing. Some people will stop thinking fun and take it too serious. I think $4000.00 and a $2000.00 bonus would be better, so if you're listening PioneerPlanet pleaze not too much!
Dave, I can fully understand you sentiments... And kind'a even agree - to a point. But knowing me... And the rest of us that have become known as "The Cooler Crew" - we're pretty serious hunters. We'd bee rabid if the prize were only $1.00. We are VERY VERY VERY serious about hunting MomPress' Med. Like sleep deprivation, taking off work... Like the word "obsessive" comes to mind quite readily!!!! ROFLOLPMP!!!
We, and that's including you in that "we", cannot let some dumb folks spoil it for the rest of us. We can bee serious, but we don't have to konk anybuddy over the head with a shovel to get The Med.
You're rite - hunt seriously, but bee good sports and have a good time and fun doing it!!!
And by gods, WE HAVE A BLAST!!!!!
Stop by McGovern's on the 23rd if you can... You'll see The Cooler Crew is nothing but a bunch of fun, zany, laugh-a-lot, *serious* Diggers that are out for a good time. If we can make $10 thou doing it, so much the better!!!
Treasure, yea, that Maureen. SUCH A SCHMOE!!! She came to The First Annual Re-Hash Bash (picnic held in Chair-O-Key the Sun following the finding o'The Wonderful Blue Orb) - along with Steve, and told us how s/he'd lurked and read what was going on and how we were such a great help to then in The Cooler!!! ROFLOLPMP!!! BUT...
Even given THAT, Steve had done all these intricate drawings and paced off stuff, and measured, and thunk, and... Nobuddy else in The Cooler - that I'm aware of - was as close (AS CLOSE!!! THEY FOUND IT FOR CRYING IN A BUCKET!!!) to the correct place as they were. They may have gotten ideas from us, but they did a HUGE TON O'WORK on their own and were rite on the money - literally!!! LOL!!! They found The Med the old fashioned way - they worked for it (with a titch o'luck thrown in!!! <g>)!!!
Yes, we are very proud of our Web site, and what Greg, our Web Master has done. We cannot thank MomPress/Planet enuff for allowing us the space to chronical the years of the Hunt they sponsor - the Hunt we live for and eagerly await each year. It is our hope, dream, goal to have as much history - ALL THE HISTORY - of the 53? 54? 55? years MomPress has been sponsoring this great Hunt. Ittiz slow going, but I think we've done well in one year!!!
Could you email me the addresses of the sites where you got the maps you mentioned? I'd really appreciate it. Maps are always useful. I think you've got a good idea. And read the histories o'the parks - if they give them... Why named, who decided it should be a park, historical battle fought there... Stuff like that. Never know what those damn clues will be about!
Do you know of a site, or even a 'real-time' site where an entire map of Ramsey Conty could bee found??? One that shows the parks??? I think you're on to something!!!
Damn. Reminds me!!! I STILL haven't gotten one of those map - Hudson? - books yet!!! Gotta bee doing that!!!
Your neighbor mite want to rite down about being next to the guy that found The Med in 1997, if he would be so kind, and forward it to Greg. Ittiz stuff just like this we're looking for want/need. A history. More than what can be gleaned from dusty old pages o'MomPress. A "real" history, of real people. You mite ask him... Tell him about the Web site... Just an idea...
Terry Valentine - 08:52pm Jan 9, 1999 CST (#80590 of 80593) Next Shooting the Breeze - Live! Saturday, January 23, 5 pm at Patrick McGovern's. Please e-mail me so that we can make reservations.
Let me do this....in the front of the treasure hunter's guide, the two women who put it together recapped some similarities from one year to the next. That was written in 1986...so these may or may not hold water anymore. Everything from here on out is a quote from the book....and I'll only give what might be pertinent stuff.
First two clues usually give no real information, except that the treasure is on public property and in Ramsey County.
The 3rd clue starts to reveal real information, often using this clue to describe what the medallion is hidden in.
Many clues speak of churches, water, smokestacks, playgrounds, picnic areas making it seem that any park could be the site. The key is to use all the infor and see it from the treasure site.
Another common trait is to take two words in the clue and join them together hinting of nearby streets or other information.
Pay attention to statues, plagues and monuments in the area. Knowing the history often helps too. A name change? Used for something else? The meaning of the park name or surrounding streets?
Treasure Digger: Maps are a very good idea. We'll have to come up with a way to work that into coolercrew.com.
Green: Rabid as ever. Thank you for all the kind words n' stuff, but ..... sshhhh ..... if I have to keep reading your long messages, how am I going to have time to bulk up the website? :^)
Terry: Received the first installment of clues loud and clear. Timely, too. I finally got around to snipping and filing all my material from the 1950s tonight. I'd been putting it off for two years because the task seemed so daunting. You see, these days we get about a half dozen articles about the hunt over its duration, usually thanks to community-minded guys like Soucheray and Walsh -- back then, there'd be 3-4 articles per day with big front-page captions and photos. Perhaps our efforts will put the hunt back on the cover more often.
Greg... Ter e-mailed me my portion, but I couldn't get it to print the way it was, and I've no like photo or picture-whatsawhozzits to open, so she's gonna FAX it to me at work tomorrow and then I'll get going on it!
