Christmas Cache contestant locates ‘key’ to treasures
By DEAN WELLS dwells@timesobserver.comArticle Photos
And the winner of the inaugural Christmas Cache contest is . . .
Hannah Hanson.
Hanson, 29, spent her break time from Beacon Light on Thursday searching Washington Park for a medallion the proverbial key to the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry's hidden treasures.
She found it hanging from a pine tree in a plastic container.
Hanson was one of 35 people registered for the WCCBI's Christmas Cache contest.
Contestants were charged with finding the location of a medallion emblazoned with the WCCBI and Council on Tourism logos hidden somewhere in Warren County on public property winner taking all.
Prizes included:
$100 cash
One-half off on a one-year single membership at the Warren YMCA
A Warren County Humane Society $20 gift certificate
A 3-day, 45-mile canoe trip from Kinzua Dam to Tionesta for six people, an Allegheny River Paddling Guide and free trip planning service from Allegheny Outfitters.
Coffee mugs from CNB Bank.
A gift pack from Warren General Hospital
A $25 gift certificate from "Off the Beaten Path" in Warren.
A $20 gift certificate from Virg-Ann Flower Shop.
A $100 gas card from Kwik Fill
Two chairs from Warren Manor
One pair of season tickets to the Jamestown Jammers
One month of free karate lessons at Fighting Tigers Martial Arts
Two fatheads up to six-feet tall from AllSound
$30 gift card from Ace Hardware.
"See seemed very excited," said Melissa Anderson, WCCBI's director of chamber operations. "She told us that the clue on Thursday gave her the hint to where it was at."
The WCCBI released clues during the two-week contest through the local radio stations, the Times Observer and on the COT's website.
Hanson found the medallion in the contest's first week.
"It was the third clue," Hanson said. "It was a clue about elevation. I just started thinking about where in Warren County there was public property that was elevated."
Hanson said she drove up to Washington Park during her work break on Thursday.
"I went to where the view is and didn't really see anywhere where it could be," Hanson said.
On a second look around, Hanson noticed a bit of blue on a pine tree.
It was a plastic Tupperware container attached to the tree via camouflaged duct tape.
"There was just a little bit of blue (from the container's lid) showing," Hanson said. "That was the tipoff."
"We are already looking forward to planning next year's Christmas Cache," Anderson said.
