Local Video
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| Travis Faust finds the shoe |
By: Jaci Smith, Managing Editor
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Posted: Friday, August 29, 2008 11:47 am
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Diligence and a little help from his friends were the keys for Travis Faust in his quest to find the DJJD horseshoe.
Faust, 23, found the horseshoe around 7 a.m. today in the mini-garden that marks the “Five Corners” intersection of Division, Second and Washington streets.
For his efforts and because he has a registered Defeat of Jesse James Days button, Faust won $300.
Faust started school at Minnesota State University-Mankato this week, and he got up each morning to listen to the clues on KYMN radio without ever seriously considering the fact that he might actually find the horseshoe.
Faust is not your typical devoted searcher. In fact, he has never really seriously searched for the horseshoe before, but a couple friends of his had and they all decided to buy buttons, register and give it a shot.
Since he had to be at school by 11 a.m., Faust could devote only a little time each morning to the search. He also, by his own admission, knows virtually nothing about the city’s history, so when each clue was read, he’d talk with his own little brain trust of family and friends to try and find the shoe.
The first time he was tipped off, he said, was when the clue indicated the shoe was in the same place it was before.
He had to be told that was the library.
Before long though, the former Northfield High School Athlete of the Year was hooked, carefully writing each clue into a notebook, pulling selected phrases out and Googling them on the Internet to see if “anything struck,” he said.
He also began expanding his search time to the early evening hours after he got back home from school. He even searched in Wednesday morning’s pouring rain because he was convinced the shoe was in Way Park.
Then came today’s clue about selling chicken and grits and another tip from a friend who knew town history.
“Town lore goes that there was an old house there where the owner used his life savings to turn the place into a food restaurant, and when the city came and said ‘where are your permits?’ Well, there weren’t any,” said horseshoe hunt coordinator Franklin Lee. Lee and his wife, Bette have been hiding the shoe for eight years. “The city stopped the renovations, the house fell into disrepair and eventually, I guess, was taken over by the city.”
Faust was on the verge of giving up when he actually found the shoe. He had plenty of company, said the Lees, who were watching nearby. At least three other people were beating the same bushes, and at one point Faust quit and went to the library to look before coming back.
In the end, it was the little tag announcing the finder had the shoe that Faust saw. And when he did, he grabbed the shoe, held up his arms and uttered a one-word declaration.
“‘Winner!’ is all I said,” Faust laughed.
—Reach Jaci Smith at 645-1116 or jsmith@northfieldnews.com |
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