GRRiddler 2021

 The riddle for GRRiddler 2021 was released on 11/03/2020!

Keeping in the tradition of the Wyoming Riddler, I've hidden a metal medallion somewhere in the greater Grand Rapids area. The medallion is marked with R.S.T.H (which means Read and Seek Treasure Hunt).  The puzzle can be solved by using a greater Grand Rapids area map to decipher the clues. The medallion is accessible 24 hours a day by the public. Additional clues will be released the first Tuesday of each month until February. The hunt will end on the last day of February. If the medallion is not returned to me by that time, the hunt will be over and the prize will roll over to the next year.

You're looking for this. 
It's been modified a bit for 2021.

On November 3, 2020, at precisely 12:15pm Eastern time, the riddle was released on YouTube (the video is embedded above). 

I've also created a theme for this year's hunt. I'm calling it "History Recycled." The first "recycled" bit is the medallion. I've re-used last year's medallion with some slight alterations. I'm leaving the rest of the recycled bits for you to find.

The Treasure

Similar to The Wyoming Riddler’s prizes, the treasure will include a coveted winner’s mug and "a treasure of silver and other items beyond description." The treasure will also include a carbon monoxide detector as a means to continue Joe's desire to educate people about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The highly coveted Winner's Mug!

The Silver

The original Wyoming Riddler, Joe Cramer, gave prizes of silver. In my first hunt, I continued that tradition and will continue to do so. This year's silver is a U.S. Mint 2020 Silver Proof Coin Set.

The 2020 United States Mint Silver Proof Set® contains 10 proof coins, each bearing the “S” mint mark of the United States Mint at San Francisco. The set is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity.

The 2020 United States Mint Silver Proof Set features 10 proof coins encased in two clear plastic lenses in a beautifully designed package you’ll be proud to display. The quarters, dime, and half dollar are struck in 99.9 percent silver. The 2020 Silver Proof Set is a great addition to any collection.

The 2020 edition of the United States Mint Silver Proof Set includes the following coins:

The 11th annual release of five silver quarters in the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program honoring:

• National Park of American Samoa (AS)
• Weir Farm National Historic Site (CT)
• Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (VI)
• Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (VT)
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (KS)

One Native American $1 Coin with a reverse design (tails) honoring Elizabeth Peratrovich, whose advocacy was considered a deciding factor in the passage of the 1945 Anti-Discrimination Law by the Alaskan territorial government. The foreground features a symbol of the Tlingit Raven moiety, of which she was a member. Inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “ELIZABETH PERATROVICH,” "$1," and “ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW OF 1945.” The obverse design (heads) retains the central figure of Sacagawea carrying her infant son, Jean Baptiste. Inscriptions are “LIBERTY” and “IN GOD WE TRUST.”

One silver Kennedy half dollar
One silver Roosevelt dime
One Jefferson nickel
One Lincoln penny

Items Beyond Description

At the beginning of August, I revealed a new prize: a $25 gift card to Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers. Co-founded in 2002 by brothers Bill and Randy Simon, and their friend and business partner, Scott Redler, the three men named the restaurant after Bill and Randy’s father, Freddy Simon, a World War II veteran. Today, Freddy’s restaurants from coast-to-coast serve a menu reminiscent of the all-American meals Freddy prepared for his family. Freddy's is one my favorite restaurants these days. You'll find my family there pretty much every Sunday after church. Thanks to Freddy's on Plainfield in Grand Rapids for supporting the local community and donating a $25 gift card to GRRiddler 2021!

Give Freddy's a follow on social media:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

September's prize reveal featured Baker Book House - another new sponsor! They've generously donated two books and a $10 gift card. 

The first book is the Complete Illustrated Children's Bible (retail value $24.99). With nearly 300 beautiful two-page illustrations to capture even the youngest child's imagination and heart, this vast collection of the Bible's most-loved stories is just right for sharing together or reading alone throughout the day. The Complete Illustrated Children's Bible is the perfect picture and storybook for young ones and an ideal first reader your children will treasure.

The second book is Acres of Diamonds by Jentezen Franklin (retail value $22.99). Are you in a season of life when every search for direction, encouragement or fulfillment seems to come up empty? Jentezen Franklin helps you discover the unfathomable riches God has already surrounding you. You will learn to cherish where He has placed you as you uncover the hidden potential within your family, job and community . . . right where you are.

Give Baker Book House a follow on social media:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

November Surprise!

Four more books have been added to the prize package for GRRiddler 2021 thanks to Word on Fire! They've generously donated the following books with a total retail value of roughly $100. Bishop Barron and the Word on Fire team are at the forefront of the new media, reaching out to explain the rich history of the faith in a way that's easy to understand, yet not dumbed down.

Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture

Since the first century, Christians have detected “seeds of the Word" in the surrounding culture. No matter how charred or distorted the fragments, we can always uncover inklings of the Gospel, which can then lead people to God. Through this evocative collection of essays, Bishop Robert Barron finds those “seeds" in today's most popular films, books, and current events.

How do Superman, Gran Torino, and The Hobbit illuminate the figure of Jesus? How does Bob Dylan convey the prophetic overtones of Jeremiah and Isaiah? Where can we detect the ripple of original sin in politics, sports, and the Internet culture?

Finding the “seeds of the Word" requires a new vision. This book will train you to see.

The Pivotal Players - Hardcover Book

In two thousand years, the Catholic Church has yielded countless saints, artists, mystics, and scholars. But among them are figures that are truly pivotal—men and women who not only shaped the life of the Church but changed the course of civilization.