Green, sorry I haven't been able to connect since yesterday morning. Been out of the house until 12 midnight. Couldn't log on this morning because of the 612/651 change over. Wires must have crossed during the connection. Anyway, the web site for Ramsey County Parks and Recreation is www.co.ramsey.mn.us/Parks/maps. One of the maps shows Ramsey County with numbers in a red circle. Beside the map, it has the number and the name of the park it relates to. Very helpful. Unfortunately, no public parks are listed. Other maps on the web site are copies of each park. They are not the best, but everything helps! Speaking of the Hudson map book, if you don't have one, just look up on the web for directions. There are several web sites that will give you directions to any address. The only down side to this is that you have to have an address. Ramsey County Park and Recreation's phone # is (612) 748-2500. They can easily give you the address (streets)to use. I'll do more checking on this. I remember getting a piece of paper on the vehicle last year at Cherokee Park for ordering a book on the parks of Ramsey County. I sent a letter requesting a copy of the book or to at least reserve a copy. I haven't heard back from anyone on this. Do you know of such a book? It was suppose to really give details of the parks such as groups of trees, colors of buildings, very detailed information. Maybe someone who is on-line might know. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I agree with Dave on the concern about the award being $10,000. There will definitely be more people out there this year hunting. The main thing is that we (all hunters) must remember it's all about having some fun. Yeah, we'll be freezing our buns off, but whatelse could bring such fun while learning more about the Twin Cities and our neighbors. I was really impressed that the gang returned to Cherokee Park and helped clean it up. The homeowners around the park must have been very happy to see everyone there. It was sad when it came to the last clues how people stopped caring about picking up after themselves. It comes down to respecting everyone who is out there looking and respecting our parks or wherever the medallion will be hidden. After all, when you think of a "Carnival" you think of people having fun. My thanks to "Mom" for having the Winter Carnival and the "Medallion Hunt" and allowing us to come out of our homes to enjoy winter with a chance of becoming a little wealthier.
I found my copy of Parks and Public Places in Ramsey County. It was prepared by the Friends of the Parks and Trails of St. Paul and Ramsey County, which is a non-profit group that promotes the parks and trails in the county.
There is an address to send $8.00 to for a copy, but I have no idea if that is valid any longer. The copyright in the book is 1994.
There are some park directors and assistant park directors listed as having helped with the preparation of the book. They are Greg Mack, Park Director and Jody Yungers, Assistant Park Director of Ramsey County. Maybe the county offices would know how to reach one or both of them. Others listed are Park Directors for all municipalities in Ramsey County, the DNR, St. Paul Water Utility, the State of Minnesota, the Ramsey County Historical Society, the U of M and the St. Paul Convention and Visitors Bureau.
My guess is that contacting a Ramsey or St. Paul park, you might get better information about obtaining a copy.
This is a publication that is public information, so here is the address to send $8.00 for a copy of the book. 1621 Beechwood Ave., St. Paul, MN 55116.
The book is 64 pages of good information and some maps. Though I would not buy this book for the maps. They are general overviews of an area....not of the kind of detail that hunters use. The information about picnic shelters, water, play equipment, swimming, ball fields, ice rinks, etc. etc. is good to have.
I think the book the "Treasure Digger" is talking about is called "St. Paul Parks - A Treasure Hunter's Guide". It was put out in 1996 by Hunter's Press. The address in this book is 2141 Palace Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105. It has very good maps of the parks in St. Paul, but one of these years they are going to take us to one of the suburbs. I got my book at "The Map Store" in downtown St. Paul. Good Luck, see you out there.
I am so psyched for this I can't sit still.... I have the Hunter's Press guide also with very detailed maps of Ramsey County's parks.... it's a great book to use.
My gut tells me that Phalen is also way, way overdue and that it is big enough to handle the surely gigantic crowd this year.....
I'll try to make McGoverns but can't wait to hunt with you guys regardless..... Stay Loose,
Hollywood!!! Man, where you've been? You've been mizzed!!!
Have you checked out our Web site? There's a pic o'you and me there!!!
Greg (Ter) - I got the 70's clues from Ter today, and they're TERRIBLE. Hard to understand - the format they're in... Ter, did you type verbatim like they are and send to Greg? What I'm thinking of doing is typing in the same format as he's got for like 1998, then all he has to do is change the fonts to match, and maybee work on the returns/lines.
Or, do we want this to bee just like in the book????
Please advise.
Hollywood, if ittiz in Phalen, you'll hear me scream for the next year!!! I've been saying that for like WEEKS!!!! Would THAT ever bee a stitch an'a half!!! green getting SOMETHING rite!!!! ROFLOLPMPCOOSBAG!!!
My thinking, find Chair-O-Key on a map and then head NNE to a large park outside the city limits. Thass gonna bee the park... Yup. YOU BETCHA!!
Can I tell you guys??? I wore (count them) last year's Med Hunt button, my "You Dig" button, and all four o'this year's buttons to the airport to meet Moon. Guess who set off the alarm!!! I had to remove my pith helmet, all the coins in my pockets, a pager and do the "spread your legs/hold out your arms"-thingy. It was really WEIRD. Not to mention folks were looking at this weird person with green pom-poms hanging outta her back pockets - all the while getting batoned by the security guard.
Yes! The Cooler Crew makes a statement where ever a single one o'them goes!!! LOL!!!
