Search for the Golden Moose will keep locals busy this summer
May 12, 2025, 10:14 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
There’s an elusive golden moose on the loose in Moosomin, and finding it may give you a shot at $2,500.
The Search for the Golden Moose officially kicked off last Monday and will run for 13 weeks as a fun family activity through the Town’s Parks and Recreation department.
As Recreation Director Mike Schwean explained, the first part of the summer search has to do with a mischievous garden gnome, who will roam around Moosomin with clues to its whereabouts released every Monday.
“On that garden gnome, there is a QR code,” he said. “When you find it, you scan the QR code and it will send you to a business.”
Once you arrive at the location directed by the gnome, another clue will need to be deciphered.
“This is a clue to where we’ve hidden the Golden Moose in town, and they’re a little harder,” Schwean said.
The clues will run for 13 weeks, growing increasingly more challenging until the final one is unveiled.
“Eventually, someone will find that Golden Moose that’s hidden, and when they find it, they’ll win $2,500 in Moosomin Bucks,” Schwean said. “The moose itself is not huge—he’s just a tiny little guy!”
The town-wide quest is part of a $5,000 Get Active grant the Town received through the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association and will also have a tie-in with the Communities in Bloom competition.
“Our hope is that somebody finds the Golden Moose the week of the judge’s visit in late July,” Schwean said. “When our judges are out, their last night here we have our Community Parks and Rec awards, and we’ll present that money there and talk about how it was part of Communities in Bloom.”
Schwean sees the Search for the Golden Moose as a great way to exercise mind and body, getting people out and about while pondering the clues of the quest. Also, if people miss the previous week’s clue, they can find it posted on the Town’s Facebook page and posted at the Town Office.
“If you miss a week, you’re not out, but you’re still better off to play along,” Schwean said. “Our hope was that it would get families with their kids out and about looking for this gnome and excited when they find it.”
The first clue, which was released on May 5, was “to start your quest, show some respect where names and memories intersect. A silent place with flags held high, beneath their watchful gaze, walk by.”
Another added bonus is that while people are learning more about Moosomin through the clues, they’re also stopping in at local businesses and enhancing the local economy a bit.
“As summer goes on, I would expect people are looking around town for the gnome,” Schwean said, adding that the clues for the gnome’s location will also become trickier. “It won’t be as easy as the weeks go by!”
