2022 Portland Rose Festival Medallion Hunt

Submitted by Administrator on Mon, 04/04/2022 - 8:12 AM

Welcome to the Portland Rose Festival Treasure Hunt!

Clues Available Starting Memorial Day Weekend 2022

Join us on Sunday, May 29, for the opening day of the 2022 Rose Festival Treasure Hunt!

The treasure being searched for in this event will be a small (approximately 2.5-inch by 3-inch) block of Lucite with a special Rose Festival Medallion embedded inside.

A very popular program...

...that began in 1983, the Rose Festival Treasure Hunt continued until 2005, and then restarted in 2014. A Rose Festival Medallion is hidden on public property in the Portland-metro area. Daily clues are offered to help hunters narrow down the location of the Treasure. These clues make reference to local history, as well as geography. Often they are so obscure that they generate lots of “water cooler talk” among casual observers and hunters alike, as they try to decipher the meaning of clues!

Remember: CLUES will be released DAILY online here at the Rose Festival website at 10:00 a.m.

Clues will continue to be released until the contest end date (or until the medallion is found).

We encourage you to follow our Social Media pages (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) for updates, but, again -- Clues will ONLY be posted here at the website.

The first to solve the Clues and find the Medallion will win those popular bragging rights -- along with a prize package!

The 2022 prize consists of:

$500 (donated by the Portland Rose Festival Foundation)
One night’s stay in a single hotel room for two at Spirit Mountain Casino (donated by Spirit Mountain Casino)
One buffet dinner for two people at Spirit Mountain Casino (donated by Spirit Mountain Casino)

So get your search engines ready to help you out. You can have a lot of fun checking online sources for information to assist you in uncovering the hidden meaning behind each Clue. Your home and public libraries can help you dig for information, or you just might find an educated friend or two who can share ideas!

See the 2022 rules:

2022 RULES

View the PDF Map of Previous Medallion Locations:

Map

File attachments

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Hunt Information

Dates

Scheduled Dates

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Find Date

Monday, June 6, 2022

Finders

Name

Amber Alford Kaney

Name

Jason Stride

Prize

Maximum Prize

$500 plus Spirit Mountain Prize Pack

Awarded Prize

$500 plus Spirit Mountain Prize Pack

Location

General Location

Lower Daybreak Regional Park

Pinpointed Location

Near the Second Picnic Table On the Walking Path in the Park

Concealer

In a Crevasse of a Rotting Log

45.81235, -122.595759

Clues

Clue 1

Published Date

Saturday, May 28, 2022, 7:00 PM

At long last it's time for
Rose City Reunion,
events and parades in
delightful profusion.
The search for the treasure
is fraught with confusion,
but sometimes you find an
amazing solution.
But beware that you're not
chasing an illusion,
and wind up a victim
of total delusion.

The official meaning of the clue.

Some past hunts have had a clue buried in the introductory clue, but not this year. Any meaning you may have found is totally unintentional.

Clue Rating

Clue 2

Published Date

Sunday, May 29, 2022, 7:00 PM

The city by the bay
has its start here.
But the prize is elsewhere,
that much is clear.

The official meaning of the clue.

In 1849, the only federal district court in the west was located in Clackamas County. Consequently, the original plat for the city of San Francisco was filed in Oregon City on February 1, 1849. It was discovered in 1904 buried in a vault in the county recorder's office. It is now on display in the Museum of the Oregon Territory, along with the original plat of Oregon City. This eliminates Clackamas County.

Clue Rating

Clue 3

Published Date

Monday, May 30, 2022, 7:00 PM

This couple had a
Bunn in the oven.
Their famous kid's county
you shouldn't be lovin'.

The official meaning of the clue.

Chester Bunn was a farmer, and his wife Mable was a schoolteacher. Their child, Beverly Atlee Bunn, was born April 12, 1916, and they lived on a farm in Yamhill, Oregon. She married Clarence Cleary in 1940, and her first children's book was published in 1950. One of her two memoirs was entitled "A Girl from Yamhill", and she is considered one of the best authors in American history of books for children. This eliminates Yamhill County from your search.

Clue Rating

Clue 4

Published Date

Tuesday, May 31, 2022, 7:00 PM

The process of elimination
continues unabated.
The opposite of Harney makes you
sad and so frustrated.

The official meaning of the clue.

