The Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt can be so much fun; ask anyone who’s searched for the medallion for years or someone who just got started. Despite all the shoveling and slogging in the cold, so many people searching for one $10,000 prize shrinks the community of hundreds into a small, friendly town hoping all that work pays off no sooner than the 12th and final clue.
But it can be thankless. Particularly in this stretch of severe cold — which, by the way, is not deterring hunters.
Now one group of veteran hunters has added to the 68-year Treasure Hunt tradition — and left their own little treasures. Calling themselves the Secret Starlight Squad, they’ve packaged five dollar coins in toddler-sized mittens and hidden 12 of them in Ramsey County parks. But not just anywhere: They’ve hidden them in spots where only Treasure Hunters are likely to look.
Their motivation: giving those determined hunters a little boost.
“We were on the hunt last year and it was a really cold night,” said one Mr. Mitten, who says he lives in Woodbury. “We were out there alone, and at times, you’re like, ‘You’re never going to find it.’ We never have found it, and we’ve been looking for 20 years. … And we said, ‘Too bad there’s only one medallion to find. Too bad there isn’t a little puckhere or a puck there to keep you going.’
“So that’s where we came up with it — to give someone a little treat out in the parks,” Mitten said. “And then they can go get themselves a cup of coffee or hot cocoa or a beer or something and feel like they got something out of the day,” Mitten said, “to keep them going until they actually find the medallion.”
The four — friends and 1984 graduates of Hill-Murray School — talked about it again “in the offseason” and decided to do it.
So on Tuesday night, they hid the numbered mittens in “six or seven” different parks in a way that they hope only those searching for the Treasure Hunt medallion would find them. The squad followed a “general protocol” of hunts past, said another member, who goes by Mitten Navigator.
“We want to reward people for actually getting out there, digging and doing the work,” said Navigator, a St. Paul native now of Minneapolis.
They made their presence known on their Secret Starlight Squad Facebook page and on Twitter at @SecretStarligh3, with a #FrostyFortune hashtag. They also posted their “legend”:
“A long, long time ago, Astraios, the god of STARLIGHT, and Eos, the goddess of the Rosy Fingered moon, were wed. The union was blessed with five sons: Boreas, Titan, Euros, Zephyrus and Notos. A family that big lost quite a few MITTENS each winter!!”
By Wednesday, finders started to report their gets, in Roseville’s Central Park and Como Park in St. Paul.
#frostyfortune Out medallion hunting and found a different treasure.
Not the treasure I was seeking, but thanks, @SecretStarligh3.#frostyfortune #pphunt #pptreasurehunt #bloodpressurecanttakethis #secretspotrevealed
“Not the treasure I was seeking, but thanks @SecretStarligh3,” said one finder who goes by the name @angrynikki.
Life’s a beach when you find a #FrostyFortune! Congrats #8 mitten finder!
“It was a nice surprise and a lot of fun,” wrote Anne-Michelle Delacroix, who found mitten #3 at Long Lake Regional Park in New Brighton.
Chrissy Heikel of St. Paul found one of the tiny mittens Friday at Long Lake Regional Park. She knew about the effort beforehand, so she didn’t have a false rush thinking she found the actual medallion.
“It’s a nice little random act of kindness,“ said Heikel, who put the $5 toward dinner with her hunting partner and boyfriend Sam Schwartz.
As of this writing, five of the mittens have been found: two in Central Park, two in Long Lake and one in Como Park, Mitten said.
The Secret Starlight Squad had decided before the hunt that if even one had been found, they would do their “pay it forward” effort again for next year’s hunt. So it’s on for next year.
MItten said the crew would collect any unfound prizes after the Pioneer Press hunt is done and even decided against checking for one hidden in Phalen Park. And another #FrostyFortune prize or two still might be available at Long Lake park, Navigator said.
So there’s a little Easter egg from all of us, hunters.
Copyright 2019 Pioneer Press.