Vanessa Schulte looked down, and there it was.
The Woodbury resident found the Woodbury Days Medallion just after 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 26, at Carver Lake Park, located off a southbound trail past the playground equipment at Carver Lake Park.
This was Schulte's first year searching for the medallion.
Schulte, who had purchased a Woodbury Days button, wins the full $500 in prizes.
"I felt good that I found it, but I felt bad because I know so many people were looking for it," she said. "I bought the lucky button at Lifetime Chiropractic."
Friday was the 10th day of the medallion hunt.
Schulte is a community justice coordinator for the Washington County Youth Service Bureau.
Schulte said she decided to try her hand at this year's Woodbury Days Medallion Hunt after having deduced the clues in 2010, but never trying to find the medallion.
"This year I figured I'd give it a shot," she said.
Schulte said she was out every day of the medallion hunt looking, but it was clue No. 4, released Monday, Aug. 22, that directed her to the medallion's location.
The clue read:
Canada's symbol guides the way
But to the other side you'll stray
Ten by ten will illuminate the dark
Make your way
To this Woodbury park.
Schulte said she knew that Century Avenue borders Maplewood and Woodbury, which directed her to Carver Lake Park.
As the clues progressed, Schulte had a pretty good hunch that the medallion was to be found by one of Carver Lake Park's many trails.
On Thursday night, Schulte said she spent considerable time on the Internet and searched dictionaries and thesauruses for possible meanings to the riddles.
On Friday morning, Schulte had gotten to Carver Lake Park just before the clue had been released. She was sitting on a park bench right by the medallion's hiding spot in the grass.
Schulte said she began searching around the trail she had been eyeing up just after 9 a.m.
"I just looked down and there it was," she said.
Even though Schulte has mastered the Woodbury Days Medallion Hunt, she said she will probably look again next year.
"It was a fun adventure for me," she said. "It's fun getting people pumped up to look for it."
Copyright 2011 Woodbury Bulletin.
