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You might find this interesting; I certainly do.
There are several differences between the winter medallion hunts in Saint Peter and Saint Paul. We did some google searching.
For starters, there is a time limit on the Saint Paul hunt. There is no time limit on the hunt in Saint Peter.
In Saint Paul, daily clues are released around 11:30 p.m. at Shamrock’s and around midnight on Twincities.com. In Saint Peter, clues are released daily at 5:01 p.m. on the Ambassadors Facebook page and Saint Peter Chamber Facebook page and website.
The Saint Paul search started on January 17 and, as of this writing at 5:30 p.m. on January 27, the Saint Paul medallion had not been found. If it’s not found by 11:59 p.m. on January 29, the hunt ends.
Watch the next blog for more contrasts! The Saint Peter hunt starts Friday, January 30 at 5:01 p.m. Bundle up.
January 19, 2026 — Here we go, hunters!
The 2026 Saint Peter Winterfest is nearly underway, with the opening ceremony at 5:01 p.m. on Friday, January 30 in Levee Park for the reading of the first clue. Clues will go out on the Chamber Facebook page each day at 5:01 p.m. until it is found.
Sustaining factors include snow depth, past placements, air temperatures, windchills and that oh-so-unpredictable Medallion Rapscallion.
We have it on good authority that the Rapscallion was a bit frustrated last year when the coveted piece was recovered on just the fourth day. The hunt in previous years had gone seven or eight days.
But how do you write clues that put searchers in the right park without putting the medallion in their hands?
This clue writing. It’s an impressive art.
We’ll tell you the medallion was found in Gault Park in 2025, but that is hardly a hint. The grizzled, long-tenured hunters will remind you the puck was hidden in Jefferson Park three years in a row.
Did we mention the Medallion Rapscallion is unpredictable?
Bundle up, hunters. Think through your strategy. Get out there, and like a trusty duck retriever, bring back the medallion to claim the $1,000 prize sponsored by the Ambassadors.
February 3, 2025 — Congratulations to Julie Peters with sister Bekki Ziemer for finding the 2025 Saint Peter Winterfest Medallion on Monday, February 3 in Gault Park after clue #4!
Leave it to a former book publisher to make sense of alphabet soup, thereby deciphering the clues and finding the coveted puck.
“I saw the black and thought there it is,” said Peters, who was by the lighted tunnel shuffling through leaves. “I started screaming, ‘Bekki!’”
Peters was excited to get to the park, because she had seen slightly odd capital letters spelling GAU in clues 1, 2 and 3. If a capital L was in clue #4, she knew her theory had to be correct. That’s exactly what she saw with the 5:01 p.m. clue release.
“We searched the entire outfield and around the fence, but we were not going to give up tonight until we found it,” said Ziemer, in the falling temps of 23 degrees chilled by the stiff north wind. Her furry companion, Duke, could have passed for a Beargrease sled-dog.
The sisters had been knocking at the door the past four years of the medallion hunt. They were just steps away from finders Tom and Montana Weisgerber in Jefferson Park last year, Trae Swehla at Minnesota Square in 2023 and Cole McCarthy and Gavin Grochow in Levee in 2021.
“We’ve been so close, right there,” said Peters, who like her sister sported snow pants and puffy parkas. “We’re just stunned right now.”
Peters works at Saint Peter Eyecare and Ziemer at the Alma property Trellis in Mankato.
They don’t have plans for the loot, but they were hoping to thaw out over dinner somewhere after their big find.
Sponsoring the hunt this year was the David Detlefsen Agency for $250 in Chamber Bucks. The Chamber kicked in $100, an anonymous giver ponied up $100 and several business threw swag and gift certificates into the traditional vat of “stone soup” for the finders.
A few other searchers were in the finders’ midst, meaning, presumably, the clues did their job to put sleuths on the scent.
“There were other cars, and a guy and gal with a poking stick along the fence,” Peters said.
These ladies were not even going to search this year, but on Sunday night as Peters’ literary brain grew restless with its revealing of the capital letters in the clues, their path was defined.
“It was 12:30 a.m.; I couldn’t sleep,” said Peters, a former Capstone wordsmith who didn’t look at the clues the first two nights. She united with Ziemer in Gault Park on Monday after work. Their find tripped the timestamp at 6:42 p.m. By 7:30 p.m., the temperature dipped to 17 degrees.
The medallion, a hockey puck with the David Detlefsen Agency — State Farm Insurance logo, was positioned upside-down under weeds and leaves. That’s why only black was showing.
“I saw it and thought it had to be it,” said Peters, who got a new flashlight for this year’s endeavor.
This was the 21st annual hunt and the second time the hiding place was Gault Park, where — get this — Peters’ sister-in-law Lisa Schultz found it in a different part of the park the first time.
2026 Winterfest Medallion Hunt Rules. Please call Ed at 507-766-4560 immediately if you find it!
22th Annual Winterfest Medallion Hunt Rules. Thank you to the Saint Peter Ambassadors for sponsoring this event to the tune of a colossal $1,000 in Chamber Bucks!
Find the Medallion somewhere in St Peter, notify Ed at the Chamber (507-766-4560 anytime of the day or night or weekend,and you will win .
There are a few simple rules to remember when searching for the St. Peter Winter Medallion:
The Medallion is located within the St. Peter city limits and on public property.
-Do NOT dig in the soil.
-Please respect other people’s property and DO NOT search for the Medallion on private property (never search Treaty Site History Center, adjacent properties, or cemeteries).
-Please DO NOT climb over any fences when looking for the Medallion. The Medallion is NOT located in a restricted area.
Clues will be posted at 5:01 p.m. each day, until the Medallion is found, on the following websites:
St. Peter Herald
St. Peter Chamber
If you find the Medallion, you can turn it in at the St. Peter Area Chamber of Commerce office located at 101 S. Front Street in St. Peter. If you find the Medallion outside of the normal Chamber of Commerce business hours, please call Ed at 507-766-4560 so, as a courtesy to all Medallion hunters, we can report via the Chamber Facebook Page that it has been found. An e-mail also will go immediately to the St. Peter Herald and Mankato Free Press.