Most years clues name or relate to a specific street name, a list of street names around each park would be very helpful. I have a list for Cair-o-kee but that won't help us much this year. I Live in White Bear and can start a list of streets and monuments in NE Ramsey.
Green, I typed them mostly as is...but in stanza lines. You'll pick up on that. The ends of the lines rhyme. I also put in italics the key explanations given if any. I ended up doing two columns, labeled what year and where it was found and just kept going..Clue #1, Clue #2, etc. Ended up being 11 pages for the 10 years of the 60's. Did it in font size 12...except for the year and where it was found which I did in 14 point. Why don't I send you what I sent Greg. Maybe you could use that format.
Hollywood and New Daddy! Great seeing you both here! This year the cooler crew will walk away the winners of $10,000!!!!!!!!
Ter, I'm gonna format mine like 1998. Put the xplination after the clue, instead off to the side. I already figured I'd do the 'boxed' words in italics...
Heh, wow, I didn't know the caliber of the clique that this place has formed. :) This ought to be a good one. I'll try to make mcgoverns, but I might be a little late, if I have to close my store that day.
I put in my two weeks today, convienently ending employment as the medallion hunt becomes a factor. :) >maniachal laugh< This ought to be good. Gonna have to check out that website as soon as I post this. Keep warm, everyone, don't spend too much money on gear.
S'good to see some familiar names wandering back into the fold. That photo still weirds me out, Matt, but weird can be good, too.
Ter & Green: Formatting is only useful for me visually prior to my HTMLing. I like to see bold Clue Number over normal stanza text and a bigger font size bold for the year noted. Otherwise, you can skip underlining and there's no need for explanations. Once again, I got a late start on what you sent me, but I'm still getting my own notes in a usable order for comparing your source vs. the real source. Right away I ran into trouble with '53. You have the clues for one of the hunts but I'm still going to have to do the clues from the other hunt myself. Punctuation is only a slight extra on this end. Explanations will certainly add time, so if I find that they're bogging me down too much as the hunt approaches, I'll post the clues without them until I can find time to research my set of articles for cutesy stuff to sprinkle in. Overall, thanks big on this. It's not all going to happen before this hunt, but what fun would that be anyway? Believe me, listing the clues is just scratching the surface anyway. But it's a start...
All Others: I hope you often visit the website built for folks like you. It's going to grow daily from here into the hunt. Just by visiting this area this early tells me that you care about the hunt as much for its community value as its monetary reward.
...and believe me you, I'm just as eager to grab at that $10K plan.
A guy in my office said he bought his button this weekend. He said that the award for finding the button this year is not $10,000 cash but rather it is valued at $10,000. The winner gets the opportunity to go on RMS Titanic salvation ship to recover artifacts of the Titanic. What's everyone's idea on this? Do we know if there's the opportunity to choose the trip or $10,000 cash? If we do not have the choice and have to take the trip, I'll have to pass on the hunting this year which is very disappointing.
Just checked out the website, its top quality - kudos to you, Saxman, Terry, etc. on the great job! We will absolutely kick ass this year - I have a lead on renting an RV from a friend to use as possible cooler crew headquarter's if we can arrange some sort of reasonable group funding....
The reason I'm convinced it will be in (the ST. Paul part of) Phalen is that the park is way overdue (twice at Como and Cherokee since last Phalen) and that it can handle the larger than usual crowd that the $10k prize will draw. Highland would be a reasonable alternate guess....
Remember gang - "If you ever go searching for your heart's desire beyond your own backyard, you probably never lost it to begin with....." (Dorothy Gail - waking up at the end of The Wizard of Oz)
To Treasure Digger - Directly quoted from the card the button is attached to:
Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt Rules: The Pioneer Press is solely responsible for all monetary awards for the official Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt. An award of $5,000 will be presented in exchange for the offical Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt medallion. If the finder has a properly registered 1999 Winter Carnival button, he/she will receive an additional $5,000.
It then continues to make statements about taxes and who is not eligible to hunt.
You can also have a chance to win other prizes including searching for artifacts aboard the RMS Titantic, Inc., round trip airline tickets for anywhere in the USA, Canada or Mexico, BWCA adventure for 5 days, a weekend getaway or dinner for two and a hotel package.
Your friend needs to read his card again, me thinks. The prize for the medallion is $10,000 with a registered button.
Greg - I learned something new! I didn't realize there were two hunts in 1953. Of course I was only a few months old at the time, so I would not have brought that out of my memory banks! LOL!!!!
Can I make a suggestion oh wonderful webmaster? Let's get the clues posted if you're running out of time....and the explanations can follow later. At least they'll be there for any comparison of like clues for certain parks.
Great job on the website, Greg! The updates are always fun to find!
Thanks, Terry! I'm glad to hear that the money is still available. I went to a Super America by my work, but they did not have any. As a matter of fact, it sounded as if they aren't going to get any. I'll have to try other resources. I'm not missing out on this hunt. Also, thanks A.D. That's exactly the book I was looking for. A trip to St. Paul is now added to my list of "Treasure Things To Do". Now, places to dig. Como Park is large enough to hold lots of people. It's been a few years since the medallion's been there. If Maplewood is out, then wouldn't Phalen Park be out of our possible guesses? Or is it not considered part of Maplewood.