A fairly easy clue for most. Harney County is the largest county in Oregon, while Multnomah County is the smallest, thus eliminating Multnomah County from the search area.

Clue Rating

Clue 5

Published Date

Wednesday, June 1, 2022, 7:00 PM

Wonga voiced this
man's creation.
Follow this same
man's direction.

The official meaning of the clue.

Wonga was the real first name of actor/comedian/musician Phil Harris, who voiced the character Baloo in the Disney movie The Jungle Book,based on the book of the same name written by Rudyard Kipling. One of the most well-known lines from Kipling's poems is from "The Ballad of East and West", which reads, "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,...". However, the rest of the refrain reads, "Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgement Seat; But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!" Typically, the Willamette River has been the dividing line between east and west. Since, as Kipling wrote, "there is neither East nor West", this gives you a hint that it is not in Oregon. Since Washington County is the only Oregon county remaining, this leaves you with Clark County.

Clue Rating

Clue 6

Published Date

Thursday, June 2, 2022, 7:00 PM

T'was twenty-nine years twixt truce and fete
exactly, to the day,
when people around where treasure's found
both times said hip-hooray

The official meaning of the clue.

Truce is a synonym of armistice. The armistice that ended hostilities in World War 1 went into effect on November 11, 1918. Twenty-nine years before that date, November 11, 1889, Washington became a state. Both occasions sparked celebrations in Washington. This confirms that the search area has narrowed down to Clark County.

Clue Rating

Clue 7

Published Date

Friday, June 3, 2022, 7:00 PM

There's a line that passes
through tradition and an ocean.
If you look to the west
you will get a big promotion.

The official meaning of the clue.

The line that separates Range 2 East and Range 3 East of the Willamette Meridian System runs through Heritage (tradition) Park and Pacific (ocean) Park. The medallion was hidden west of that line.

Clue Rating

Clue 8

Published Date

Saturday, June 4, 2022, 7:00 PM

To find the prize
with time now waning,
you need to look
where Krapp was aiming.

The official meaning of the clue.

Gene Krapp was a pitcher who helped lead the Portland Beavers to the Pacific Coast League Championship in the 1910 season. As a pitcher he would be aiming at the strike zone, an area defined as being from the midpoint between a batter's shoulders to the top of the uniform pants, to just below the kneecap. The average strike zone height would be from 1.5 feet to 3.6 feet. The medallion was hidden near the low point of that zone.

Clue Rating

Clue 9

Published Date

Sunday, June 5, 2022, 7:00 PM

Although this hunt and politics
don't mix, you need to hear,
a tribute to a governor
is somewhere fairly near.

The official meaning of the clue.

In upper Daybreak Park there is a plaque mounted on a large stone which reads "In Memory Of Cecil "Gov" Governor For 33 Years Of Park Service".

Clue Rating

Clue 10

If in bonnie lore
you are versed,
how do you get
to Scotland first?

The official meaning of the clue.

This refers to the Scottish folk song "The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond". The first line of the chorus is "O you'll take the high road and I'll take the low road and I'll be in Scotland afore ye". This tells you to look in Lower Daybreak Park.

Clue Rating

Clue 11

A couple of tens
laid side by side
describe the search.
Where does it hide?

The official meaning of the clue.

Two synonyms of "describe" are delineate and outline. Two tens laid side by side would be 1010, which is what you get when you total Interstate 5, State Route 502, and State Route 503. The prize was found within the area enclosed by those roads.

Clue Rating

Clue 12

For those who've been hunting,
perhaps you will know.
Something about this year
makes three in a row.

The official meaning of the clue.

In 2020 the medallion was hidden in Delta Park, in 2021 it was Dodge Park, and this year makes the third "D" in a row with Daybreak Park.

Clue Rating

Clue 13

You've invested time and money
the medallion to acquire.
Near the second lonely mesa
you will find your heart's desire.

The official meaning of the clue.

In the Spanish language, mesa means table. When you start on the walking path in Lower Daybreak Park, there are single picnic tables set quite a distance apart from each other along the entire path. The hiding place was very close to the second table.

Clue Rating

Clue 14

The treasure you covet,
your search has been zealous.
It has much in common
with the home of Marcellus.

The official meaning of the clue.

Marcellus is a character in Shakespeare's play "Hamlet". He has perhaps the second most famous line in the play, which is "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark". The treasure was hidden in a crevice in a rotten log.

Clue Rating