2022 White Bear Lake Manitou Days Medallion Hunt

The first stanza welcomes all to the hunt and the second stanza reminds hunters to refrain from disturbing decorative plants/landscaping. The third stanza, however, contains some of the hunt’s first hints. The word “astute” is an anagram for“statue”. Combined with “Bald Eagle” it points to the wooden Bald Eagle statue on a neighboring property, but just steps from the medallion. Hunters were instructed to “mind connections” to last year’s hunt at Benson Prairie in Bald Eagle Regional Park. The Benson family owned and operated a hotel (“check out” and “key”) at the corner of Bald Eagle Boulevard and Bald Eagle Avenue, just two blocks east of where the medallion was hidden.

Benson’s Hotel was once located at what is now the intersection of Bald Eagle Avenue and Bald Eagle Boulevard. The structure would eventually pass hands to the Rogowski family.In the early 1970s (“groovy”) the Rogowskis placed an old car (“jalopy”) on the ice of Bald Eagle Lake. Locals then placed guesses on when it would fall through the ice. For those enjoying wordplay,“loathsome” and “scrofulous” anagram to “south of slalom course”. The treasure was hidden due south of the first buoys of that course.“Sign,”“No Trespassing,” and “worn” pointed to a very old,rusted No Trespassing sign found on a tree to the east of the hiding spot.

The first stanza was designed to begin directing searchers to White Bear Township, which has installed new garbage/recycling bins at many of their public lands. Originally written as a clue about “black and blue” we only learned after a couple of trips to the scene that they are actually brown.“Town” also hinted at Township.In the second stanza, “scoring six”referred to the slalom ski course on the west side of Bald Eagle Lake. For those unfamiliar with the sport, skiers try to touch as many of the six buoys as possible with the shortest possible rope. The “native trend-setters” referenced the founders of White Bear Lake Ski Company, Tom and Carol Weinhagen, who owned homes and manufactured their skis just blocks west of the hiding spot. Four of their ski designs are currently on display at the Water Skiing Hall of Fame.“Setter” also hinted at the Setterlund memorial bench, which would be further mentioned in Clue #6. Finally, a No Parking sign is located at the entrance to the public easement, which depicts a crossed out letter P. The term “impervious” is also a key term from one of the two informational placards found at the easement where the medallion was placed.

“Rock” and “sculpt”referred to a large stone on the east side of Bald Eagle Lake where famous sculptor Paul Manship would walk to, sit, and sketch.It is found right beside a model of a lighthouse, which is labeled Split Rock. At the public easement where the medallion was hidden, several large rocks were brought in for landscaping (“some to view”) while smaller river stones were piled to prevent erosion during heavy rains (“passing through”). The second stanza referred to Lord of the Flies (a prominent setting in the book was Castle Rock), which is a fictional novel by William Golding that tells the story of a group of boys on an island who try to self-organize and find that an external beast they were fearing is actually the savagery within each of them. The story of Boy Island City, which was set up on Bald Eagle Island, has a similar feel – albeit a bit less dramatic. Boys were gathered up and they’d paddle to the island. They would form a government and live primitively. Boy Island City was only coordinated for two years; ending not because of beasts or even flies – but because of mosquitoes.

This clue begins with a memory of Summit Dairy, which was located on County Road E (“ease”). Remember purchasing your milk there? The building was purchased and repurposed by Tousley Ford (“affording”) AutoNation. While the medallion wasn’t hidden on that end of town, it is the name – Summit – that hunters were after. Summit Street was located west of where the medallion was found.“Ease” also hinted at the public easement where the medallion was hidden. The “street”referred to in the first stanza is Bald Eagle Boulevard (it goes by boulevard, not street), which curves along the lake. It bisects many private properties, with homes on one side of the boulevard and their docks on the other. “Desperately seeking” hinted at Desperately Seeking Susan, a film from 1985 as the medallion was hidden very near Black Eyed Susan plants.

The first stanza referred to Ralph and Suzanne Setterlund. A memorial bench near the hiding place was dedicated to them. According to his obituary, Ralph played cornet and football (among other sports) before enlisting in the army (“Hooah!”). Later in life, he was an avid golfer (“Fore!”). Suzanne’s maiden name was Parsons (“parsonage”). The second stanza pointed to the fact that there is one picnic table and one bench in the public easement space.If you plan on six people at the picnic table and two people at the bench, you’d need to grab seven friends to sit (“take a seat”) and fill up all the spots.

Pastoral space”referred to Pleasant Street, which is uphill from the public easement. A small vineyard is found just up the hill at the corner at Pleasant Street and West Avenue. No one wants to eat sour grapes so hunters were advised not to look there. The last two lines of the first stanza referred to St. Anthony Avenue, one block east of the hiding spot. St. Anthony is the Roman Catholic patron saint for lost things.“Swimmers…float” and “boat”referred to the many recreational activities in view from the treasure’s hiding spot. Bald Eagle Island is highlighted for the rest of the second stanza.“Parad-ice”referred to the home on the island, which was designed by Rust Architects, the same company that designed the 1992 Saint Paul Winter Carnival Ice Palace.If you take “Van” from vanquish and combine it with “brunt” you get Van Brunt, the family for whom the home was built. To this day, the house is still referred to by many as “the Van Brunt house.”“Final asking price”referred to the fact that the house is currently up for sale.

The first stanza explicitly mentioned the slalom course, visible to the north of the hiding spot. The second stanza told hunters to keep their eyes focused on the ground.“Restore and save, where land meets wave”referred to the two placards in the park about shoreline restoration. Southwest of the hiding spot are two signs: Watch for Children and Heritage.

The public easement is found where West Avenue runs into the lake. There are no trees in the public easement so they are “out of reach”. Large stones, part of the shoreline restoration project, line the walkway to the lake.In the second stanza, “talons that grip to kill” were meant to help redirect any hunters at White Bear Lake and bring them over to Bald Eagle.It is said that someone can have a “good head on their shoulders” or a “chip on their shoulder”. The third line refers to these sayings. The last line instructs hunters to look between the shoulder of Bald Eagle Boulevard and the lake (“gill”).

Final directions to the 2022 medallion, which was along the border, which can be reached from sitting at the northwesternmost seat at the picnic table.