A brother and sister became the first Wisconsin residents to find the Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt medallion in its 57-year history.
Andrew Burke, a 21-year-old college student from Knapp, Wis., and his sister Jessica French, 26, of Baldwin, Wis., turned up the puck about 12:05 a.m. Wednesday on a hillside in Indian Mounds Regional Park in St. Paul.
The duo picked up the 11th clue of the 12-clue hunt at the Pioneer Press a half-hour before finding the medallion. They had been hunting steadily since Clue 3, usually starting at 9 p.m. and hunting for six to eight hours a night.
Like most hunters during the search – held in conjunction with the St. Paul Winter Carnival – the brother and sister had a hard time zeroing in on a park early in the hunt.
“We were at Battle Creek, Phalen, Indian Mounds Park at Clue 5, Pocahontas Park,” French said.
They had been at Battle Creek for the last three clues, including the night they walked six miles of trail in their search. They hunted with flashlights, a rake and their hands, mostly. French said she typically dressed in three layers of pants and shirts, topped with a coat, mittens and a hat, but the subzero cold that marked much of the hunt “was down to the bone.”
But they forgot the rake Tuesday night when they, along with hundreds of other hunters braving 40-below wind chills, rushed to the Dayton’s Bluff park following the release of the published clue at the Pioneer Press building in downtown St. Paul.
They said they were among the last to hit the park but followed the clue to the letter: They found a trail that went off into the woods near the bluffs, trudged in 300 paces and then started digging under the branches of a fallen tree on a hillside.
As he moved the snow with his hands, Burke said, he spotted something odd: a plastic-wrapped box for 3M-brand Highland Invisible Tape.
“I saw it. I knew what it was,” he said. “I quick put it in my pocket.”
“I knew he found it when he said, ‘I’m tired of looking. Let’s go,’ ” his sister said.
Surrounded by scores of likeminded hunters, Burke said he must have just found the lucky tree.
On the way to their car, Burke unwrapped the box and saw the medallion for the first time.
“I thought, ‘Yeah!’ ” he said.
To celebrate, the duo stopped at a nearby gas station, bought an energy drink and a disposable camera and mugged with their find.
On Wednesday morning, they picked up their oversize check for $10,000 – the full prize amount, thanks to having a registered Winter Carnival button and the clippings of all the published clues – during a news conference at the Pioneer Press. They also will receive $1,200 in gift certificates to Cub Foods.
It was Burke’s second year hunting and his sister’s first.
Burke said he would use his share of the money to help pay for his degree in hotel, restaurant and tourism management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, where he is a freshman.
French, who has been looking for a job for the past five months, said she would use her prize money to pay some bills.
Burke said there would have been no way for him to find the medallion without the last clue.
“The first nine clues were really tough,” Burke said. “The last one, it was good.”
John Brewer can be reached at jbrewer@pioneerpress.comor 651-228-2093.
TREASURE HUNT BY THE NUMBERS
1 – Number of times the medallion has been found by someone from Wisconsin
8 – Number of days during the 2008 hunt the temperature dipped to zero or below during the 12-day search
11 – Number of clues released in 2008 hunt
2 – Number of times the medallion has been found in Indian Mounds Park
$204,700 – Prize money awarded by the Pioneer Press over 57 years of the hunt
Copyright 2008 Pioneer Press.