By NATE KING
Salina Post
The 2024 Smoky Hill River Festival Medallion Quest is officially over — the medallion has been found.
Salina Arts & Humanities announced this evening that Salinan Mandy Copp found this year's medallion just hours ago in Centennial Park in Salina, Kansas.
"A great story of a team that worked hard to interpret most of the clues correctly to get to the correct space," said Brad Anderson, Director at Salina Arts and Humanities. "We've had people find it [the medallion] fast by misinterpreting clues, and still getting to the right place. They did pretty well at keying in on a couple we thought were obscure."
This year's medallion resembles a railroad spike that holds a railroad tie in place. It was made from hardware, including rebar and threaded pipe. A rolled piece of paper with the medallion information and the message 'You found it' was inside the hollow spike.
Mandy Copp found the medallion in a railroad tie outside the front door of the Friendship Center.
“I appreciated the positive exchanges people had on social media and the cooperative spirit that Medallion hunters showed," Anderson said.
How the Medallion was Found
On Friday morning, Mandy and her husband Sean went to Centennial Park after they dropped their son Jacob off at school.
"We were pretty sure the 'south of The King' clue meant the Elvis statue in Spangles," Mandy Copp said at the press conference held on Friday evening. "I told Jacob, 'I'm so sure it is at Centennial Park. I'll pay you $50 to skip Play Day at school to go look for it,'" Mandy Copp said as the audience laughed along with her. "Jacob said,' No.''
LISTEN: 🎙King in the Community — Crystal Hammerschmidt, Salina Arts and Humanities
Mandy's son Jacob had explored the area where the Medallion was found, laying on his stomach and poking his fingers in the holes of the railroad tie along the sidewalk. He was part of the reason Mandy Copp stayed in the area and started searching more thoroughly.
As 4:30 p.m. drew closer and the next clue was about to be revealed, Mandy and her crew of searchers went back to Centennial Park. They weren't alone — others had caught on and were looking South of the King and west of a wide path — Broadway Boulevard.
"Lots of people were in that area and there was a group of people specifically at the top of the steps where the railroad tie was when Jacob got there," Mandy Copp said. "When I found it everyone was super positive and congratulating us."
READ MORE: 🎥First details released for 48th Smoky Hill River Festival
Mandy Copp found the medallion around 4:45 p.m. on Friday, May 17.
Mandy Copp said each year she looks for the medallion and thinks she is on the right track.
"Inevidably every year I'm like,'This is the year, this has got to be where it is," Mandy Copp said. "And then all the clues come out and I was nowhere close to where it was."
Mandy Copp said with the number of community members out looking for the medallion, she is confident it would've been found today. This year marks the 18th year the Smoky Hill River Festival has held the Medallion Quest.
“The Festival Medallion Quest celebrates our community's patronage of the arts. It is exciting to see how Questers explore and think differently about their city in search of the medallion as it leads up to the Smoky Hill River Festival,” said Visual Arts Coordinator Crystal Hammerschmidt.
Mandy Copp received a prize package of $1,000 in cash and $2,000 in gift certificates for shopping at the Smoky Hill River Festival Fine Art and Craft Show. Additionally, they received four festival admission wristbands, a complimentary on-grounds VIP parking pass, an invitation for four to the Thursday evening PREMIERE Art Patron Party, and four 2024 River Festival t-shirts.
The prize package is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield Kansas.
READ MORE: Wristbands for 48th Smoky Hill River Festival now on sale
The 2024 Medallion Quest took just under 48 hours. To view the complete set of this year's Festival Medallion Quest clues, go to festivalmedallionquest.com and click on the Clues page.
The Smoky Hill River Festival, now in its 48th year, is the flagship event of Salina Arts & Humanities, a department of the City of Salina. The River Festival draws many local residents and out-of-town guests each year to Salina to enjoy outdoor art installations, the Fine Art and Craft Show, three stages of live entertainment, the Artyopolis kid’s area, Festival food, and more.
The River Festival generates approximately $3.5 million in revenue annually within the local community. Advance-price, four-day Festival Wristbands are available until late Tuesday, June 11, at 40 Salina locations and in 18 other regional cities. Children 11 and under get in FREE.