An Oakdale family found the 2012 Summerfest medallion after just two clues to its whereabouts were released.
The Young family found the medallion June 19 in Oakdale's Bethke Park. The medallion hunt is sponsored by the Oakdale Business and Professional Association.
Kellie Young said she and her family, who have lived in Oakdale for 10 years, were kicking themselves after not looking for the 2011 medallion, which was eventually found next to the Oakdale Discovery Center -- just behind the Young's home.
This year, Kellie, her husband Tim and their three children, Caitrien, Bridgett and TJ, carefully studied the medallion hunt's first clue and examined the layout of Oakdale's parks. On day two of the hunt, the Young family visited several local parks in the morning, and then examined some online message boards on their lunch break where they got the idea to take note of the first letter of each clue.
This year's clue number one began with the letter "B" and clue number two began with the letter "E." There is only one park in Oakdale that starts with those two letters, Kellie noted, so she and her family made the trip out to Bethke Park to see if the medallion might be hidden somewhere there.
Kellie said she and her family were ready to give up after about an hour of searching, when her husband finally found the medallion taped to a log bench inside the tepee at the park.
"The kids were jumping up and down," Kellie said. "It was only the second day and we were just going off of a hunch."
Kellie said she's not quite sure what they'll do with the $1,000 prize that accompanies the medallion, but added each of her three children were given $50 -- which they promptly spent at Summerfest the following weekend.
However, Kellie said she is sure of one thing: she and her family will definitely look for the medallion again next year.
- Alex Holmquist
Copyright 2012 Lillie Suburban Newspapers.