Story originally printed in the Onalaska Life or online at www.onalaskalife.com
Published - Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunfish Days Medallion finder was due for a good day
Tim Culp was due for something good to happen. Still, he wasn’t expecting it.
A hard week at his job as an emergency medical technician in the emergency room at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse was bad enough. On top of that there was the stress from his participation as an on-call member of the Onalaska Fire Department in the physically and emotionally draining search for the wreckage of the Madison-based medical helicopter that crashed in the town of Medary.
 Tim Culp holds the black plastic fish-shaped Sunfish Days medallion at the spot where he found it next to Crossing Meadows Drive on the old Wal-Mart site. Photo by Randy Erickson |
Last Thursday evening he was starting to feel more like himself after a little rest. Culp had a few minutes to kill before he had to report for duty on his softball team, so he decided to do something he’d always thought about doing: hunt for the Sunfish Days medallion.
Culp grew up in Onalaska, graduated from Onalaska High School in 1987 and came back to town in 1994 after serving in the Navy. He had always read the clues for the Sunfish Days medallion hunt, and usually turned out to be on the right track once the medallion was found.
“I would’ve been close so many times if I’d gotten off my lazy butt and looked,” he said.
This year, Culp checked the clues on the Onalaska Community Life Web site on Tuesday after two clues and again on Thursday after four clues. To him, it seemed clear where the medallion would be: the grassy field on Crossing Meadows Drive where the Wal-Mart used to stand.
Unlike past years, he decided to try his hand at searching, although he was pretty sure somebody must have found the medallion already. He parked in the southwest corner of the Sam’s Club parking lot and walked across Crossing Meadows Drive to the low-lying bushes.
It was clear to Culp from the disturbed leaves and debris at the base of the bushes that somebody already had looked there. “I said, I betcha somebody’s already found it,’” he said in an interview Friday morning. “I wasn’t really expecting to find anything.”
He almost headed back to his truck, but instead started walking east, parallel to Crossing Meadows Drive. Just 10 yards or so from the bushes, he looked down at the base of a red-painted traffic barrier post and saw a black plastic fish.
He was looking for something shiny and round that’s what medallions are supposed to look like, right? but then some printing on the fish caught his eye: “Sunfish.”
“As soon as I picked it up, I said, That’s it,’” Culp said.
Being pressed for time because of his softball game, Culp was keeping an eye on the clock. He left his house at 7 p.m. and pulled out of the Sam’s Club parking lot, medallion in hand, at 7:09 p.m.
For his nine-minute investment of time searching (plus whatever time he spent puzzling over the clues), Culp will collect more than $500 worth of prizes assembled by the Onalaska Area Jaycees, longtime sponsor of the medallion hunt. On top of that, he had a great softball game, going 3-for-4 with a double.
“Yesterday was quite a blissful day,” Culp said. “Now I just might be inclined to look for the Oktoberfest one.”
Sunfish Days medallion clues
May 12
We’ve come again to another year,
of Onalaska’s Sunfish Days.
Let your medallion hunt begin anew,
let’s all join in the craze
May 13
A town so fair and friendly,
a people so divine.
On the map, below the thoroughfare
is where to start this time.
May 14
I see much green grass growing,
from this, my vantage point.
A twisting road beside me,
Hey! Who laid out this joint!?
May 15
Now, let’s get a bit specific,
narrow it down a wee bit more.
A cross laid out before me,
let’s see what we have in store.
May 16
Perhaps you’ll find this useful.
Stumped? Then join the club.
There’s a famous Onalaska name,
amidst this busy hub.
May 19
Now let’s talk some geometry,
for the square is here no more.
But a block remains, you’re closer now!
Come and charter your own course.
May 20
Fingers of gold dot the landscape,
I hide near some like these.
But a different color conceals me,
like Mr. Hawthorne’s letter, you see.
May 21
You must be close by now, my friend,
Buster and Rocky agree.
A vacant field before me,
Sam’s old haunt, it would be.
May 22
Off the 12th I hide awaiting,
the sound of cycles near.
Two green shrubs sit beside me,
I’ll be found soon, I fear!
May 23
Here’s the answer, I’ll tell you true,
my resting place at last.
Is at three red posts in Crossing Meadows.
Now hurry, find me fast!
All stories copyright 2006 Onalaska Life and other attributed sources.