2018 Dan Patch Days Horseshoe Hunt

The Savage family of four had been paying close attention to the clues each week, even refreshing the Dan Patch Historical Society’s website repeatedly, waiting for a new one to be revealed.

The family has celebrated Dan Patch Days for the last 19 years, since moving to the city, and always watched the horseshoe hunt and followed the clues from afar. But this year, they decided to have a go at the hunt. Evan Weisensel, 20, hadn’t even finished reading through the fourth clue when he figured out where the horseshoe was hidden: the Savage Dog Park.

Evan Weisensel said he takes his dog, Charlie, a maltipoo, to the dog park often and immediately understood the clue. The fourth clue read:”Little Patch he was called & with Dan he was stalled. But Pat was his name, best friend just the same. From Yorkshire he came, not a ferrier but a terrier, of fame. With the shoe you end game & the prize you will claim.”The clue didn’t just lead to the Savage Dog Park, Weisensel said he believes, it lead to the small dog area within the park

He said the word “Yorkshire” in the fourth clue gave it away, as a Yorkshire terrier is a small breed dog.

Evan and his sister, Christina, 24, were out running errands ahead of Father’s Day when the fourth clue was revealed. They got in touch with their dad, Nick, who rushed from his home in Savage. They all met at the dog park.

Nick Weisensel said the dog park was a “hot spot” that night. Even Rep. Drew Christensen, R-Savage, was there, he said.

The trio started looking around for the horseshoe, which was found hanging on a tree limb. Evan Weisensel plucked the horseshoe out of the tree and walked up to his sister.

“Pick a hand,” he said. She did and her brother revealed the horseshoe. They freaked out, quietly. The dog park was crawling with other horseshoe hunters. They approached their father and another subtle freak out session took place. When they arrived back home, Evan Weisensel went up to his mother, Laur, and again said “Pick a hand,” eventually revealing the shoe.

Laur Weisensel said she knew when her family went out looking for the horseshoe that night they would return with it.

Puzzle-solving skills
The process of finding the shoe was a lot more complicated than just searching high and low around the dog park, Christina Weisensel said. The third clue reads:

“Since location is key,

a new clue for thee: Glendale Cemetery.

Find a presidential plot, then the same on a plat.

Travel to that spot, it’s where the shoe’s at.”

Christina Weisensel said she looked up the index of those buried at Glendale Cemetery and found someone with the last name of “Nixon,” a presidential name, of course. She then found an old plat map from 1913, which showed where Nixon family land was. She printed out a current map of that area using Google Maps and overlaid it on the 1913 map. She then had a general idea of where the horseshoe was at, she said.

“The clues were really good this year,” Christina Weisensel said.

The family has always looked forward to Dan Patch Days every year, Laur Weisensel said. The family is absolutely “tickled” to have found the horseshoe and to be involved with the annual citywide celebration a bit more this year, she said. Part of finding the horseshoe involves a $100 reward, which Evan and Christina Weisensel will split, the chance to ride on a float in the Dan Patch Parade on Saturday, June 23 and bragging rights, of course.

The annual hunt, which has taken place since 1996, has always been sponsored by the Dan Patch Days Historical Society. The horseshoe is hidden somewhere in the city of Savage, on public property.

Dan Patch Days run from June 21-24 this year. For more information visit danpatchdays.org.