This Message is to Steve Worthman or anyone with knowledge on "the book". Just curious if you can still buy the book at The Hungry Mind bookstore in St. Paul, and if there is an updated version there was talk last year of a new edition, is it out?? Thanx
Treasure Digger - Phalen is a St. Paul Park. Part of the lake is actually in Maplewood, but that would not effect the park and the hunt part of things.
I got my buttons at a Snyder's Drug Store in Roseville.
Does anyone know a place to get miner's hats with lights?
Sorry for this to everyone it doesn't concern, but I'm left with no choice but to post this e-mail message here:
I got a message signed "Dave" with an e-mail name/address of "Groucho" / Me@Home.Com regarding contributing to the coolercrew website. I wrote a nice letter of response, so I want somebody to read it.
Groucho wrote:
I don't know how far you plan to go in the future, but i was developing a site with much the same information, except I am planning on adding many maps acquired over the years and an in depth description of each park in St. Paul first, and eventually I will get to all of Ramsey county.
My response:
This sounds cool to me. I'd definitely rather you contributed to the existing www.coolercrew.com/medallion.html website as it's supported by the Pioneer Press. It's there for medallion hunt hobbyists like you and me to help make it more complete, and thus far they've pretty much let me put up what I want without a fuss.
We're very much in need of some photo/image material, which it sounds like you're prepared to provide over time. If you're good with image editing and HTML, all the more bonus. Maps were brought up earlier in this thread and I did check out www.co.ramsey.mn.us/Parks/maps/ which could be good for some parks. I have to believe the city has something similar for its maps, but I haven't had time to check for myself. If you've been accumulating scannable or digitized maps on your own, I do hope you would consider helping to make the coolercrew site bigger and better. And if you're getting a digital camera.....don't get me started.
So I've displayed my interest. The medallion site is growing-growing and it won't be even close to reaching its maximum potential by the time the '99 hunt starts, but it's well more than what we had last year (i.e., nothing). I'd love your help. You'd get credit for anything you did the way others have received credit for what they do.
Again, sorry for the one-to-one letter. However, this type of sentiment does crossover to anyone else who's interested in contributing to the medallion website. It's there for you. It's not my server space; I'm not paying for it; I just edit, manage, and write some of it.
Joe!
You know, I've been thinking. It matters not much when they start publishing the clues....it only matters that they will stop when we find it. The better hunters we are, the sooner it will end.
Greg, I'll photo copy some of this for Green or scan it in and send it to her to type. Then we can get this stuff done. If you are almost done with the 80's, that leaves the 50's, 60's and 70's. I'll get started here and send it to you as an attachment. Which order do you want it in? You might recall that I learned how to do that right after the last hunt. Now I can do that anytime!
I hope we're bad hunters... I don't want it to end!!!
Just make it in a form sumbuddy can *open*, Ter!!! LOL!!!
Okay Miss Typsit, I'll send it to you in a form you can open. If one way doesn't work, another one will. Which decade do you want to type?
Yeah...I scanned a doc and sent it to someone and they couldn't open it..needed adobe photo shop or something like that , and it was text.
Green sent us stuff this summer for volunteering out at the fair. It took an act of congress to get that in readable form!
But that was from MomPlanet. Wasn't my fault.
I don't give a rip, Ter. Just send me one.
(And my very *own* Joe!!!)
I'm back just for a short while. Dinner took me away but I'm tired from an early start this morning. Anyway, back to the hunt! I was at Cherokee Park talking to the man (can't remember his name)who found the medallion last year less than 15 minutes before he found it. I could have killed myself when I found out he found it. I tried to convince the group I was with last year to start digging around that tree on the Saturday before. The others were convinced it was hidden elsewhere in the park. Well, this year I'm going with my own beliefs. My previous thought is that it won't be in a park (possibly the Capital) but I'm not familiar with the northern Ramsey County area. Hopefully, like last year, the clue will tell you if it is in a park. I have a binder full of the last 10 years clues and am studying it daily to get the feel of decoding them. I do know that this chat room helps out a lot with many minds together than just one by itself. I'm anxiously awaiting the first clue. Yes, you're right, I haven't bought a button. I'm doing it tomorrow. I'm not missing out on the extra money.
Treasure, you got any udder stuff, besides the last 10 years of clues? Like pictures, any old stuff? Reason I ask, We're looking for stuff to scan/type/etc. for the Web site, and we have the last ten years of clues.
Also, if you want to put your story down about meeting Steve Hursey, it was he and his sister, Maureen, that found The Med last year, and send it to our Web Master, Greg Sax, it mite go up on the Web site. Check out our Web site - www.coolercrew.com - as we're looking for things, all kinds of stuff, to record for posterity regarding the St. Paul PioneerPress Winter Carnavial Medallion Hunt.
Too, you mite want to check into "Shooting The Breeze With The Cooler Crew." Maureen dropped by tonite - she does occassionally. Quite a large group of Diggers have gathered there over the past year, even meeting in real time like once a month at Patrick McGovern's (we're meeting for a Pre-Hunt get togther on the 23rd) and even cleaning Chair-O-Key Park for Earth Day, volunterring at MomPlant's booth at the Great Minnesota Get-Togehter, and having cookouts during the summer! Don't stay a stranger! Jump in!!!
