The first clue in Belle Plaine's annual Shamrock Medallion hunt is out in the Belle Plaine Herald today. Here goes:

Hats off to Larry Bratsch, treasure hunter extraordinaire,

If Heaven has a medallion hunt, he is surely there.

 Morning, noon or night is the time to strike,

Lots of history here, maybe take your bike.

One treasure per year, a window of hope,

The Shamrock Medallion hunt begins Wednesday, Feb. 27.

Clues come out in the Belle Plaine Herald weekly.

This year's hunt is dedicated to Larry Bratsch, who found the Shamrock multiple times. He died last year.

I think I'm a little nuts.

I'd have to be goofy to go to the St. Paul Pioneer Press office at midnight to get a newspaper that contains a clue to lead me to a small, plastic medallion. But here I am, trying to find the thing again this year.

The clue in today's paper was the eighth one, and as far as I know, no one's found it yet. I figure the three-clue hunt last year got the clue writer miffed, so the clues will be harder than ever this year. Great, just great. Way to go, medallion finder from last year. Ruin it for everyone by going too fast.

I'm having a ball.

Now that the third clue in the Heimatfest medallion hunt is out, do you have a clue about the clue?

Lagoon Park this year?

Somewhere else?

I had so much fun at the St. Paul Winter Carnival Medallion Hunt this year that I want to try another one. Does anyone know when the Jordan area medallion hunts are scheduled?

New Prague?

Why not make a regular online habit of checking the topics of the day in the Forums section of this Web site?

The Webmaster for www.jordannews.com is constantly tweaking and changing things to make it easier for you to find news, to have discussions, and to have fun on this Web site.

The St. Paul Winter Carnival medallion hunt has been going on for two days. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing, and I'm hoping to get into it more this year.

The last time I was visiting my parents, I happened to watch part of the movie "National Treasure," and it got me thinking.

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, it is about a treasure map hidden on the back of the Declaration of Independence leading to several clues that give the location of a massive secret treasure. It’s a fun movie, even if it isn’t historically accurate.

A rewritten press release from the St. Paul Winter Carnival, where I will be hunting for treasure this winter:

The St. Paul Winter Carnival is proud to kick off the festival season with the 2007 winter carnival button unveiling and kids button bash on Saturday, Dec. 2, at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory.