Cooler Crew

The Water Cooler has been operational here for a couple of months now, so I thought I'd give a quick update on it.

As of right now, a few changes have been made based on feedback of the folks who have used it. The big one that's still out there is the inability to delete comments. At this point, there's a tradeoff between how we want the forum to look versus deleting comments. If we want to maintain the look linearly, I have to lock down the ability to delete comments, because deleting a comment right now results in all of the replies also get deleted, which would majorly screw up comments in a linear fashion.

That all said, I'm working on migrating the forum posts from the forum archive section of the database into the main site management system. This consists of several steps:

First, the archive contained posts from nearly 6000 unique user id's. Some of these were simple where a poster had an account at all three of the archive sites. They were easy to consolidate. The same was true of users, particularly at ableminds and PF who had survived through database compactions and rework so that, at one point they had one id in the database, and at a later point they had another. What was more interesting was consolidating folks whose user names had changed over time as they forgot passwords and created new accounts. Sometimes it was obvious, sometimes it took looking at taglines. Finally all of these users had to be imported into the account database here. By the time I got to this point, we were down to some 3800 unique posters. Over half of those posters had made only one or two posts. The vast majority of those users got condolidated into a "No user information available" user, although a few, who we know to have come back to the group, made the cut.

As a result of this step, you may find that you have an account at this site that you can't access. If you do, hit me up via the contact form below and I'll adjust things to give you access. If you need an account, do the same thing.

Step two is to actually consolidate the posts into comments on the site here. Since its our "bread and butter", so to speak, I'm starting with the archive of the Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt threads. The 1998-2002 threads were quite easy. The PF Archive is taking a bit more work. Since the forum was a free-for-all, we had public and private threads, which I decided to consolidate into a single thread for archive purposes. As a result, what looked like a Joe originally may not look like it now. I'll work my way back through the other hunt threads, and then the more heated or more fun discussions. Its an iterative process, since I want to clean up the links within the various posts to previous posts (easy) and posts in other threads which is not so easy since it will require two passes through to link up posts with their new comment ID's. Once I get through one thread it should be a matter of figuring out which threads to consolidate and creating an individual forum topic.

We don't have an archive of file attachments from Ableminds, and because of the database loss there we probably never will, but we do have four years worth of them from PF, which I do intend to incorporate here after the discussions are imported.

With all the technical details aside, let me just say that I think we're finally home. Yes, we've said that before, but the forum here is within the site. As long as its up, the forum is up. For the moment, the only way to access the threads that have been imported will be to have an account and be logged in, but that's how you can see the clues for in-progress medallion hunts too, so its a bonus.

Have a look around, kick your feet up and stay a while. I know I am.

We've reached the halfway point of the summer hunting season. The Cooler Crew has picked up a pair of medallions. Coldest Hunter snagged Roseville, and Matt Koskie grabbed Cottage Grove. Way to go guys! Nine hunts are down, and not all of them without controversy. Columbia Heights had the brick-breaking problem to ultimately get to the medallion in Judge Wargo Court. The Blaine hunt lasted only a single clue which was taken down from the web site before any of us knew what it was. C'est la vie though, right?

The good news is that there are still a lot more hunts out there for us to get. So crew, lets get out there and find them!

With the release of the first three clues for the 2013 Hugo Good Neighbor Days Search For Spike, the 2013 hunting season is officially under way. Having found six of the summer festival medallions last year, and being more organized and determined this year, we are in a position to capture even more festival treasure this summer. At this time, we know of 14 cities having treasure hunts this summer with prizes ranging from $100 to $1500 depending on the hunt. To help keep tabs on the hunts, we've added a block to the right hand side of this page called "Today's Events" which shows whatever events are in our site calendar that are going on today.

Let's go Cooler Crew and capture some treasure!

Thanks to Diggorious Rex, we have a new game in town: the Cooler Crew Picture Tag.

The gist of the game is that someone posts a picture of a somewhat-well-known, but identifiable location, with something that identifies that they were there (usually something like their car). Occasionally the poster will give clues as to where the picture was taken. The goal of everyone else is to find the spot, take the same picture (with your own car), and post it. The first one who claims the spot, has 24 hours to post the next picture to find.

Join us on the Facebook group for playing tag.

Not likely, but the Crew is now up to 5 finds in 2012. In addition to Barefootguy and Diggorius Rex''s Hugo find, and Cluey and me2''s White Bear Lake and Cottage Grove finds, Cluey and me2 are also the happy finders of the Little Canada and New Brighton medallions as well. Total winnings for the group: something on the order of $2125. Not bad, crew. Not bad.

