The Lakefront Days medallion has been found — and there are some familiar names on the finder’s list.
Standing just inside the front doors at Prior Lake City Hall Monday afternoon, a group of five friends ranging in age from 18 to 22 gathered to talk about their find and collect $200 cash — their winnings from the city of Prior Lake for winning the 17th annual hunt.
The group of five, including Joe Sopczyk, Matt Towey, Dylan Larson, James Stutzka and Tim Warner, all attended Prior Lake High School and all worked together to find this year’s hidden medallion, which was found nestled between four trees at Raymond Park the evening of Friday, July 27.
The hunt started with Sopczyk and with Stutzka. The two have found the medallion before, in 2015, and have made an effort to find the medallion each year since.
It wasn’t long before three of their friends, who were up for an adventure, were also checking for the clues on Wednesday and Saturday mornings when they were released online through participating websites.
Once a new clue was out, the group would then proceed to look for hours, with no luck. In clue No. 3, there was hinting the medallion would be hidden at a park. The third clue read:
“Think of parks on the lakes,
For each a chance for you to take.
But on which lake might I be,
That will be for you to see.”
The five friends searched at Lakefront Park and Spring Lake Park. The fourth clue, which mentions “wood chips” sent the group searching at parks that had wood chips. They eventually found Raymond Park, which has its fair share of wood chips.
Sopczyk was the one who actually found the medallion, a small, gold-rimmed disk with a sailboat in the middle. It’s attached to what appears to be a granite-like square. He told his dad, Tom, who was also out on the grounds — looking for the medallion in the weeds — about the find.
“We hugged,” Sopczyk said, with a smile.
The group walked away with two crisp $100 bills, which Sopczyk and Stutzka had agreed to split between themselves. The rest of the group was OK with that.
The annual medallion hunt gears up the city for Lakefront Days, a large community gathering scheduled for Aug. 2-4 this year at Lakefront Park, 5000 Kop Parkway, Prior Lake. Hunters were told the medallion was hidden on public land, including parks the city is responsible for maintaining.
The 2018 winners may choose whether to participate in the Lakefront Days parade.
Copyright 2018 Prior Lake American/Southwest News Media.
