Clue:

A year to celebrate; a half century, in fact.

Year 24 of the hunt, come on, join in, if you feel you have the nack?

Thank you to the attorneys for this verbiage in the first clue every time.

As in years past, no need to swim, dig or climb.

Clue:

The Oakdale Fire Department is celebrating too.

     60 years since their 1960’s debut.

Full time now the department’s so fast to respond.

     Giving us their all, they go above and beyond.

Harsh conditions encountered means bravery applied.

     The gift they give comes from deep inside.

Clue:

1974 saw the Village of Oakdale reach grown up status.

     City Hall was a dull, tin, Quonset Hut – far from a palace.

And years before agriculture and farming consumed most of the land.

     Modern day streets and roads current residents could scarcely understand.

More substantive hints you request: okey-dokey.

     I’m a small plastic disk, embedded, and hiding east of the Gohlike.

Clue:

Never before have you seen the medallion here.

     Finding it this year you’ll need to persevere.

We’ll tell you once, tell you twice and a third time for good measure.

     Though tempted you might be, please do not go inside to discover this year’s treasure.

Construction abounds, a bituminous pedway’s your best bet.

     Just a few feet away so innocently set.

Clue:

Would it even be right to celebrate Oakdale’s 50th anniversary void of 50th Street?

    If it’s yet to be found, triple beat your two feet.

Inside a stone, 8 pounds give or take a fraction.

     In front of the double gate, it’s time to take action action.

No digging you know, yet upside down and extraction.

     The dirt is glued on so brushing off will be step one to satisfaction.

A screwdriver may be the best choice for a tool.

     Like a surgeon; precise skills will soon reveal the jewel.

Next year is silver, we’d love to now leave you with.

     Fond memories of Oakdale celebrating its 50th!

Explanation:

Clue number 1 starts out rather bold by proclaiming the half century (50 year) celebration for the City of Oakdale officially becoming a City.  If you happened to tie the 50 years to 50th Street, you were right on track.  Another slightly strange and subtle part of the clue is the misspelling of the work nack (correctly it would be knack).  The “k” was dropped to place more emphasis on the letter “n” suggesting “north” in the city which also points, loosely, to 50th Street.

Explanation:

Clue number 2 is mostly recognizing the Oakdale Fire Department, currently lead by Chief Kevin Wold. While the City is celebrating its 50th anniversary, the OFD is celebrating 60 years of service to the residents of Oakdale.  Recently, the OFD moved away from a volunteer structure and to full-time employment. This means there are members of the OFD in both the north and south stations 24/7 and available to respond to the residents extremely quickly with a simple call to 911.  The last sentences offer more direction for searchers. The words “harsh conditions” reference the closed sidewalk and active construction on 50th Street where the medallion is hidden.  The words in the very last sentence “gift …. Comes from deep inside” gives reference to the very specific location of the medallion.

Explanation:

Clue number 3 really focuses on Hadley Avenue.  For those old enough to remember, the Oakdale City Hall building was once a metal/tin Quonset hut. It was located on the same site as the current city hall building and about where the north parking lot is now; the place where the Wednesday farmers market is located. The “palace” reference is the beautiful Mormon temple. While the temple is currently under construction, the building itself is probably the closest thing to a palace we have in the city.  The Mormon temple is also on Hadley Avenue. Finally, in the early 1900’s a farmer by the name of John Gohlike (pronounced: goal-key) owned land near the railroads tracks in the approximate location of where Menards now sets.   What is now Hadley Avenue, back in the earlier part of the last century was called “The Gohlike Road” by the locals and named after John Gohlike.  The medallion, from this clue tells searchers it is located east of Hadley Avenue.  Finally, the word “embedded” will be useful once a searcher believes he/she/they have located the vessel it is hidden in.

Explanation:

The 4th clue tells you the medallion has never been hidden in this location before.  Therefore, of all the previous places the medallion was hidden, you could cross those parks and locations off of your list. Now, 50th Street, east of Hadley and never before hidden in this location starts to dial you in. In fact, many a searcher at this point may be eyeing the Bark Park.  While that is not entirely incorrect, clue number 4 specifically notes “… once, twice and a third time….” That the medallion is not hidden inside the Bark Park (“do not go inside”).  However, the paved walkway (pedway) along 50th Street and next to the Bark Park is now really narrowing the search area and site.

Explanation:

The 5th clue begins by confirming 50th Street as the location.  Next, the clue directs you to a stone weighing about 8 pounds.  There is a double gate that offers access to the Bark Park and on the gate there are two signs advertising the fence installer, Action Fence.  The two signs are the reason the word “Action” is repeated twice in the clue.  One of the pieces of limestone rock at the base of the gate contains the medallion.  However, the clue writing committee felt that may be too easy. Not only would you need to turn the rock/stone over to look at the bottom, there are also leaves and dirt glued to the bottom of the rock.  This means you would need to “brush off” the dirt and leaves to reveal there has been a hole drilled in the bottom of this rock/stone.  Next, the searcher would need to carefully extract (like doing surgery on the rock) the glue and plumbers putty that is holding the actual medallion which is “embedded” “deep inside” this stone.  The Summerfest Medallion Hunt Committee thanks you for getting out and exploring our great city. We hope, even if you were not able to locate the medallion, you found something new or learned something new about the City of Oakdale.  We look forward to entertaining and challenging you again next year when the medallion hunt itself celebrates its 25th (Silver) year.  Be sure to visit Walton Park on Saturday and enjoy the activities that culminate with the popular fireworks show on Saturday evening.