Green, thanks for the invitation to add information to the CoolerCrew web site. I took pictures last year at Cherokee Park but I'll have to see if I can find them though. I remember the day Steve found the medallion, but I didn't see his sister digging by him. A few days earlier I talked to both of them around the bathrooms during my lunch break. I asked them if they were in the Water Cooler and Maureen said they mainly just read what everyone's ideas were. Anyway, I visited your web site last night. It looks great! It was nice to see that "Mom" was helping out and encouraging your "Cooler Gang" to prepare the information. Unfortunately, I don't have much to donate. I down loaded several maps from the Ramsey County web site of the regional parks as well as any other map that might be useful when reading the clues. I figure if it's in a park this year, a map might come in useful. If you're able to scan maps and place them on the web site, that would be very useful. Also, I find that many people aren't even aware that Ramsey County is as large as it is. A map of Ramsey County indicating all the park (regional/public) would be very useful. Just some suggestions. I've also been looking for these. If I find them, I'll let you know. My neighbor has been doing the hunt for many, many years. I'll see if he might have any info. that you can use. I know that in 1997 when the medallion was found, he was standing right next to the guy. What a feeling to be so close but not close enough. I'll have to check with my better half and see if we can make it down to Patrick McGovern's for the Pre-Hunt party. It sounds like a lot of fun and you and the Cooler Gang has made it last after the hunt was over. I know my plans for the day includes going out and buying a Button and registering it before January 29. I'm not losing out on the extra money. I'll check back here later today. Have a great day fellow hunters!!!!
I really hope its not a $10,000 prize. That is a possible problem too much money can be a bad thing. Some people will stop thinking fun and take it too serious. I think $4000.00 and a $2000.00 bonus would be better, so if you're listening PioneerPlanet pleaze not too much!
Too late! Ittiz $10,000. Says so on the registration cards the buttons come on.
Dave, I can fully understand you sentiments... And kind'a even agree - to a point. But knowing me... And the rest of us that have become known as "The Cooler Crew" - we're pretty serious hunters. We'd bee rabid if the prize were only $1.00. We are VERY VERY VERY serious about hunting MomPress' Med. Like sleep deprivation, taking off work... Like the word "obsessive" comes to mind quite readily!!!! ROFLOLPMP!!!
We, and that's including you in that "we", cannot let some dumb folks spoil it for the rest of us. We can bee serious, but we don't have to konk anybuddy over the head with a shovel to get The Med.
You're rite - hunt seriously, but bee good sports and have a good time and fun doing it!!!
And by gods, WE HAVE A BLAST!!!!!
Stop by McGovern's on the 23rd if you can... You'll see The Cooler Crew is nothing but a bunch of fun, zany, laugh-a-lot, *serious* Diggers that are out for a good time. If we can make $10 thou doing it, so much the better!!!
Join us!!!
Treasure, yea, that Maureen. SUCH A SCHMOE!!! She came to The First Annual Re-Hash Bash (picnic held in Chair-O-Key the Sun following the finding o'The Wonderful Blue Orb) - along with Steve, and told us how s/he'd lurked and read what was going on and how we were such a great help to then in The Cooler!!! ROFLOLPMP!!! BUT...
Even given THAT, Steve had done all these intricate drawings and paced off stuff, and measured, and thunk, and... Nobuddy else in The Cooler - that I'm aware of - was as close (AS CLOSE!!! THEY FOUND IT FOR CRYING IN A BUCKET!!!) to the correct place as they were. They may have gotten ideas from us, but they did a HUGE TON O'WORK on their own and were rite on the money - literally!!! LOL!!! They found The Med the old fashioned way - they worked for it (with a titch o'luck thrown in!!! <g>)!!!
Yes, we are very proud of our Web site, and what Greg, our Web Master has done. We cannot thank MomPress/Planet enuff for allowing us the space to chronical the years of the Hunt they sponsor - the Hunt we live for and eagerly await each year. It is our hope, dream, goal to have as much history - ALL THE HISTORY - of the 53? 54? 55? years MomPress has been sponsoring this great Hunt. Ittiz slow going, but I think we've done well in one year!!!
Could you email me the addresses of the sites where you got the maps you mentioned? I'd really appreciate it. Maps are always useful. I think you've got a good idea. And read the histories o'the parks - if they give them... Why named, who decided it should be a park, historical battle fought there... Stuff like that. Never know what those damn clues will be about!
Do you know of a site, or even a 'real-time' site where an entire map of Ramsey Conty could bee found??? One that shows the parks??? I think you're on to something!!!
Damn. Reminds me!!! I STILL haven't gotten one of those map - Hudson? - books yet!!! Gotta bee doing that!!!
Your neighbor mite want to rite down about being next to the guy that found The Med in 1997, if he would be so kind, and forward it to Greg. Ittiz stuff just like this we're looking for want/need. A history. More than what can be gleaned from dusty old pages o'MomPress. A "real" history, of real people. You mite ask him... Tell him about the Web site... Just an idea...
Terry Valentine - 08:52pm Jan 9, 1999 CST (#80590 of 80593) Next Shooting the Breeze - Live! Saturday, January 23, 5 pm at Patrick McGovern's. Please e-mail me so that we can make reservations.
