Picked up by Judy Melville under tree bark near a fallen tree by Upper Lake in Crosby Park. She was accompanied by her son Ryan Melville, son-in-law Hayward Estepp, and Estepp's two-year-old daughter Bailey. Those who hunt the lil' fella every year know the importance of a team. Even if you're the one that finds it, make sure Bailey gets in the picture with the big check if she was there with you. Judy was identified as the family matron and the one who walked out of Crosby with the medallion, but Ryan's name was on the check. It's all in the family.

Clue 1
The old curmudgeon was in high dudgeon
When a critter ran off with the loot
But this year to be credible, we've made it inedible
And stuck it in a park - so scoot!
Generally any reference to "curmudgeon" is a reference to Joe Soucheray, the longtime lover/hater of the things medallion. He has enough written material on the subject now to dedicate a whole book to it. And why not? Everyone else is doing it. The official explanation calls all us hunters "the old curmudgeon" but I ain't buyin' it. It should have been "the old curmudgeons were in high dudgeon" then.

Last year's medallion was supposed to be attached to a doughnut, but it was tampered with by some sort of animal, and the doughnut was never found. The hiders have reacted to last year's mistake quickly.

Clue 2
Snow we have missed much, this not very white Christmas
But the ice has come to stay
The water's quite frozen at this park we have chosen
Along its paths you may while time away
Good clue. Seems to say more than usual this early. White Chistmas is Bing Crosby. We have a Crosby Farm Regional Park holding a Crosby Lake. We also get the traditional water clue here. The medallion has been at nearby Hidden Falls but never at Crosby. This was the year.

Clue 3
Be safe and we pledge, neither cliff nor water's edge
Figures in your hunting pursuit
What's that you hear? Please, have no fear
It was there before we moved in
Another good clue with seeming forthrightness and lots of phrasing to break apart. Crosby and Hidden Falls gained steam in online forums, with Crosby taking the lead over all other parks. I think the clue writers took extra precautions to keep people away from dangerous medallion hunting areas in a new hunting park. I also think the "What's that you hear?" portion of the clue was best explained by a huge fallen tree that was chainsawed to unblock a hiking path. I think it makes more sense to imply that the medallion hiders didn't cut the tree down just to make a landmark. It's a play on "If a tree falls in the woods, does anyone hear it?" The official explanation had some bullshit about plane noise.

Clue 4
The siren calls, the giant falls
'Tween field generals the poet sings
That down beyond the once blue pond
Is treasure fit for kings
It was an early giveaway this year. Sirens and giants are all about Ulysses which is all about Homer, and Homer is a Street that points right at Crosby Lake. The field generals are quarterbacks Rich Gannon and John Elway. Gannon and Elway are streets that all bump into Shepard Road and the park itself.

Clue 5
A branch, a lichen, a place made for hikin',
Is where a prize is earned
Don't run, helter skelter, seek out solid shelter
With room and wood to burn
The official explanation was that Crosby Park has forest, lichens on trees, hiking trails, a picnic shelter, and a fireplace. All agreed that this was the lamest clue in the bunch.

Clue 6
Young woman or man, while you still can
Gnash your teeth and put on the glove
On cross country skis take the trail through the trees
Where the eagle flies with the dove
"Young woman," "still can," "Gnash your" -- together they seem like gibberish, but if you rip them apart, you aren't reaching too much to put Stills, Nash, & Young with our good friend, Crosby. Both "Where the eagle flies with the dove" and "glove" come from "Love the One You're With" by CSNY. A quick Google search gave me:

There's a rose
In a fisted glove
And the eagle flies,
Flies with the dove
So if you can't be with the one you love,
Love the one you're with

Chestnut brown canary
Ruby-throated sparrow
Sing a song
Don't be long
Thrill me to the marrow

Clue 7
Chilled to the marrow only a yarrow
Could love the place you found
Lonely and forsaked, the puck rests naked
On the snow- and ice-covered ground
They didn't bother to hide it in anything this year, perhaps because the hiding space is not such a wide open area and the medallion would be too easy to find after later clues were given. I like the use of "yarrow" to rhyme with marrow. It's a hearty flower, but more importantly, there's an information sign in Crosby about the plant. It's an obvious reference point.

Clue 8
He staked his claim one year of fame
On land as rich as Midas
This land is my land, kicked off the island
To a grove that once did hide us
This one confounded searchers. Zebulon Pike came up for Pike Island, Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant was my guess due to a sign in Crosby Park mentioning Parrant by name (and because I used to drink a lot of Pig's Eye beer in the early 90s, and I think fondly upon those years). The official explanation told us that English immigrant Thomas Crosby claimed the fertile farm site in 1858, the year Minnesota became a state. The clue further states that the medallion is hidden in a grove of trees and not on nearby Pike Island.

Clue 9
En route to trails where puck fever prevails
Many sides no flowers to see
Round the bend the seeker should wend
To all that remains of a tree
I knew of the important fallen tree, but I have to roll with the official explanation for a full take on this one... An eight-sided flower planter ("many sides no flower to see") sat near the beginning of park trails. Around a bend in the trail is the giant stump of a tree near where the medallion was hidden.

Clue 10
Parking lot leads past woods and weeds
To the trail passing two and three
The lake of ice, the life-saving device
Are close to our magical tree
There's that tree again. There are trail signs at Crosby. When you take the trail from the parking lot, the first split in the path there is a No. 2; if you go to the right, there is a No. 3 along with a yellow life raft. The raft is the kind you can find by many Minnesota lakes—two boards connected with a rope at the end (I distinctly remember the ones around Loeb Lake at Marydale Park when I was a kid). The raft was on the right side of the path. It was supposed to be hanging on a tree, but diggers reported that it was just leaning against a tree at one point and that it moved around a bit. The hiders and clue writers should know by now not to use movable landmarks, but they were probably running out of ideas. They finished the last two clues with the word "tree," fer cry!

Clue 11
A path fit for hikes between Upper and Pike's
Leads past a grove with a giant beheaded
Beneath branch debris near this once-mammoth tree
The magical booty is embedded
The medallion was found at Clue 10, so this was never noodled. The official explanation said the clue pinpointed the spot between Upper Lake and Pike Island where the giant "beheaded" stump was located and told hunters to look under branch debris near this stump.

Clue 12
I say "You, hark!" In Crosby Farm Park
Lies the treasure, for goodness sake.
Hike in from the west along the trail, take no rest
And look south from mid Upper Lake

From the giant tree with no head, face the island and tread
Six paces to the left: halt, battalion!
Fallen branches and snow hide the goodies below:
Thomas Crosby’s Winter Carnival Medallion!
The giveaway clue.