2020 Owatonna Bold and Cold Medallion Hunt

The clue explained basic rules for searching, plus noted the sponsors for the Bold & Cold Medallion Hunt. The clue also notes that the medallion is “above ground,” insuring that searchers know it is not buried. The hint encouraged searchers to explore every cranny and nook.

Two (di-) molecules of hydrogen combined with one (mono-) molecule of oxygen gives us H2O, commonly known as “water.” So the medallion is hidden near a water tower. There are several water towers in town, however, as the clue suggests, so “finding the right one may pose quite a test.” The reference to a “crucible” was not actually a clue, as some thought it might be, but rather just meant to suggest, as a definition of the word says, “a situation of severe trial,” or, as the clue says, “a test … that will challenge the best.” The second hint provides additional information with a reference to “Field of Dreams” and the famous line “If you build it, they will come.” The water tower in question is near some ball fields where a number of people gather.

Not many people come to the area where the medallion is hidden during the winter months. But in the months of May through September throngs of people visit the area where they see historic buildings and artifacts — the “things they remember.” The last line of the clue gives a bigger hint when it talks about a “leisurely walk,” which is a reference to Leisure Lane, a road that crosses a good portion of the Steele County Fairgrounds, including the north side of The Village of Yesteryear, which happens to be open from May through September. And if those weren’t enough clues, the hint speaks of the “city’s past” and the store, church and home which are, among others, buildings in the Village.

Another reference to history in the opening couplet, with a note then that it is history you can see rather than history you read about — another reference to the Village of Yesteryear, as is the reference later in the clue to the Extravaganza, the annual festival at the Village. But, of course, there are a lot of buildings in the Village, so which one? A clue may be found in the reference to the progeny, or descendants of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, and John D. Rockefeller, the founder of the Standard Oil Company. The “descendants” would be the print shop and Gus’ Station at the southern border of the Village. From there, however, you were directed to “look north from that south point,” where, across the road is a “once stately manse” — the Dunnell House. The hint for the day also speaks of that home and of the cannon — the “shiny ordnance” — that stands in front of the house.

For those who may not have caught the references to the Dunnell House in the previous clue, the fifth clue remembers that Mark Hill Dunnell who lived in the home (“laid down his head,” “slept in the bed”) was both a U.S. Congressman and a U.S. consul to Mexico. The clue further suggests not to look at the front door, “where the way seems too formal,” but to find an entry (ingress) on the left side (port), which indeed there is one — one that is quite visible from both the Print Shop and Gus’ Station (see Clue 4). But the house is closed during the winter, so you can’t go inside. Not to worry. The medallion “lies outside” near the frozen ground and, in fact, near the door on the side of the house. If you “step up” (Clue 5) the “stairway short” (Hint 5) that leads to that door “but then quickly look down…underneath,” you will find the medallion nested beneath that stairway.