A bold murder. A hidden stash of lost secrets. A series of puzzles
that must be solved in 24 hours. Such is the story behind the Second
Not Exactly Annual Twin Cities Treasure Hunt to take place starting
on Saturday, September 13th. Get some friends together and take up
the challenge put on by the Como Park Mason Lodge of St. Paul.

The event starts at 10am when all the teams will assemble at the
Lodge, located at 1044 Front Ave., a block east of Lexington and just
south of Como Park between Gabe's and the Half Time Rec. Breakfast
will be served to all the teams (with a limit of 5 members per team).
Then at 11am we will call up one member from each team, hand them the
packet of clues, and the race is on.

The story is that the Freemasons chose Como Park Lodge to hide some
of their ancient secrets. They are kept secure there under lock, key,
and booby trap. Only the Grand Master knows the password. But in a
shocking development, the Grand Master was just murdered and it is
believed his killer was after these documents. The killer and his
accomplices were caught, but the police lack evidence and will have
to release them in 24 hours. Since they might have gotten the
password before killing the Grand Master, it is imperative that the
documents are recovered before they are released.

Even though no one else knew the password, the Grand Master did have
a backup plan and left a clue to it through a series of puzzles. It
is believed he knew his life was in danger and consequently he set
these puzzles throughout his home. The Masons know the password is
eight letters. However there are 10 puzzles. One of them is a series
of pictures, each relating to a letter. The Masons believe they have
figured out that 8 of the puzzles each lead to a location. If you can
find the item in one of the pictures at that location, that must mean
the corresponding letter is part of the password. Each of these
puzzles has a symbol on it and they think the symbols must somehow
tell you the order of the letters. The last puzzle, with no symbol on
it, has eight items. They suspect it must offer hints as to how to
solve the other puzzles.

Unfortunately that is as far as they have gotten. Consequently they
have put out a call for help, offering $500 in reward money to the
group of people that can help them solve the puzzles and be the first
one to recover the documents.

This is a fundraiser for Como Park Mason Lodge. Consequently there is
an entrance fee of $100 per team. Teams are limited to 5 official
members. Only official members are allowed into the Lodge. However
you are free to solicit help from other people if they wish to
contribute.

The hunt starts at Como Park Mason Lodge when the clues are
distributed at 11am. They will lead you to 8 different locations
around town. These locations are limited to an area bounded on the
east and west by the two donwtowns and bounded on the north and south
by the city limits of St. Paul and Minneapolis. All locations should
be accessible around the clock. Once there, you will need to figure
out which of 24 pictures was taken there which will then tell you
that the letter corresponding to that picture is in the password.
Each puzzle also has a symbol on it and if you can figure out the
order of the symbols, that will tell you the order of the letters.
Once you know the password, return to the Mason Lodge. Someone will
be there around the clock. Try the password on the padlocks and if
they open, you may then attempt to disarm the final booby trap.

The first team to disarm the final booby trap and recover the
documents will win $300. Also, at each location there will be a
padlock. Each team will get one key that opens half the padlocks and
another key that opens the other half. Teams will then get a $25
prize for every padlock they return to the Lodge which should prove
they were the first one to get to that location.

Teams that do not win, but still manage to complete the challenge
within 24 hours will get a certificate for each member of the team to
document the accomplishment. Teams should register by September 6th
to David Allison at AllisonWondrland@ yahoo.com. To register simply
provide your team name and a contact person (and their contact
information). Registration fees will be collected the day of the hunt
and we will verify the final team membership at that time.

Our first hunt was quite a success with every team saying they really
had a lot of fun. So don't let another one go by without
participating!

David Allison
Master, Como Park Lodge #324