Contact: Brad Anderson or
Kay Quinn
785-309-5770
brad.anderson@salina.org
2014 Festival Medallion Quest Medallion Winner Confirmed
(SALINA 06-14) Salina Arts & Humanities announces that the winner of the 2014 Festival Medallion Quest is Billy Taylor of Salina. Taylor, along with his son Nick, age 16, found the arrow-shaped Medallion at around 7:45 a.m. on Monday, June 9, shortly after the release of the most recent Medallion Quest clue.
The magnetic, arrow-shaped Medallion was found on a one-way sign on the east side of Eighth Street between the Smoky Hill Museum and Downtown Auto Service, 119 S. Eighth.
“It was only our second day to hunt together as a father-son duo,” says Taylor, store manager of Big Lots on south Ninth Street, who had hunted with other family members prior to teaming up one-on-one with Nick, a student at Salina South High School.
Festival Medallion Quest 2014 winner Billy Taylor (left), pictured with family members Ashley, Kathy and Nick Taylor.
Taylor is the sixth winner of the Festival Quest. Started in 2009 by the Smoky Hill River Festival in partnership with Craig and Brenda King of King Industries, Inc. the Quest’s goal is to foster a sense of creativity and connectivity in a way that reflects the spirit of the River Festival.
A native of Conway, Arkansas, Taylor estimates that he invested about 30 hours to find this year’s Festival Medallion. “We felt it was probably near the Museum as we read today’s three clues. As we walked back up to the door to re-read the clues, we saw a one-way sign that was really rusty, and that turned out to be it. The magnetic arrow Medallion was the exact same size as the arrow on the sign.” The 2014 Festival Quest Medallion was designed by artist Randy Regier of Wichita.
Taylor says he and his team made use of the social-media dialogue on both the River Festival and the Smoky Hill Medallion Hunt Facebook pages, but didn’t offer much feedback as what he was thinking. “We were on both sites, but didn’t talk too much to anyone. Just this morning, we were up near St. John’s Military School at about 6 a.m.--still not exactly sure.” Taylor’s son Nick, who pulled the magnetic arrow off of the one-way sign, handed it to his Dad and said, “You just found the Medallion.’ Then, it hit us.” Taylor’s wife Kathy, a para for USD305 and daughter Ashley, 12, were present at the Press Briefing as Billy and Nick were introduced.
The 2014 Quest lasted for 11 days--one more than in 2013. In addition to the winner’s prize package claimed by Taylor and family, two additional prizes will be awarded.
Dustin Brake, a local chiropractor who proposed to his fiancé early on during Quest, will receive a $100 Smoky Hill River Festival gift certificate, as will the three administrators of the Smoky Hill Medallion Hunt Facebook page (Leonard Fishburn, Lynne Brown Larsen, and Tammy Beach Gordon). The Medallion Hunt page was praised for its helpful and positive content. It had more than to 1,200 followers as of Sunday night June 8.
Bill Taylor and his family receive 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 Shows or in the Art/Craft Demonstration area. King Industries is the sole Sponsor of the Festival Quest prize package. Other prizes include four Festival admission buttons, a complimentary on-grounds Festival parking pass, an invitation for four to the Saturday-morning Art Patron Breakfast in the formal Rose Garden in Oakdale Park, and assorted Festival T-shirts, Festival entertainer CDs and other event memorabilia.
The Smoky Hill River Festival, now in its 38th year, is the flagship event of Salina Arts & Humanities, a department of the City of Salina. The River Festival draws more than 60,000 local residents and
out-of-town guests annually to Salina to enjoy outdoor art installations, the Fine Art and Four Rivers Craft Shows, four stages of live entertainment, the Artyopolis kid’s area, Festival food, and more. The River Festival generates approximately $3.5 million for the Salina economy in May and June.
For more information on the Festival Medallion Quest or the Smoky Hill River Festival, call 785-309-5770 or visit riverfestival.com. To see the full set of 2014 Festival Medallion Quest clues, visit the Festival Medallion Quest event page at riverfestival.com, or the Smoky Hill River Festival Facebook page.
Advance-price Festival admission Buttons are available until Thursday, June 12 at 1 p.m. at 39 locations across Salina and in 18 other regional cities. Children 11 and under get in FREE.