Todd Hawkinson’s first attempt at casting a Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt medallion didn’t go so well.
It melted.
A jeweler by trade, the St. Paul resident was more accustomed to working with precious metals than plastics, he said.
“The first one, that was just an ‘Uh oh,’ ” he said.
The resin heated as it cured — a normal occurrence unforeseen by Hawkinson — and began to cook a plastic decoration he was trying to float within it. He tried to salvage the creation, but it hardened mid-struggle and now looks like a flame-roasted Christmas ornament.
“I went with a different brand (of resin) after that,” he said.
A couple of months and four attempts later, Hawkinson perfected his process and finished the medallion that is now hidden on public land in Ramsey County. Hunters have through Jan. 31 to solve daily clues and claim the medallion — and the potential $10,000 prize that comes with it.
“My son said, ‘Put a GPS in there,’ ” Hawkinson said. “There’s no GPS in it.”
The newest medallion is the fifth to be used in the Treasure Hunt in the past 13 years, said Lori Swanson, vice president of marketing at the Pioneer Press.
One was auctioned off to an unknown buyer from St. Louis in 2005. Another was buried with longtime treasure hunter “Santa Dave” Young in 2007. The third was given to the wife of columnist Don Boxmeyer, a former clue writer, after his death in 2008. The fourth was given away in a drawing last year.
Making the newest medallion was a new experience for Swanson, too. Hawkinson called her out of the blue a few months ago offering to craft a new puck.
“I get tons of calls from people wanting to be a clue writer,” she said. “But I’ve never had anybody approach me for making the medallion.”
Hawkinson, who is also an instructor at Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical in Red Wing, said he’s searched for the medallion in years past, but had no idea what it looked like. He planned to use the project as a learning opportunity for his jewelry class.
Then Swanson told him something unexpected. The medallion has been made out of plastic for years in an effort to stymie hunters equipped with metal detectors.
Hawkinson decided to work the project by himself in his Payne Avenue workshop.
He used the design of the previous medallion as a starting point but decided to change the shape and float a wintry design element within it.
“I wanted to make it a little different,” he said. He hopes to make a unique medallion for the hunt each year going forward.
While he’s satisfied with the final product, he said, he admitted one regret.
“I probably could do a better one if it was a real jewel,” he said.
John Brewer can be reached at 651-228-2093.
Copyright 2013 Pioneer Press.
