Love sometimes means giving someone a second chance. For that reason, Derek Erlenbusch loves the Pioneer Press very much.
Last summer, Erlenbusch decided to propose to his girlfriend, Chris Mitsch, during the next Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt.
But his plan was foiled by a guy named Jake Ingebrigtson, who unearthed the medallion last week in record-breaking time after just three clues. Erlenbusch had planned to propose the next day.
The newspaper’s decision to hold a second hunt meant love could prevail.
It was a fitting proposal, because Mitsch, a St. Paul native, is the kind of Treasure Hunter who takes time off from work to search for the medallion. She wears a headlamp. She carries maps. She’s been looking for that medallion since she was a kid – it’s a Mitsch family tradition.
“The years when I was away at college, it killed me not to be home during the medallion hunt,” says Mitsch, 31.
So Mitsch proudly introduced her boyfriend, Derek Erlenbusch, of New Hope, and his family to the hunt last year. Originally from South Dakota, Erlenbusch and his clan were charmed not only by the hunt but also by St. Paul – its one-way streets, its Winter Carnival, its small-town feel.
“Chris is teaching us the ways and traditions of the St. Paul people,” says Erlenbusch’s sister, Nicki Johnston, of Maple Grove.
Erlenbusch, 32, especially fell in love with the hunt – and with Mitsch. The two were clearly kindred spirits.
“He waits up until midnight for the next clue to be published,” Mitsch says. “He can’t sleep until he knows what it is.”
Perhaps the couple knew it was love when they got matching headlamps, to help them search area parks at night for the medallion.
They were both bummed when the medallion was found last week.
“I called to tell him the news,” says Mitsch.
“I was devastated,” says Erlenbusch.
Trying to recover his cool, he headed over to his sister’s house to regroup.
“All of a sudden, I had 24 hours to think of a whole new plan,” he said. “Because I still wanted to propose the next day, before I left for an ice fishing trip. But it had to be a surprise. I wanted to catch her off guard. That was my biggest motivation.”
“We started Googling ‘creative proposals,’ ” says Johnston. “One said to scrape ‘Will you marry me?’ on her car’s windshield. We also thought up ordering a pizza, and I would be the pizza delivery person, with a diamond ring in the box. Or, she had left a glove at my house, so we thought that he’d give it back to her with the diamond in it.”
“All of the ideas were cheesy,” says Erlenbusch. “I didn’t click with any of them.”
Luckily, he didn’t need to – Mitsch called again.
“She told me there was going to be another hunt,” says Erlenbusch.
“He was so excited,” says Mitsch.
“I tried not to be too over the top – I didn’t want her to suspect anything,” says Erlenbusch.
“He said, ‘We can still go looking tomorrow!’ ” says Mitsch. “I said, ‘We can, but it’s only the first clue. We won’t even know where to look.’ ”
“I said, ‘Let’s look at the next clue and see if it points to a certain park,’ ” says Erlenbusch.
After he got off the phone, Johnston offered some sisterly advice.
“When the first medallion was found, I said, ‘Derek, it’s just not meant to be that you were supposed to propose to her during the hunt,’ ” Johnston says. “And then, when we found out about the second hunt, I said, ‘Derek, it is so meant to be. You have to propose to her at the hunt!’ ”
He agreed.
“After he read the clue on Wednesday, he said, ‘I think it might be at Como Park,’ ” says Mitsch. “I said, ‘That’s fine, we can walk around and get the lay of the land.’ ”
“I really did think it was there,” says Erlenbusch.
After a quick dinner at Taco Bell, the couple strapped on their headlamps and started hunting.
“We were out there for at least an hour,” says Erlenbusch.
“Finally, I said, ‘OK, I’m starting to get cold, why don’t we just go?’ ” says Mitsch.
“I was trying to find the perfect moment, I thought it would be easy to do,” says Erlenbusch. “When she turned to leave, I thought, ‘OK, it’s now or never.’ ”
“All of a sudden, he said, ‘I’m freaking out,’ and he was holding a box,” says Mitsch. “I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s found the medallion! And then he got down on one knee. I was still totally focused on the medallion, until he asked me to marry him.”
“I achieved my element of surprise,” says Erlenbusch.
When Mitsch realized what was happening – a proposal, not a medallion – she said yes. And no, she wasn’t disappointed.
“No, no, no,” she says. “I was much happier with what I got. Plus, we found out later that my grandparents got engaged at Como Park, too.”
The Pioneer Press learned of the proposal when Johnston wrote to thank the paper for holding a second hunt.
“Little do you know, you saved a very romantic and meaningful engagement,” Johnston wrote. “It’ll be a great story to remember every year when they hunt for the medallion, and when they take their kids. Thank you for keeping the dream alive.”
And the dream is still alive. Now that Erlenbusch is back from his fishing trip, he and Mitsch have resumed their search for the medallion, which comes with a $5,000 cash prize.
“I’m really motivated to find it now,” Mitsch says. “We need the money for the wedding.”
Molly Millett can be reached at mollymillett@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5505.
Copyright 2007 Pioneer Press.
