– Forrest Ahrens and Sierra Takushi
“It’s almost like being inducted into the hall of fame!” exclaimed senior Harris Worthman, who enjoyed his eighteenth birthday in the procession of the St. Paul Winter Carnival parade this past weekend. Worthman’s step into adulthood, however, was not the priority of celebrations but rather, his father’s recent achievement of finding the Winter Carnival medallion.
The annual Medallion Hunt sponsored by the Pioneer Press has drawn thousands of dedicated hunters out to public parks across the Twin Cities for the past six decades. After 25 years of following daily clues published in the newspaper, Steve Worthman, Harris’s father, found the prized medallion at Snail Lake Park in Shoreview on Jan. 22. Harris was sitting in Spanish class when his father had broken away from his regular searching group.
“He started going ahead of them and starting digging on this big side of a hill,” recounted Harris, smiling. “It was just lying there and he picked it right out of the snow. Then he threw it to his friend Jake, who had found it twice and was like ‘look at that’.”
Though Harris did not help his father search this year, he enjoyed the challenge of analyzing clues at home.
“I have to,” Harris emphasized enthusiastically. “Every year I have to help him out. To be honest, it’s more about the clue solving and then going out there when it is the right time to hunt.”
The Worthmans received a ten thousand dollar reward and though Harris is looking forward to a promised birthday present, he is equally enthused that his father’s prolonged dedication has finally paid off in the hunt for what he’s passionate about.