Let me do this....in the front of the treasure hunter's guide, the two women who put it together recapped some similarities from one year to the next. That was written in 1986...so these may or may not hold water anymore. Everything from here on out is a quote from the book....and I'll only give what might be pertinent stuff.
First two clues usually give no real information, except that the treasure is on public property and in Ramsey County.
The 3rd clue starts to reveal real information, often using this clue to describe what the medallion is hidden in.
Many clues speak of churches, water, smokestacks, playgrounds, picnic areas making it seem that any park could be the site. The key is to use all the infor and see it from the treasure site.
Another common trait is to take two words in the clue and join them together hinting of nearby streets or other information.
Pay attention to statues, plagues and monuments in the area. Knowing the history often helps too. A name change? Used for something else? The meaning of the park name or surrounding streets?
Treasure Digger: Maps are a very good idea. We'll have to come up with a way to work that into coolercrew.com.
Green: Rabid as ever. Thank you for all the kind words n' stuff, but ..... sshhhh ..... if I have to keep reading your long messages, how am I going to have time to bulk up the website? :^)
Terry: Received the first installment of clues loud and clear. Timely, too. I finally got around to snipping and filing all my material from the 1950s tonight. I'd been putting it off for two years because the task seemed so daunting. You see, these days we get about a half dozen articles about the hunt over its duration, usually thanks to community-minded guys like Soucheray and Walsh -- back then, there'd be 3-4 articles per day with big front-page captions and photos. Perhaps our efforts will put the hunt back on the cover more often.
Greg... Ter e-mailed me my portion, but I couldn't get it to print the way it was, and I've no like photo or picture-whatsawhozzits to open, so she's gonna FAX it to me at work tomorrow and then I'll get going on it!
Green, sorry I haven't been able to connect since yesterday morning. Been out of the house until 12 midnight. Couldn't log on this morning because of the 612/651 change over. Wires must have crossed during the connection. Anyway, the web site for Ramsey County Parks and Recreation is www.co.ramsey.mn.us/Parks/maps. One of the maps shows Ramsey County with numbers in a red circle. Beside the map, it has the number and the name of the park it relates to. Very helpful. Unfortunately, no public parks are listed. Other maps on the web site are copies of each park. They are not the best, but everything helps! Speaking of the Hudson map book, if you don't have one, just look up on the web for directions. There are several web sites that will give you directions to any address. The only down side to this is that you have to have an address. Ramsey County Park and Recreation's phone # is (612) 748-2500. They can easily give you the address (streets)to use. I'll do more checking on this. I remember getting a piece of paper on the vehicle last year at Cherokee Park for ordering a book on the parks of Ramsey County. I sent a letter requesting a copy of the book or to at least reserve a copy. I haven't heard back from anyone on this. Do you know of such a book? It was suppose to really give details of the parks such as groups of trees, colors of buildings, very detailed information. Maybe someone who is on-line might know. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I agree with Dave on the concern about the award being $10,000. There will definitely be more people out there this year hunting. The main thing is that we (all hunters) must remember it's all about having some fun. Yeah, we'll be freezing our buns off, but whatelse could bring such fun while learning more about the Twin Cities and our neighbors. I was really impressed that the gang returned to Cherokee Park and helped clean it up. The homeowners around the park must have been very happy to see everyone there. It was sad when it came to the last clues how people stopped caring about picking up after themselves. It comes down to respecting everyone who is out there looking and respecting our parks or wherever the medallion will be hidden. After all, when you think of a "Carnival" you think of people having fun. My thanks to "Mom" for having the Winter Carnival and the "Medallion Hunt" and allowing us to come out of our homes to enjoy winter with a chance of becoming a little wealthier.
Treasure Hunter - There is a book. I had a copy of it around here somewhere. When I dig it up, I'll post any info about getting copies of it here.
I found my copy of Parks and Public Places in Ramsey County. It was prepared by the Friends of the Parks and Trails of St. Paul and Ramsey County, which is a non-profit group that promotes the parks and trails in the county.
There is an address to send $8.00 to for a copy, but I have no idea if that is valid any longer. The copyright in the book is 1994.
There are some park directors and assistant park directors listed as having helped with the preparation of the book. They are Greg Mack, Park Director and Jody Yungers, Assistant Park Director of Ramsey County. Maybe the county offices would know how to reach one or both of them. Others listed are Park Directors for all municipalities in Ramsey County, the DNR, St. Paul Water Utility, the State of Minnesota, the Ramsey County Historical Society, the U of M and the St. Paul Convention and Visitors Bureau.
My guess is that contacting a Ramsey or St. Paul park, you might get better information about obtaining a copy.
This is a publication that is public information, so here is the address to send $8.00 for a copy of the book. 1621 Beechwood Ave., St. Paul, MN 55116.
The book is 64 pages of good information and some maps. Though I would not buy this book for the maps. They are general overviews of an area....not of the kind of detail that hunters use. The information about picnic shelters, water, play equipment, swimming, ball fields, ice rinks, etc. etc. is good to have.
Hope this helps.
I think the book the "Treasure Digger" is talking about is called "St. Paul Parks - A Treasure Hunter's Guide". It was put out in 1996 by Hunter's Press. The address in this book is 2141 Palace Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105. It has very good maps of the parks in St. Paul, but one of these years they are going to take us to one of the suburbs. I got my book at "The Map Store" in downtown St. Paul. Good Luck, see you out there.
