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Inside CA's SnoDaze Medallion Hunt
February 09, 2017
Like with the St. Paul Winter Carnival Medallion Hunt, Concordia Academy's SnoDaze Medallion Hunt gives students a chance to try to decipher daily clues to discover where the medallion is hidden. This week, Alex Moldenhauer, Gino Yarbrough-Wright, and Charlie Tastad found the medallion.
CA teacher Mr. Gary Fritz is the mastermind behind the medallion location and clues each year. Below, you'll find the daily clues, along with Mr. Fritz's commentary (in bold italics) regarding their meaning. (Obviously, the commentary was not originally published with the clues.) Enjoy this little peek into CA student life, SnoDaze Week, and the mind of Gary Fritz!
Clue #1
The plans were all set,
The hunt would be fine
But things here have changed
Now it’s my turn to whine
The powers that be
Decreed tomes obsolete
Their haven is dead
My plan’s met defeat
The hunt would be fine
But things here have changed
Now it’s my turn to whine
The powers that be
Decreed tomes obsolete
Their haven is dead
My plan’s met defeat
An earlier plan for the hunt that included the library had to be scrapped when the library was transformed into the “Becken Conservatory,” thus rather inconveniencing the writer.
Clue #2
Thus, stay out of there
Why bother, why go?
The prize that you seek
Is elsewhere you know
Why bother, why go?
The prize that you seek
Is elsewhere you know
One year it was upstairs
Last year by a pole
Now think like it’s Christmas
Or you’ll only find coal
Last year by a pole
Now think like it’s Christmas
Or you’ll only find coal
So obviously, don’t bother going into the Conservatory since it has nothing to do with the Medallion Hunt. Christmas imagery is at the heart of this year’s hunt. Anything else will prove useless, with the result being akin to coal, the “gift” left for naughty boys and girls.
Clue #3
Playing with the last line,
Nat, Krauts, he did flatter
When he sang with much cheer
“wie treu sind deine Blätter!”
Playing with the last line,
Nat, Krauts, he did flatter
When he sang with much cheer
“wie treu sind deine Blätter!”
To help in this verse, consider
That Kilmer once decreed
What God alone creates;
But poems, from fools like me
That Kilmer once decreed
What God alone creates;
But poems, from fools like me
“Playing,” as in “word play,” connects with “coal”, or Cole, as in Nat King Cole, who famously sang “O Christmas Tree” in German. American poet Joyce Kilmer famously wrote “Trees,” which concludes: “Poems are made by fools like me,//But only God can make a tree.” So…the focus is on a tree, particularly of the Christmas variety.
Clue #4
Don’t be so dramatic
Come join me, let’s play
So let’s all go Into…
You shouldn’t delay
Come join me, let’s play
So let’s all go Into…
You shouldn’t delay
The way it is clear
And when lighting is good
You need not have fear
To find what you should
This section reinforces the above. “Dramatic” and “play” are references to CA’s spring musical, but not the auditorium. “Into…” doesn’t really make sense unless you consider it’s capitalized and Uses an ellipsis (…), thus indicating more, perhaps a title such as “Into the Woods.” Ah, woods, another tree reference. This entire verse is simply a paraphrase of an early line in “Into the Woods”, one said by Little Red. It’s really only here because it is a reinforcement for the play imagery, it kind of flows nicely, and doing so amused me. Plus, Little Red is played by my kid.
Clue #5
A line of true sentries
Keeping guard ‘gainst a foe
Face off against Norsemen
To here you should go
A line of true sentries
Keeping guard ‘gainst a foe
Face off against Norsemen
To here you should go
Branch out, take a bow
Keep your eyes to the sky
The trinket is nestled
In reach not too high
Keep your eyes to the sky
The trinket is nestled
In reach not too high
Now we’re getting specific. The trees along County Road B2 by the football field are in a nice line, like soldiers facing their foe, the Norsemen or “north men” again indicating location. Branch and bow (bough) are tree references. Look up, not down for the medallion. Nestled. Ok, not really. It was hanging from a branch within reach. But, you know…nest…tree. Get it?
Clue #6
We’ve reached the fifth day
The prize remains hidden
But spruce up a bit
And I am not kiddin’
We’ve reached the fifth day
The prize remains hidden
But spruce up a bit
And I am not kiddin’
It’s elementary dear Watson
No shot in the dark
We’re close, but not looking
In grand Central Park
No shot in the dark
We’re close, but not looking
In grand Central Park
This was the emergency last verse for the last day if the prize remains unfound. "Spruce up"…as in spruce tree. "Elementary" and "Central Park" reference the school across the street. So, by this time, it should be obvious, even to poor ol’ Watson, where the medallion ought to be.
The medallion was hidden in a spruce tree along the north fence along B2 across from Central Park Elementary.