Jubilation turned to dismay Tuesday night as two groups of Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt medallion seekers discovered elaborately crafted hockey pucks disguised to look like the prize.
"I think it ruins the fun of the hunt," said Tracy Turner, 27, of Minneapolis, who helped to find one of the phony medallions while hunting with fellow would-be winner Chris Morgel, 31, also of Minneapolis, early Tuesday evening in Roseville's Central Park. "I'm sure they were sitting in the woods laughing."
"That's pretty low of somebody," noted friend Ceejay Provo.
"We want people to participate in the hunt with a sense of fair play and the community tradition that this represents. We regret the disappointment," said Pioneer Press communications manager Pat Effenberger.
The Pioneer Press is keeping the two pucks while the matter is investigated.
One of the pucks, which were both found Tuesday night in Central Park, was tucked in a white sock and buried in a grouping of rocks. The finders declined to be identified.
The puck found by Turner and Morgel was wrapped in a plastic grocery bag and placed in a tree.
While false treasures mistaken for the medallion have been brought to the Pioneer Press in prior years, "I don't remember any that were purposefully planted," noted Carolyn Robertson, the newspaper's marketing manager.
She noted that a third person called Saturday to report discovering a similar-looking puck in St. Paul's Como Park. That puck was not brought in.
"They're very elaborate," Effenberger said of the Central Park forgeries.
"It's terrible. I'm so mad," Robertson told the two groups of dejected hunters Tuesday evening.
The Central Park pucks, which look identical, appear nothing like previous medallions.
One side of each puck features the "2007 Treasure Hunt" snowman-with-a-magnifying glass logo, apparently clipped from the paper and laminated, while the other side has a printed statement: "Congratulations On Finding King Boreas' Winter Carnival Medallion. Please Return To Pioneer Press, 345 Cedar St, St. Paul, Minnesota."
The hunt has been a cornerstone of St. Paul Winter Carnival celebrations since 1952. This year, a first medallion was found Jan. 23 by hunting veteran Jake Ingebrigtson, of St. Paul, after just three clues.
Pioneer Press publisher Par Ridder decided the short hunt diminished the tradition — and announced a second contest, worth half the prize money but all the glory. It was the second time in the contest's history that a second hunt had been announced.
The finder of the second medallion will be eligible to receive up to $5,000, including $1,250 for returning the medallion to the Pioneer Press, $2,500 with a registered 2007 Winter Carnival button and $1,250 for providing clippings of the published clues. The finder also will get to have lunch with columnist Joe Soucheray.
Tad Vezner can be reached at tvezner@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5461.
Copyright 2007 Pioneer Press.
