Cooler Crew

Join us for the 2026 Pre Dig Gig, Saturday January 17 starting at 6! We are excited to announce a new venue this year, Eagle Street! Note: This is the new Eagle Street on the north side of the Kellogg/W 7th intersection, in the space that formerly housed Apostle Supper Club. The old Eagle Street grill is now Zambonis. There is nothing going on at the Xcel/Grand Casino Center that night, so traffic/parking shouldn't be a problem. They advertise 2 hours free valet parking in the Courtyard ramp for Eagle St customers too.

Thanks go to Cindy Gardner for getting the initial arrangements set up for the event!

The Eagle Street
253 Kellogg Boulevard
St. Paul, MN 55102

Bradley Alan TeGantvoort, age 60, of Inver Grove Heights, MN, passed away unexpectedly on December 8, 2025. He was comforted in his final moments by his partner in life and love, Jana Armstead.

Born on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1965, Brad was the first child of Carol (Tomsich) and Larry TeGantvoort. He grew up in Cottage Grove, where he forged lifelong friendships and created the cherished memories that his family and friends will hold close forever. The Clue Master, Brad had a big heart and a deep love for the people in his life. His passions were many and legendary among his friends and family.

Brad always had a special love for skyscrapers, he could instantly tell you the name, country, and height of structures from all over the world. As we say goodbye, we like to imagine him standing tall above, watching over all the people he loved.

A loyal Minnesota Vikings fan, Brad had a profound love for the Minnesota Vikings and rarely missed a game, cheering on his team with passionate dedication every season. He enjoyed disc golfing throughout his entire life and going to concerts, soaking in the energy and the music around him.

Affectionately known as our “Clue Master or “Cluey,” he loved treasure hunting, especially participating in the Pioneer Press Medallion Hunt every year. His charismatic presence and all-encompassing nature were key to the many deep, lifelong friendships he cultivated.

Brad is survived by his fiancée & love, Jana Armstead; his daughter, Alicia TeGantvoort; and his father, Larry (Susie) TeGantvoort. He will be dearly missed by his siblings: Kurtis (Jill) TeGantvoort, Kevin (Sheri) TeGantvoort, and Kari “Sis” (John) Knodle; his uncles, Louis “Butch” Tomsich (Linda) and Jack Tomsich; as well as numerous extended family members and special friends.

Brad was preceded in death by his wife, Amy; his mother, Carol TeGantvoort; his great-grandparents, Christine “Tini” and Louis “Cedar” Tomsich; and his aunt, Sue Tomsich.

A celebration of Brad’s incredible journey will be held at 4:00 PM on Friday, December 19, 2025, at Kok Funeral Home, 7676 80th Street S., Cottage Grove, MN with a visitation from 2:00-4:00 PM. All are invited to a luncheon following the service at the funeral home and after that, friends and family will be gathering at the Park Place Sports Bar, 200 Broadway Ave.; St. Paul Park, MN.

The family encourages all attendees to come & share their favorite “Clue Master Brad” stories. Please honor his passions by wearing your Minnesota Vikings or favorite concert t-shirt!

A Silent Auction will also be held on Saturday, December 20th, from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM at Carbone’s, 7155 Jorgensen Ln. S., Cottage Grove.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to help the family with expenses via Paypal: @me2minnesota or Venmo: @jminnesota

LIVESTREAM INFORMATION: For those who would like to participate in the service via livestream, you can watch the service by scrolling to the bottom of this page and click “PLAY" to begin. Please leave a message of support on our Tribute Wall to let the family know you were able to watch the service. If you are having trouble with the Livestream, the service will be available to watch later in the day.

Bradley Alan TeGantvoort, age 60, of Inver Grove Heights, MN, passed away unexpectedly on December 8, 2025. He was comforted in his final moments by his partner in life and love, Jana Armstead.

Born on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1965, Brad was the first child of Carol (Tomsich) and Larry TeGantvoort. He grew up in Cottage Grove, where he forged lifelong friendships and created the cherished memories that his family and friends will hold close forever. The Clue Master, Brad had a big heart and a deep love for the people in his life. His passions were many and legendary among his friends and family.

Brad always had a special love for skyscrapers, he could instantly tell you the name, country, and height of structures from all over the world. As we say goodbye, we like to imagine him standing tall above, watching over all the people he loved.

A loyal Minnesota Vikings fan, Brad had a profound love for the Minnesota Vikings and rarely missed a game, cheering on his team with passionate dedication every season. He enjoyed disc golfing throughout his entire life and going to concerts, soaking in the energy and the music around him.

Affectionately known as our “Clue Master or “Cluey,” he loved treasure hunting, especially participating in the Pioneer Press Medallion Hunt every year. His charismatic presence and all-encompassing nature were key to the many deep, lifelong friendships he cultivated.

