There’s a new must-have fashion accessory for folks hoping to score big in the Love Your Melon presents Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt, which starts Sunday, Jan. 19.
It’s not a fancy new shovel or stylish headlamp. It’s a lighted medallion necklace, and it replaces the official St. Paul Winter Carnival button as a requirement to add $5,000 to the prize for digging up the annual hidden treasure.
The medallion is on sale now for $5 online at pioneerpresstreasurehunt.com (plus postage) or at the Pioneer Press, 10 River Park Plaza, St. Paul, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. weekdays through Jan. 17.
And as a bonus, if the successful hunter is wearing another stylish necessity — a beanie made by new Treasure Hunt sponsor Love Your Melon — the winning hunter will also get a year’s worth of products (52 Love Your Melon products from the company’s weekly releases in 2020, a $2500 retail value). To qualify, when the real medallion is found, the winner must take a picture with it while wearing a Love Your Melon beanie.
Here’s how the Treasure Hunt works.
Since 1952 — when the publisher of the St. Paul Pioneer Press buried a tiny treasure chest telling the finder to report to the paper for a $1,100 prize — the hunt has challenged readers to solve daily clues and find the treasure. In recent years the treasure — a medallion — has looked like an acrylic hockey puck.
The medallion is hidden in a Ramsey County park or public space — a space as small as Shoreview’s Shamrock Park or as large as Battle Creek Regional Park in Maplewood.
Clues become available about midnight at TwinCities.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/PPtreasurehunt.
Early copies of the printed newspaper with the new clue will be distributed nightly at Shamrocks, 995 W. Seventh St. in St. Paul. Copies are the first off the press. Scrambled clues post at TwinCities.com at 11 p.m.
The lucky/most skilled winner can nab the maximum $10,000 prize by doing the following:
- For the $2,500 initial cash prize, follow the instructions on the hidden medallion.
- For another $2,500, bring all the published daily clues, clipped or copied from the Pioneer Press or printed from TwinCities.com, along with the medallion.
- And an additional $5,000 is awarded if the finder has a registered Pioneer Press medallion necklace.
“Despite the change, the Pioneer Press continues to be a strong supporter of the St. Paul Winter Carnival,” said Lori Swanson, Pioneer Press vice president of marketing. “We suggest you buy both (the medallion and the button). I just did.”
The St. Paul Winter Carnival is Jan. 23 through Feb. 2.
Copyright 2020 Pioneer Press.