Summerfest medallion hunt organizers have decided to up the ante for searchers in 2013.
The Oakdale Business and Professional Association, which sponsors the event, puts up the $1,000 prize for the annual hunt. But this year, Summerfest Royalty will be offering an extra $500 for the winner if he or she has a Summerfest button - meaning the lucky person who finds the medallion could win a total of $1,500.
Hunt organizer Larry Eberhard said he was excited when Summerfest Royalty approached him with the idea for the extra incentive, and said he hopes it will encourage more people to buy a Summerfest button, which allows entry into the Summerfest Royalty Coronation on Monday, June 24. Buttons can be purchased for $3 at City Hall, Furlong’s Liquor, Rainbow Foods in Oakdale, or from members of Summerfest Royalty.
“It’s clean, honest, simple, family fun,” Eberhard said of the medallion hunt. “A good set of eyes is all you need.”
The first clue will be revealed at 8 a.m. Monday, June 17, at three different spots -- at Oakdale City Hall, on the city’s website atwww.ci.oakdale.mn.us, and on the Clue Hotline at 651-734-2615.
One clue will be revealed each day after that until the medallion is found.
The medallion will be hidden somewhere on public property in Oakdale, and Eberhard stresses there’s no need to climb, swim or dig to find it.
“No tools are needed,” he said, adding that the medallion will not be hidden in Walton Park.
Clues led Youngs to Bethke Park
The Young family of Oakdale found the 2012 Summerfest medallion in Bethke Park after just two clues to its whereabouts were released.
Kellie Young said she and her family were kicking themselves after not looking for the 2011 medallion, which was eventually found next to the Oakdale Discovery Center -- just behind the family’s home.
During last year’s hunt, 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.
Last year’s first clue began with the letter “B” and the second clue 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 headed 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 found the medallion taped to a log bench inside the tipi at the park.
“The kids were jumping up and down,” Kellie recalled. “It was only the second day, and we were just going off of a hunch.”
