This treasure hunt thing is nerve-wracking business.

First, I needed to find some place to hide the prize where someone wouldn’t stumble upon it before the first clue appeared, then I had to hide it without being seen.

Then, I had to write clues that were useful but didn’t give too much away too soon.

Honestly, it was great fun. But nerve-wracking.

For the last few years The Daily News has been holding Easter egg hunts with a prize certificate worth $500 to $1,000 inside a plastic egg. The searchers are an intense bunch. I know, because many, many people have tried to squeeze hints out of me. They can be sly or blatant. I trust no one.

This year, the Easter egg hunt got weird when imposter eggs were planted in the area. I had to tell several people they’d been duped but they seemed to take it as well as could be expected. Portland TV stations found that amusing and sent camera crews here to report on the fake eggs. Actually, it was good to see them here for something other than a crime story.

Then, the egg we’d hidden at Lake Sacajawea mysteriously disappeared and nobody claimed the prize by the deadline. We had the option of donating the prize to charity or holding another hunt. I told my boss, publisher Linda Lindus, I wanted to do another hunt. She was all for the idea, with one exception: She said to add $500 cash to the two $250 gift certificates from Your MarketPlace and Bob’s.

With Easter having come and gone, an egg didn’t seem appropriate, so the prize was placed inside a plastic Twinkie dressed as a cowboy.

Tuesday, it was found. The winner claimed the prize and I can go back to worrying about bad headlines and typos. (Not that those ever happen).

I think we accomplished our goal of giving people something fun to do. I’ve had people say my clues were great and I’ve had people tell me they were lame. Hey, I tried.

Before the prize was found we were already working on another fun idea for the community. This Sunday, we’ll give all the details on that.

OK, I’ll tell you something now: it’s a cardboard boat regatta on Lake Sacajawea during the Go Fourth festival. We’re partnering with Longview Fibre to put on this event. It’s a big deal in the other communities where officially sanctioned regattas are held. (Yes, it’s cardboard boats that people will ride in.)

At these races you see very interesting boats made of cardboard, some of which float better than others. Trust me, it’s going to be huge. And fun.

As I said, we’ll roll out all the details Sunday, including rules and tips on how to build a boat. Fibre will provide the cardboard and we’ll have two days where people can come and pick it up and register to participate. I expect to see some incredible boats from the clever people of our area.

Marianne Chambers, one of our advertising managers and a real dynamo, has taken the lead on this event. Just keeping up with her organizational zeal is a challenge, so you know we’ll be ready. Will you?

Related links:

Clean enough to swim in — cleanup dramatically lowers bacteria count in Longview's jewel   (July 1, 2006)

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