Brad is survived by his fiancée & love, Jana Armstead; his daughter, Alicia TeGantvoort; and his father, Larry (Susie) TeGantvoort. He will be dearly missed by his siblings: Kurtis (Jill) TeGantvoort, Kevin (Sheri) TeGantvoort, and Kari “Sis” (John) Knodle; his uncles, Louis “Butch” Tomsich (Linda) and Jack Tomsich; as well as numerous extended family members and special friends.

Brad was preceded in death by his wife, Amy; his mother, Carol TeGantvoort; his great-grandparents, Christine “Tini” and Louis “Cedar” Tomsich; and his aunt, Sue Tomsich.

A celebration of Brad’s incredible journey will be held at 4:00 PM on Friday, December 19, 2025, at Kok Funeral Home, 7676 80th Street S., Cottage Grove, MN with a visitation from 2:00-4:00 PM. All are invited to a luncheon following the service at the funeral home and after that, friends and family will be gathering at the Park Place Sports Bar, 200 Broadway Ave.; St. Paul Park, MN.

The family encourages all attendees to come & share their favorite “Clue Master Brad” stories. Please honor his passions by wearing your Minnesota Vikings or favorite concert t-shirt!

A Silent Auction will also be held on Saturday, December 20th, from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM at Carbone’s, 7155 Jorgensen Ln. S., Cottage Grove.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to help the family with expenses via Paypal: @me2minnesota or Venmo: @jminnesota

LIVESTREAM INFORMATION: For those who would like to participate in the service via livestream, you can watch the service by scrolling to the bottom of this page and click “PLAY" to begin. Please leave a message of support on our Tribute Wall to let the family know you were able to watch the service. If you are having trouble with the Livestream, the service will be available to watch later in the day.

Mark your calendars. We're gearing up for the 25nd Annual Cooler Crew Pre-Dig Gig. We're expecting to be back in person on Saturday night this year at Joseph's. The reservations have been made and confirmed.

Cluey and barefootguy will be running the park pick pool inside the entrance to the party room until 10. Each entry will cost $5. The pot will be split among everyone who guessed the correct park.

ares will be selling the annual Cooler Crew button for $2 each at the table next to them.

The pasta bar will be available from 6:00 until 7:30. It will be $20 all in this year.

We're now have the final details confirmed for our 21st Predig Gig. Hey cool. We're old enough to drink this year!!!! 

We're changing things up a little bit this year. Once again the annual Cooler Crew Pre-Dig Gig will be held at Joseph's Grill, in the banquet room, on Wabasha. However the event will take place on Friday night instead of Saturday night.

The festivities begin at 6pm. As usual, we do have to spend $500 in food and drink at Joseph's for the room; with this group that won't be a problem though.

Pasta Bar:

The pasta bar will be available for us, for $17 tax and tip included, but it won't include salad. Look for Allison Wonderland to pay for your pasta. The pasta bar will be available from 6-8:30.

Park Pick Pool

As for the Park Pick Pool, we'll be doing it the same way we did last year. Look for Cluey and the cash box at the Pre Dig. He'll be collecting money for the pool. If you’re so inclined you can also pay Allison for your entry when paying for the pasta. Both Cluey and AW will have pick slips with them. Take however many you think you might want. Each one allows you to pick a park and will cost you $5 when you turn it back into him. There are no restrictions on what park you can pick. You can even pick the same park multiple times or you can choose "Field" to cover all the parks no one else picked. Then make sure you put your name and contact info on it and give it (them) back to Clue Master with $5 (each).

You can make a pick at any time. There won't be any order to worry about. But once you have turned in a pick and paid your money, you can't change it (though you could make more picks). Also, you may not pick a regional park with the intention of covering multiple parks.

The way the prizes work is once the medallion is found, we will make a determination of what the winning park was. Then, depending on how many picks were made for that park, we will divide the pot that many ways. Consequently a favorite park like Como could have 10 picks for example and be divided 10 ways. A park like Newell might have 3 picks, in which case each pick gets a third of the pot. A dark horse park like North Dale might have only one pick and would win the entire pot if it was the right park. If you picked a park multiple times, you would get multiple shares of it (so if you had 3 of the 10 Como picks, you would get 30% of the pot).

We won't be posting how people have picked until after the sales have closed. So in addition to picking the park you think it will be at, you may also want to decide if you want to settle for a smaller share of a big park, or go for the long shot and win it all. Or maybe everyone will shy away from the big parks and you can be the only one to pick Como. That is the game we will be playing Friday night.

Group Photo:

We'll be taking a group picture at 9:00pm, with an additional picture taken at closing time. Tables will need to be moved for the group shot. Any help moving them back and forth is greatly appreciated. We will not be chasing people down to notify about the picture. However I may ask to use Joseph's intercom if possible. Don't forget to wear your best smiles. Let's warm up the winter with our Cooler Crew family photo.

CoolerCrew.com Accounts

Given the loss of ableminds after last year's hunt, Ares has enabled one directly on the Cooler Crew web site. You need an account on the site in order to access it. He'll be around with his laptop to hook you up with one, or reset passwords and email addresses if you already have one.