A Salina man who didn’t actively join the hunt until Wednesday evening found the treasure that the multitudes were seeking. Eric Carlson of Salina found the Smoky Hill River Festival Medallion hidden along the River Woods Nature Trail east of Cloud Street, and east of the Salina Levee Trail in the area.

Carlson tells KSAL News that though he hadn’t been actively hunting, he had been checking the daily clues. Wednesday evening he decided to go out and actively search. After about 40 minutes he found what he was looking for.

The medallion was on the ground, near a large tree. It was molded and painted to look like a piece of mossy tree bark.

The 2017 Quest lasted for six days, three more than the three days it took Patrick Ahern to find the manhole cover cap-shaped Medallion in 2016, located just onto a local access road directly across the street from Thomas Park in north Salina.

Carlson receives a prize package of $2,000 in cash, as well as $2,000 in gift certificates to be used specifically for shopping at the Festival’s upcoming Fine Art and Four Rivers Craft Show. King Industries is the sponsor of the Festival Medallion Quest prize package. Other prizes include four Festival admission buttons, a complimentary on-grounds Festival parking pass, an invitation for four to the new Thursday-evening PREMIERE party, four Festival T-shirts, Festival entertainer CDs and other event memorabilia.

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