WCCO interviewed a bunch of Coolerheads at the ABB on January 18. The stories will be featured on the January 20 morning news show, once in the 5am hour and once in the 6am hour, and possibly on Saturday morning. A separate story on Rob and Jake is planned for January 23, while one about Clue Master and his "tools" is planned for later in the week if the hunt goes that far. We'll be updating this story with the video links as they are posted.

• Friendships, Love Found At Medallion Hunting Group
• 2 Guys, 38 Years, 2 Medallions

History

Back in 1885, a New York reporter noted that St Paul was “another Siberia, unfit for human habitation”. This gave birth to the novel idea for a celebration of our wintry clime. Families and communities came together to participate in the St Paul Winter Carnival; a tradition that continues today, over 120 years later as the coolest celebration on earth.

The Winter Carnival Medallion Hunt began in 1952, where “hidden in Boreas' rollicking realm, lay his treasure.” A small treasure chest made of wood, with the instructions on how to claim the prize inside. Arthur M. Jensen found this treasure in Highland Park on the 11^th clue, which told of two tree stumps to the west. With his big $1000 win, his wife splurged and bought herself a new hat!

There are a few things that you can do to ensure that you have a successful medallion hunt as well. Maybe you won't win the prize, but you can share in the magic of family and tradition that the St Paul Winter Carnival brings to us each year.

The Fun Part

“It is time again, to pick up a pen
and delve into the clues mysteries.
Grab yourself a chair, but you must beware
the clues are full of trickeries.

The time is near for you, my dear
to bundle up and bring your luck
the hunt has begun, now have some fun
and bring home the cherished puck!”

The clues are mesmerizing as clever little poems. Take the above “clue” as an example. At first glance, it is telling you that the clues are tricky and that the hunt has begun. But that's no fun, the cluewriter needs to make sure that only those who put forth a little effort can find this. What fun would it be if you were just given directions, and had to foot race 2,000 people to the location?

Digging deeper into the above clue, you have a few different possibilities. “Chair” could represent something that the medallion is near, or attached to. It could also be a reference point for another clue, if it means anything at all. “Trickeries” could be just that, the clues are hard to figure out due to deception, or it may point to the magic shop across the street from the medallions location. “The time is near” may refer to a large clock nearby, but for sure, “the cherished little puck” means the medallion. Right? Or is it referring to the park having a hockey rink?

It is easy to confuse yourself and get caught up in the clues thinking that every word has meaning. This happens every year when a newbie comes along and deciphers every word in the first clue to give the entire directions and location to the medallions location. There may be more to the first clue than some have realized, 15 times since 1952 there has been more information in the first clue than just general information or if it is in St Paul or not.

Bring the family together on this. Call up some of your friends, meet for dinner and discuss the clues. The most enjoyable part of the medallion hunt for many is the opportunity to spend a lot of time with their family and friends. There is a closeness that develops when you really get into the deciphering. Consider this, you are decoding the map to a treasure of $10,000, and you are trusting your family and friends to not leave you in the dust and find it for themselves. You are doing more than just spending time with your friends, you are building trust with them as well.

So you think you've figured out tonights clue. You run out the door because you know the exact location of the puck and you are going to just reach down and pick it up. Wrong. Don't be the guy who runs out in the middle of the woods when it is -17 degrees outside with just a windbreaker and tennis shoes. You can die or become seriously injured from the cold. Stop and bundle up. You will be out there longer than you think.

If there is any snow at all you are not going to move it with just your hands. You will need a tool of some sort. Hoes are very popular this time of year, as are garden rakes and shovels. Remember the saying, “search, don't destroy”, as it cannot be said enough. You just want to move the snow, weeds, or whatever. Do not dig into the ground; on that note, do not climb up trees either. The medallion will be within easy reach for the average individual. It has been that way for over 55 years. A 3 inch piece of Lucite hidden within 170 square miles doesn't need to be hidden too hard at all. Hunters will be spread out among many parks throughout the county. If you get close enough to find it, and you are a persistent digger with a keen eye, you will find it. Maybe.

Take your kids out with you and build a family tradition that they can carry over to their kids. This is a great opportunity to be an active part of their lives. My Grandpa, Larry Graber, found the Dispatch-Pioneer Press Treasure Chest in 1954 at Hidden Falls Park, the 4^th hunt ever. Imagine what goes through my mind as I think I am very close to finding the medallion! It is an amazing closeness to him that I can share even though he moved to Calvary Cemetery back in 2001.

Whatever it is that you do during the medallion hunt, do it safely, do it responsibly, and have fun doing it. So suit up, head out and enjoy the coolest celebration on earth!

• How to Find the Saint Paul Winter Carnival Medallion
• 2010 Treasure Hunt Rules - TwinCities.com
• Interactive Map: Treasure Hunt medallion locations by year
• Cooler Crew - You Dig?
• st paul winter carnival map -Treasure Hunters Guide
• Treasure Hunt Headquarters