Sean C. Morgan
Got an itch to find some buried treasure?
Your big chance will be Aug. 9 when the East Linn Treasure Seekers hosts its first public competition.
Anyone with a metal detector is invited to join the Silver Hunt, in what the ELTS club plans to be the start of an annual event.
Registration starts at 10 a.m. at the Sweet Home Events Center, the old Sweet Home Rodeo grounds, 4001 Long St.
“We have people coming in from out of town already,” said Rita Houston, owner of Rita’s Relics and Oregon Prospecting, noting that it’s just one more event to help attract visitors to Sweet Home.
The schedule includes four hunts, Houston said. During the common coin hunt, ELTS members hide common coinage and competitors will look to amass as much as possible.
“We will bury all that the night before,” Houston said, although it won’t be too deep. The winner of the event is the person to detect and find the most money.
In the silver hunt, the winner will take home a bar of silver, Houston said.
Anyone who competes in both events will be eligible to compete in a clean-up hunt that will wrap things up.
Membership in the club is $20 for an individual and $30 for a family of up to two adults and three children. Additional family members are $5.
The common coin hunt will cost $15 at the gate for members, $20 for non-members. The silver hunt will cost $30 at the gate for members, $45 for non-members. The clean-up hunt costs $2. Overnight camping is $5.
The competition also includes a free hunt for children 12 and younger.
Prizes are still to be determined, Houston said. Prizes and target materials have been provided by South Fork Trading, Watkins Trucking, Kenneth Keenon Construction, White’s Electronics, McCubbins Quality Homes, Ridgeway Logging, All-Star Pizza and Gary Olsen Hauling.
Some of the proceeds will go to a local charitable cause still to be determined by a club committee, Houston said.
“One of our main things was to be able to raise some funds to help a need in the community,” she said. It’s also something the club hopes will draw visitors to Sweet Home, and it provides an outlet for those with “the love of metal detecting and competing.”
The event will help new metal detecting enthusiasts learn their way around their equipment, Houston said.
“Also, this Silver Hunt will bring new members too as people hear about us and learn we’re an active club,” she said. The East Linn Treasure Seekers has about 50 members and are growing.
Houston believes White’s Electronics used to host a competition about 20 years ago, but outside of an annual field trip where she has a small competition, there haven’t been any in the area.
“It’s definitely a new event for Sweet Home,” she said. “We hope it will spark some interest, but you don’t have to be a member of the club to do this.”
For more information about the club or the Silver Hunt, contact Houston at (541) 367-2237.