In this vibrant book based on the multi-part film series CATHOLICISM: The Pivotal Players, Bishop Robert Barron draws readers into the life and work of twelve Pivotal Players—from great saints such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas to literary masters such as G.K. Chesterton and Flannery O’Connor—who personally demonstrated the dynamics of the Christian faith in their distinct time and place. These stories capture both the great variety of personalities and vocations in the Catholic Church and the harmonies between them, all oriented to its ultimate purpose: to be salt and light for all the nations.

Elegantly designed with full-color images and photography, The Pivotal Players is a unique journey into the truth and beauty of Catholicism as exemplified in the concrete lives of some of its most fascinating figures.

Renewing Our Hope: Essays for the New Evangelization

In a time of discouragement, how can the Church renew itself and its outreach to all people? Bishop Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, insists that a “dumbed down” Catholicism cannot succeed in today’s highly educated society—instead, the Church needs to draw upon its great theological heritage in order to renew its hope in Christ.

With Renewing Our Hope: Essays for the New Evangelization, Bishop Barron traces this renewal through four stages. “Renewing Our Mission” lays out the challenges that call for Catholics to become more aware of their own intellectual resources in encountering the “Nones.” “Renewing Our Minds” showcases the importance of theological reflection as a font of wisdom and sanity in the Church, touching on Thomas Aquinas, Hans Urs von Balthasar, the recently canonized John Henry Newman, and Pope Francis. In “Renewing the Church,” he proceeds to look at how Scripture, the family, the seminary, and Catholic college graduates can each contribute to this renewal. Finally, in “Renewing Our Culture,” Barron returns to the judgments Catholics must make in assessing contemporary culture, specifically, family life, liberalism, relativism, and (surprisingly) the beauty of cinema.

Bishop Barron, known as the host of the Catholicism PBS video series, was previously rector and professor of systematic theology at Mundelein Seminary outside Chicago, Illinois. He demonstrates again in Renewing Our Hope his ability to make the fruits of his wide reading accessible to a broad audience, while still giving his academic colleagues much to consider.

Vibrant Paradoxes: The Both/And of Catholicism

G.K. Chesterton once said that Catholicism keeps its beliefs "side by side like two strong colors, red and white...It has always had a healthy hatred of pink."

Catholicism is both/and, not either/or. It celebrates the union of contraries--grace and nature, faith and reason, Scripture and tradition, body and soul--in a way that the full energy of each opposing element remains in place.

In Vibrant Paradoxes, bestselling author Bishop Robert Barron brings together themes and motifs that many would consider mutually exclusive or, at best, awkward in their juxtaposition. But seen through the Incarnation, these opposites crash together and reflect new light in every direction requiring a new vision. This book will train you to see.

Give them a follow!

Facebook (Word on Fire)
Facebook (Bishop Barron)
YouTube
Instagram
Twitter

The Rules

(Borrowed extensively from The Wyoming Riddler)

You must find the medallion and personally bring it to me. Once you find it, email me with details about where you found it and we will arrange a time and place to meet. At that time, you may redeem the medallion for the prize. The medallion and prize exchange must be done in person. I will not accept photographs, mailed or anonymous claims. 

Some of The Wyoming Riddler's
medallions. Mine will be similar.

The medallion is accessible 24 hours a day without trespassing. It is not on private property. It is not completely buried. You may have to move grass, snow or leaves to see it. It is no higher than three feet above ground. It is not located within 100 feet of a school, public building, mall or post office. 

The riddle tells you the location. It can be found by using a map of the greater Grand Rapids, Michigan area. You must figure out how. I will not deceive you.

Additional clues will be issued on the first Tuesday of every month until solved or until midnight on the last day of February. If the riddle is not solved by midnight on the last day of February, the game will end and the treasure will be added to the following year. You may email to ask questions. However, I will not answer questions that result in an advantage to you. By emailing questions, you are giving me authorization to post them publicly (without your name included) if I choose to do so.

My home or place of employment have no bearing on the medallion’s location. I have told no one of its location. Everyone is eligible to participate including past winners and their relatives.

You are looking for an oval metal medallion about the size of a large index card. It has identifiable markings beyond those pictured, so attempting to counterfeit a medallion will be of no use. I may have used zip ties to secure it to a location. I'd recommend taking along scissors, a jackknife, box cutter or some other tool that would be able to cut through zip ties. 

There is no cost to you. It is free for the enjoyment. This is a game and it’s just for fun. In the spirit of Joe Cramer (The Wyoming Riddler) I do ask you to remember the dangers related to chronic carbon monoxide poisoning.

Additional Stuff

In consideration of participating in this treasure hunt or any Read and Seek treasure hunt, and for other good and valuable consideration, you agree to release and discharge from liability Martin Smith and all other persons or entities acting for him (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Releasees") as follows:

1. You acknowledge that treasure hunting involves known and unanticipated risks which could result in physical or emotional injury and property damage. 

2. You expressly accept and assume all of the risks inherent in this activity. Your participation in this activity is purely voluntary and you elect to participate despite the risks. In addition, if at any time you believe that search conditions are unsafe or that you are unable to participate due to physical or medical conditions, then you will immediately discontinue participation.  

3. You hereby voluntarily release, forever discharge, and agree to indemnify and hold harmless Releasees from any and all claims, demands, or causes of action which are in any way connected with your participation in this treasure hunt.