2020 Owatonna Bold and Cold Medallion Hunt

Submitted by Administrator on Mon, 12/02/2019 - 9:34 AM

Hunt Information

Dates

Scheduled Dates

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Find Date

Friday, January 24, 2020

Finders

Name

Amber Friesen

Hometown

Owatonna

Name

Aaron Friesen

Hometown

Owatonna

Name

Otto Friesen

Hometown

Owatonna

Name

Bianca Friesen

Hometown

Owatonna

Name

Dorothy Friesen

Hometown

Owatonna

Prize

Maximum Prize

$500 gift card

Awarded Prize

$500 gift card

Location

General Location

Village of Yesteryear

Pinpointed Location

Near the Dunnell House

Concealer

Under a set of stairs

44.068096, -93.217236

Clues

Clue 1

Published Date

Monday, January 20, 2020, 6:00 PM

You have come, once again, to our quest Bold & Cold
To seek the medallion of which you’ve been told —

A grail, if you will, for this frozen event
That Owatonna Motor Company and People’s Press now present.
If find you the prize from where’er it doth hide,
`Tis worth more than just a justified pride.

Five hundred-buck card from the Chamber is yours
Because you have listened and done all your chores
And followed the rules when off you’ve been sent
After ciphering clues and reading the hints.

Places high you shall travel and, too, places low,
But only upon public land should you go.

Use rakes, hoes and hand tools to move snow and ice,
But no shoveling or digging. To the grounds please be nice.

Yet no digging is needed for it rests above ground,
Just waiting discovery. It longs to be found.

One last thing keep in mind for a guess that is right:
Check for hints every day on the Owatonna Motor Company website.

The official meaning of the clue.

The clue explained basic rules for searching, plus noted the sponsors for the Bold & Cold Medallion Hunt. The clue also notes that the medallion is “above ground,” insuring that searchers know it is not buried. The hint encouraged searchers to explore every cranny and nook.

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Clue 2

Published Date

Tuesday, January 21, 2020, 6:00 PM

Dihydrogen monoxide towers on high
And casts its long shadow to places nearby.

When the shadow’s just right it rests over the spot
Where the treasure you’re seeking is there to be sought.

But alas, there are several in town to be found,
And many locales where their shadows touch ground.

So finding the right one may pose quite a test —
A crucible surely that will challenge the best.

The official meaning of the clue.

Two (di-) molecules of hydrogen combined with one (mono-) molecule of oxygen gives us H2O, commonly known as “water.” So the medallion is hidden near a water tower. There are several water towers in town, however, as the clue suggests, so “finding the right one may pose quite a test.” The reference to a “crucible” was not actually a clue, as some thought it might be, but rather just meant to suggest, as a definition of the word says, “a situation of severe trial,” or, as the clue says, “a test … that will challenge the best.” The second hint provides additional information with a reference to “Field of Dreams” and the famous line “If you build it, they will come.” The water tower in question is near some ball fields where a number of people gather.

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Clue 3

Published Date

Wednesday, January 22, 2020, 6:00 PM

In the cold winter days there are only a few
Who saunter the grounds when there’s little to do.

But in days that are warmer, from May to September,
The visitors throng to see things they remember,
And discover, perhaps, a few things yet unknown.

That chance to discover should now set the tone
For those who are looking to find our great prize.
On a leisurely walk you should open your eyes.

The official meaning of the clue.

Not many people come to the area where the medallion is hidden during the winter months. But in the months of May through September throngs of people visit the area where they see historic buildings and artifacts — the “things they remember.” The last line of the clue gives a bigger hint when it talks about a “leisurely walk,” which is a reference to Leisure Lane, a road that crosses a good portion of the Steele County Fairgrounds, including the north side of The Village of Yesteryear, which happens to be open from May through September. And if those weren’t enough clues, the hint speaks of the “city’s past” and the store, church and home which are, among others, buildings in the Village.

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Clue 4

Published Date

Thursday, January 23, 2020, 6:00 PM

The medallion’s location’s a great mystery
That’s easily solved if you know history.

Not the type you discover by reading a book
But is there to be seen if you just take a look.

Gutenberg’s progeny, Rockefeller’s, too,
Border the south of this great rendezvous
Where the prize may be found, though in there it won’t last.

So seekers take note in a blast from the past.

For in days long ago you will find your bonanza
And surely discover the extravaganza.

Look north from that south point. It hides in your glance,
`Cross the road it is hidden near that once stately manse.

Hint 4:

Once upon a yesteryear, stood a shiny ordnance.
It was moved and now stands guard near said stately manse.

The official meaning of the clue.

Another reference to history in the opening couplet, with a note then that it is history you can see rather than history you read about — another reference to the Village of Yesteryear, as is the reference later in the clue to the Extravaganza, the annual festival at the Village. But, of course, there are a lot of buildings in the Village, so which one? A clue may be found in the reference to the progeny, or descendants of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, and John D. Rockefeller, the founder of the Standard Oil Company. The “descendants” would be the print shop and Gus’ Station at the southern border of the Village. From there, however, you were directed to “look north from that south point,” where, across the road is a “once stately manse” — the Dunnell House. The hint for the day also speaks of that home and of the cannon — the “shiny ordnance” — that stands in front of the house.

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Clue 5

Once a place where a congressman laid down his head,
And a consul to Mexico slept in the bed.

Let your search take you now to that dwelling so grand,
And look you high, look you low, about all of the land.

Access not through the front, where the way seems too formal,
But proceed to the port to an ingress more normal.

You need not go inside. And you can’t. It is closed.
But the prize lies outside near the ground that is froze.

Step right up, if you will, but then quickly look down,
For it’s there underneath that the prize may be found —

The marvelous treasure that long you have sought,
The medallion desired, it is there, is it not?

So indeed grasp it quickly, do not be surprised,
For you searched and you found it and now claim your prize.

Hint 5:

And so concludes our noble quest, where yesteryear provides the pleasure.
The stairway short acts as the nest. You found it there — the long-sought treasure.

The official meaning of the clue.

For those who may not have caught the references to the Dunnell House in the previous clue, the fifth clue remembers that Mark Hill Dunnell who lived in the home (“laid down his head,” “slept in the bed”) was both a U.S. Congressman and a U.S. consul to Mexico. The clue further suggests not to look at the front door, “where the way seems too formal,” but to find an entry (ingress) on the left side (port), which indeed there is one — one that is quite visible from both the Print Shop and Gus’ Station (see Clue 4). But the house is closed during the winter, so you can’t go inside. Not to worry. The medallion “lies outside” near the frozen ground and, in fact, near the door on the side of the house. If you “step up” (Clue 5) the “stairway short” (Hint 5) that leads to that door “but then quickly look down…underneath,” you will find the medallion nested beneath that stairway.

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