Cathy Diaz makes quick work of Pepper Fest Medallion Hunt
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Cathy Diaz makes quick work of Pepper Fest Medallion Hunt
Cathy Diaz receives a handshake and $1,000 check from First American Bank President/CEO John Malmberg. Diaz found the prize in the first Pepper Fest Medallion Hunt sponsored by the local bank. She brought a service dog in training, Rugby, along to the check presentation at the beginning of the royalty coronation Sunday afternoon. Also representing the bank were Deborah Smith, vice president of retail banking, and Dawn Marquart, community relations.The sponsors of the first Pepper Fest Medallion Hunt are planning to make next year’s search more difficult so an expert like Cathy Diaz doesn’t end it so quickly.
Diaz found the medallion Saturday morning, Aug. 8, under a bird house at the end of a path leading north from Chief Jansen Memorial Park. She hadn’t even read the first clue when she found the medallion worth $1,000 in prize money from First American Bank of Hudson.
A statement in the rules posted Saturday morning on the bank’s website encouraged people to “behave” while searching -- to stay off private property and not damage anything. It made Diaz think of the late North Hudson Police Chief Rich Jansen and the park on the north side of the village named in his honor.
She had guessed the medallion would be hidden in a village park since the Pepper Fest is a North Hudson celebration, even though the rules said it could be hidden on public property anywhere in the Hudson area.
She got a list of the North Hudson parks and had already searched Ferry Landing Park and public property near Brown’s Beach when the hunt rules were posted.
“I figured it was a nice day and I might as well get some exercise,” said Diaz, who took one of the golden retriever service dogs she trains with her.
She looked for about an hour and a half before finding the Pepper Fest medallion made by Ted Bauer, owner Laser Magic/AccuMark of Hudson.
Diaz said she has learned from other hunts that medallions usually aren’t hidden in playgrounds or places where people might find them by accident. Her method is to search the perimeter of parks, checking different objects and anything that is manmade.
“I think they were a little disappointed it was found so quick, but it was like, oops, so sorry,” she reported.
The sponsors of the hunt were happy that the money will go to a good cause, however.
Diaz is a volunteer trainer of service dogs, and uses her own money to pay for food, vaccinations and other expenses.
“So a lot of the winnings are going to be going to the dogs,” she said.
She thanked First American Bank for bringing a medallion hunt to the community.
“It’s really fun that Hudson is now doing something like this, It’s awesome,” she said.
Diaz said she’s been attending Pepper Fest ever since she came to the Hudson area in 1998. In 2004, she bought a house just down the street from Pepper Fest Park.
She’s the co-director of a Minnesota charter school named Ed Vision Off Campus.
Copyright 2015 Hudson Star-Observer.
