Medallion hunt
begins before Catfish Days
Free press Staff report
The Wilmington Chamber of Commerce and Industry is going to get the town's motors revving early, and give residents a chance to hunt down one of the game pieces in the 2015 Off to the Races Medallion Hunt starting next weekend.
The first of four, hard-to-spot clear acrylic disks, each 4 inches in diameter, will be hidden on public property within the city limits on Saturday, July 18. Public property includes government buildings, parks, parking lots and parkways - that strip of land between the sidewalk and the street.
The test and tune race will be for the 2014 D'Orazio medallion, which will bring $250 in chamber gift certificates to the lucky person who finds it. D'Orazio escaped detection last year, while hiding in plain sight at the former Booth Central School lot on North Kankakee Street. He won't be so easy to find this year, though, nor as valuable as he comes back for a second heat at half his original purse.
The Chamber and the member businesses who are sponsoring the program will provide clues to the medallion's whereabouts on their web and social media pages - this might be a great time to "like" their pages, so you get the clue right away and leave the tree before anyone else.
The big event begins during Catfish Days. Medallions will be hidden between Thursday, July 23 and Saturday, July 25.
Medallion Hunt regulars Mudder of all Catfish and Willy Whiskers will be joined by "Trudy-Trinity Services," named for Trudy Curtis, the 2014 Business Person of the Year. They will be worth $250, $100 and $500 in Chamber gift certificates respectively. The grand prize medallion could be hidden on any given day.
Mudder will be offered by geocache coordinates available from sponsoring businesses, at their physical locations and online beginning July 24. A complete list of those sponsors will be found at www.wilmingtonilchamber.org and published in the Prairie Shopper July 20 and this publication July 22.
There's more to the Medallion Hunt than racing through public places. Those who don't want to reach into that hollow tree can take the Medallion Challenge. Sponsoring businesses will challenge potential participants to complete a simple, fun task, like stacking red cups in a pyramid, hula hooping for 60 seconds or riding a small tricycle around cones. Anyone who tries will be handed an entry for a drawing for one of two prizes of $50 in Chamber gift certificates. The odds of winning one of the prizes gets better with each location visited.
The challenges will take place during normal business hours on the Friday of Catfish Days. Some of the challenge locations will be open Saturday too.
The drawing will take place on Monday, July 27.
Many of the sponsoring businesses will also make brightly colored paper medallions available, generally valued at $5 in offers, which will be hidden throughout the community.
No purchase is necessary to participate in the Medallion Hunt. All disks will be hidden within the city limits, on public property. There will be no need to trespass, get wet, climb or dig.
The acrylic medallions can be redeemed at The Free Press Advocate office at 111 S. Water St.