Hey Gang!!!
I am so psyched for this I can't sit still.... I have the Hunter's Press guide also with very detailed maps of Ramsey County's parks.... it's a great book to use.
My gut tells me that Phalen is also way, way overdue and that it is big enough to handle the surely gigantic crowd this year.....
I'll try to make McGoverns but can't wait to hunt with you guys regardless..... Stay Loose,
Dave (hollywood)
Hollywood!!! Man, where you've been? You've been mizzed!!!
Have you checked out our Web site? There's a pic o'you and me there!!!
Greg (Ter) - I got the 70's clues from Ter today, and they're TERRIBLE. Hard to understand - the format they're in... Ter, did you type verbatim like they are and send to Greg? What I'm thinking of doing is typing in the same format as he's got for like 1998, then all he has to do is change the fonts to match, and maybee work on the returns/lines.
Or, do we want this to bee just like in the book????
Please advise.
Hollywood, if ittiz in Phalen, you'll hear me scream for the next year!!! I've been saying that for like WEEKS!!!! Would THAT ever bee a stitch an'a half!!! green getting SOMETHING rite!!!! ROFLOLPMPCOOSBAG!!!
My thinking, find Chair-O-Key on a map and then head NNE to a large park outside the city limits. Thass gonna bee the park... Yup. YOU BETCHA!!
Can I tell you guys??? I wore (count them) last year's Med Hunt button, my "You Dig" button, and all four o'this year's buttons to the airport to meet Moon. Guess who set off the alarm!!! I had to remove my pith helmet, all the coins in my pockets, a pager and do the "spread your legs/hold out your arms"-thingy. It was really WEIRD. Not to mention folks were looking at this weird person with green pom-poms hanging outta her back pockets - all the while getting batoned by the security guard.
Yes! The Cooler Crew makes a statement where ever a single one o'them goes!!! LOL!!!
Most years clues name or relate to a specific street name, a list of street names around each park would be very helpful. I have a list for Cair-o-kee but that won't help us much this year. I Live in White Bear and can start a list of streets and monuments in NE Ramsey.
Daddy... What's around No St Paul? Any large parks? The Med's never been hid there... Too, you in Ramsey? What's around you???????
Not such a New Daddy anymore, are ya?!!! Baby Boy's over a year now... He gonna help dig?
I'd start w/making o'list o'parks and public/county areas, then list the streets monuments around/in/near each park...
Yust a thought! What do I know? *I* didn't find The Med last year!!! LOL!
Green, I typed them mostly as is...but in stanza lines. You'll pick up on that. The ends of the lines rhyme. I also put in italics the key explanations given if any. I ended up doing two columns, labeled what year and where it was found and just kept going..Clue #1, Clue #2, etc. Ended up being 11 pages for the 10 years of the 60's. Did it in font size 12...except for the year and where it was found which I did in 14 point. Why don't I send you what I sent Greg. Maybe you could use that format.
Hollywood and New Daddy! Great seeing you both here! This year the cooler crew will walk away the winners of $10,000!!!!!!!!
Ter, I'm gonna format mine like 1998. Put the xplination after the clue, instead off to the side. I already figured I'd do the 'boxed' words in italics...
That's what I did. For the 50's, I underlined the boxed word(s).
For the 60's, I just did the explanations under the clues.
Heh, wow, I didn't know the caliber of the clique that this place has formed. :) This ought to be a good one. I'll try to make mcgoverns, but I might be a little late, if I have to close my store that day.
I put in my two weeks today, convienently ending employment as the medallion hunt becomes a factor. :) >maniachal laugh< This ought to be good. Gonna have to check out that website as soon as I post this. Keep warm, everyone, don't spend too much money on gear.
S'good to see some familiar names wandering back into the fold. That photo still weirds me out, Matt, but weird can be good, too.
Ter & Green: Formatting is only useful for me visually prior to my HTMLing. I like to see bold Clue Number over normal stanza text and a bigger font size bold for the year noted. Otherwise, you can skip underlining and there's no need for explanations. Once again, I got a late start on what you sent me, but I'm still getting my own notes in a usable order for comparing your source vs. the real source. Right away I ran into trouble with '53. You have the clues for one of the hunts but I'm still going to have to do the clues from the other hunt myself. Punctuation is only a slight extra on this end. Explanations will certainly add time, so if I find that they're bogging me down too much as the hunt approaches, I'll post the clues without them until I can find time to research my set of articles for cutesy stuff to sprinkle in. Overall, thanks big on this. It's not all going to happen before this hunt, but what fun would that be anyway? Believe me, listing the clues is just scratching the surface anyway. But it's a start...
Ter & Green: BTW, .rtf works best.
All Others: I hope you often visit the website built for folks like you. It's going to grow daily from here into the hunt. Just by visiting this area this early tells me that you care about the hunt as much for its community value as its monetary reward.
...and believe me you, I'm just as eager to grab at that $10K plan.
Good Morning!
A guy in my office said he bought his button this weekend. He said that the award for finding the button this year is not $10,000 cash but rather it is valued at $10,000. The winner gets the opportunity to go on RMS Titanic salvation ship to recover artifacts of the Titanic. What's everyone's idea on this? Do we know if there's the opportunity to choose the trip or $10,000 cash? If we do not have the choice and have to take the trip, I'll have to pass on the hunting this year which is very disappointing.
