2014 Defeat of Jesse James Days Horsehsoe Hunt

The letters that make up the name of the hiding spot have been scrambled and you will be given 3 letters of the puzzle through a clue each day. The clues will lead you to locations downtown where you must walk to the cipher near the particular location and gather a particular letter as instructed in each clue.

The Purse is $900 this year thanks to cash donations by E&J Photography, US Federal Credit Union, Professional Pride Realty and Bursch Travel.

This was our 15th year of the Horseshoe Hunt and I believe that this year included the largest number of people hunting ever, ranging from young kids with their parents to folks from the Twin Cities. It gives me great pride to do something that gets people out into the core of our city with their families and friends. I’ve been hiding for 4 years (on the hunt committee for 6) and every year the winner has been accompanies by their family members out there. I spent more time downtown talking to folks this year than ever and that vast majority of those looking were not alone.

A goal of mine when taking on this hiding job was to make it so there were other things to find and not just the 1 big find at the end. From me placing smaller clues out there via laminated cards in years prior, to using the sidewalk poetry three times per day/clue, I wanted hunters to feel like they’re getting somewhere, like they’ve actually found what I wanted them to that day and can move on to the next piece of the puzzle the next day. I think this worked well.

Now, the plan was to give 15 letters through 5 days, and add 3 more in the form of “THE” on Saturday if needed to spell out “The Old Safety Center”. On Saturday I would have provided the number of words and letters per word. I gave out 12 letters. Now, the winner, Karen Roback and her daughter found the horseshoe at 10:15am this morning. She told me that yesterday they were in the area of the former police station, now the fire station along with her girls. She said they all worked together to crunch the letters and ironically had come up with the possibility of it being “NFLD Fire Department”. I didn’t look close enough, but that seems to make sense. Many were seen not just downtown but in the areas of the Old Memorial Field and the Northfield City Hall.

Location is always a toughie. Many parks have had their turn and some a second turn. Many parks are just too small to provide for a challenge. This year I choose a spot that seemed unconventional while testing Northfielders on their current events, being as the police had recently moved to their new location. This was actually the first year I didn’t “scout” the location out before hand as the place was just too public and I would seem out of place walking around the old Safety Center prior to a hunt. So when I did sneak in to hide the shoe, I had to decide the best hiding spot at that moment. All I had to help me prepare was Google Street View on Google Maps.

Thanks again to everyone who played this year!