Nick Kingan says he had just been progressively searching for the Smoky Hill River Festival Medallion when he, and 1-year-old son Declan, located the prize early Wednesday afternoon.  “We really were using it as a good excuse to get out and do a little walking,” he said.

The medallion, a gray rock with a yellow dot and a plastic lid with a piece of paper rolled up inside, was found in a WPA-era sandstone and concrete retaining wall at the end of Penn Avenue at Riverside Boulevard, north of Elm Street, at around 1:30 p.m.

Kingan says he and his wife intend to save the prize money and put it towards purchasing a new home in the future. He says that Wednesday morning’s clue, “Chinese or American”, was the one that tipped him off, as there are two sets of elm trees that led him to Riverside Park on East Elm Street.

Kingan is the seventh winner of the annual medallion hunt, which began in 2009.  He will receive a prize package that includes:

– $2,000 cash
– $2,000 in Festival Gift Certificates, to be used toward purchases in the Fine Art Show, Four Rivers Craft Show, or the Art/Craft Demonstration Area
– 4 Festival admission Buttons
– 1 on-ground Festival parking pass (weather permitting)
– Invitation for 4 to the Festival’s Art Patron Breakfast on June 13
– Assorted River Festival t-shirts, entertainer’s CDs, and other Festival memorabilia

Since Friday afternoon, ten clues in total had been released:

Clue #1: GET CRACKING
Clue #2: NORTH TO NORTH
Clue #3: WESTERN ROCK
Clue #4: A CHEESE SHAPE
Clue #5: SERPENTINE WAY
Clue #6: ADAMANT BORDERS
Clue #7: LOOK FOR SHIELD AND SWORD
Clue #8: A HARD PLACE COHORT
Clue #9: BEYOND THE OVERHANG
Clue #10: CHINESE OR AMERICAN

Brad Anderson, Executive Director of Salina Arts & Humanities, said that full explanations to each clue will be released soon, including clues that were not used.  Anderson said this year’s medallion was hidden prior to Memorial Day and the location was selected in late Summer or early Fall of last year.