Hey Green - it's great to be back!!!!
Just checked out the website, its top quality - kudos to you, Saxman, Terry, etc. on the great job! We will absolutely kick ass this year - I have a lead on renting an RV from a friend to use as possible cooler crew headquarter's if we can arrange some sort of reasonable group funding....
The reason I'm convinced it will be in (the ST. Paul part of) Phalen is that the park is way overdue (twice at Como and Cherokee since last Phalen) and that it can handle the larger than usual crowd that the $10k prize will draw. Highland would be a reasonable alternate guess....
Remember gang - "If you ever go searching for your heart's desire beyond your own backyard, you probably never lost it to begin with....." (Dorothy Gail - waking up at the end of The Wizard of Oz)
Peace,
Dave (Hollywood)
,
To Treasure Digger - Directly quoted from the card the button is attached to:
Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt Rules: The Pioneer Press is solely responsible for all monetary awards for the official Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt. An award of $5,000 will be presented in exchange for the offical Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt medallion. If the finder has a properly registered 1999 Winter Carnival button, he/she will receive an additional $5,000.
It then continues to make statements about taxes and who is not eligible to hunt.
You can also have a chance to win other prizes including searching for artifacts aboard the RMS Titantic, Inc., round trip airline tickets for anywhere in the USA, Canada or Mexico, BWCA adventure for 5 days, a weekend getaway or dinner for two and a hotel package.
Your friend needs to read his card again, me thinks. The prize for the medallion is $10,000 with a registered button.
Greg - I learned something new! I didn't realize there were two hunts in 1953. Of course I was only a few months old at the time, so I would not have brought that out of my memory banks! LOL!!!!
Can I make a suggestion oh wonderful webmaster? Let's get the clues posted if you're running out of time....and the explanations can follow later. At least they'll be there for any comparison of like clues for certain parks.
Great job on the website, Greg! The updates are always fun to find!
Where did my message go?
Thanks, Terry! I'm glad to hear that the money is still available. I went to a Super America by my work, but they did not have any. As a matter of fact, it sounded as if they aren't going to get any. I'll have to try other resources. I'm not missing out on this hunt. Also, thanks A.D. That's exactly the book I was looking for. A trip to St. Paul is now added to my list of "Treasure Things To Do". Now, places to dig. Como Park is large enough to hold lots of people. It's been a few years since the medallion's been there. If Maplewood is out, then wouldn't Phalen Park be out of our possible guesses? Or is it not considered part of Maplewood.
This Message is to Steve Worthman or anyone with knowledge on "the book". Just curious if you can still buy the book at The Hungry Mind bookstore in St. Paul, and if there is an updated version there was talk last year of a new edition, is it out?? Thanx
Treasure Digger - Phalen is a St. Paul Park. Part of the lake is actually in Maplewood, but that would not effect the park and the hunt part of things.
I got my buttons at a Snyder's Drug Store in Roseville.
Does anyone know a place to get miner's hats with lights?
"Won't be fooled again !"
gotta find my buttons, I give up on SA
try fleet farm
Sorry for this to everyone it doesn't concern, but I'm left with no choice but to post this e-mail message here:
I got a message signed "Dave" with an e-mail name/address of "Groucho" / Me@Home.Com regarding contributing to the coolercrew website. I wrote a nice letter of response, so I want somebody to read it.
Groucho wrote:
I don't know how far you plan to go in the future, but i was developing a site with much the same information, except I am planning on adding many maps acquired over the years and an in depth description of each park in St. Paul first, and eventually I will get to all of Ramsey county.
My response:
This sounds cool to me. I'd definitely rather you contributed to the existing www.coolercrew.com/medallion.html website as it's supported by the Pioneer Press. It's there for medallion hunt hobbyists like you and me to help make it more complete, and thus far they've pretty much let me put up what I want without a fuss.
We're very much in need of some photo/image material, which it sounds like you're prepared to provide over time. If you're good with image editing and HTML, all the more bonus. Maps were brought up earlier in this thread and I did check out www.co.ramsey.mn.us/Parks/maps/ which could be good for some parks. I have to believe the city has something similar for its maps, but I haven't had time to check for myself. If you've been accumulating scannable or digitized maps on your own, I do hope you would consider helping to make the coolercrew site bigger and better. And if you're getting a digital camera.....don't get me started.
So I've displayed my interest. The medallion site is growing-growing and it won't be even close to reaching its maximum potential by the time the '99 hunt starts, but it's well more than what we had last year (i.e., nothing). I'd love your help. You'd get credit for anything you did the way others have received credit for what they do.
Greg Sax
Webmaster
Cooler Crew
Again, sorry for the one-to-one letter. However, this type of sentiment does crossover to anyone else who's interested in contributing to the medallion website. It's there for you. It's not my server space; I'm not paying for it; I just edit, manage, and write some of it.
Hey Treasure Digger nice Icons . . . er I mean Icon. See you out in the trenches. Go Vikings!!!
Phalen Park
Here ya go, mz. GREEN
MapBlast is pretty cool-click on the balloon to zoom in or out.
Terry: Radio Shack has miner type headlights with velcro--fasten over your hat, or whatever. Under $10.00