One big find changed a Jordan family’s plans for more fun time with grandma and grandpa.
Dale and Sharon Fowser and their grandchildren, Grace and Isaac Schueller, uncovered the Heimatfest medallion on Thursday, Aug. 14.
The medallion had been hidden at the Lagoon Park warming house by the Mill Pond skating rink. It was tucked inside a bent-up popcorn box, wedged in the door frame above the warming house service door.
“I took it out, and that’s what it was,” Dale said. “I thought maybe it was bug bait or something.”
Six-year-old Grace, 3-year-old Isaac, and Dale ran to the Mini-Met parking lot where Sharon was searching in the hockey rink. They were waving the prize.
Sharon’s reaction: “I don’t believe it!”
The third clue was the key that led the eventual finders to the Heimatfest treasure. They’d spent a few days in the Jordan parks, trying to fit together puzzle pieces of clues with key words like “bleachers” and “gold and blue.”
The Mini-Met ballpark, the Jordan Athletic Complex and Jordan Veterans Park were their first targets, but they were looking for gold and blue flags. They were about to give up, Sharon said.
Then, the third clue referenced “that puck,” “ice” and “winter” and also said: “Lace those boots, those coats, those skates.” It led hunters straight to the city’s skating facilities.
Three other people were searching for the medallion at about 4 p.m., when Dale and Sharon split up to search the warming house and hockey rink. They are retired, so they could search during the day, unlike most hunters.
Dale, near the warming house, said he heeded the first-clue rule to “avoid the vines,” located along the Mill Pond shore, pushing him up nearer the building.
It was the first time the Fowsers or Schuellers found the medallion.
They looked together last year, and the Fowsers had searched in the past, too.
“We thought we’d go hunting today, too,” Sharon said on Friday, the second consecutive day they spent with their grandchildren.
Their plans for another day of medallion hunting were squelched.
They earned $100 Jordan dollars from the Jordan Area Chamber of Commerce. Grace and Isaac had it earmarked for new toys — Barbies and princess stuff, and trucks and tractors, respectively.
As for where Dale and Sharon will spend their winnings? “We haven’t even thought about it,” Sharon said.
Copyright 2014 Jordan Independent/Southwest News Media/Media News Group.