Bill Schneider enjoyed a successful medallion hunt, although his idea of victory differed from those who dug in the snow for the prize.
As promotion director at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the St. Paul Dispatch from 1974 to 1984, it was Schneider’s job to decide where the Winter Carnival medallion would be hidden, help write the clues, then go out and do the annual “deed” as he called it.
“After he hid it, Bill would call up and say, ‘The deed is done’ … and that was it,” recalled Bob Momsen, who worked with Schneider at the newspapers and wrote the clues for many years before him. “It was our way of communicating whenever it was done.”
Schneider, of Woodbury, worked at the Pioneer Press and Dispatch for 36 years until his retirement in 1984. He died Thursday at 87.
Whether it was his work at county fairs or with the Pioneer Press’ “World’s Largest Fishing Contest,” Schneider “was always looking for ways to promote the paper,” Momsen said.
Schneider reveled in the thought of devoted medallion seekers analyzing his every word of every clue, said Jack Moser, who, like Schneider, started as a copywriter, then was pegged to write the clues.
“Just knowing that there were literally thousands of people following our leads was quite a kick for us,” Moser said.
But hiding the medallion didn’t always go as planned. In the late 1970s, Maplewood and West St. Paul officials claimed medallion seekers were responsible for damage in their parks.
“Maplewood tried to shake us down for $3,000 once,” Schneider said in a 1992 article in the Pioneer Press. “We were just being nice folks and paid for about $500 in damages.”
Then there were the times the medallion was found too soon.
“We had a few that were found in a couple of days,” Moser said. “As far as Bill was concerned, anything that was longer than five days was a successful hunt.”
For many years, Schneider was in charge of running the newspapers’ popular St. Paul Women’s Institute, which was aimed at hosting luncheons, style shows and other events for local women, Momsen said.
“He emceed more events than anyone at the paper,” he said.
Schneider also was tapped to organize the Ridder Slide Library, a massive collection of 50,000 photographs the late publisher B.H. Ridder and his wife, Agnes Kennedy Ridder, took during their travels across Europe.
Because B.H. Ridder thought it was important to share memorable experiences with his city, his photos of castles, cathedrals, streets, parks, gardens and famous artworks were shown at more than 1,500 area slide shows in St. Paul from 1956 to 1976.
Schneider’s job was to put on several slide shows a week. Meanwhile, his wife, Norma, would catalog the ever-growing collection.
“Bill really was the jack-of-all-trades,” Momsen said. “He had a passion for the paper, and it showed in everything he did.”
Schneider is survived by his wife, Norma; sons Mark Strachota and Chuck Schneider; two grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Church of the Assumption in St. Paul, with visitation one hour prior to Mass.
Nick Ferraro can be reached at 651-228-2173.
Copyright 2009 Pioneer Press.