Netherhill resident makes discovery in Sask’s 13-year-long scavenger hunt

By Joan Janzen

NETHERHILL - Mark Shaver from Netherhill recently followed some clues in a 13-year-long scavenger hunt. The photographic clues he found online led him to Netherhill Hall, where he unearthed a 2x2-inch square limestone with ‘Netherhill’ engraved on its surface. “I recognized the picture of the Netherhill Hall, so I thought I’d check it out,” Mark said, after looking at the clue. “The stone was in a hole beside the step.”

Mark Shaver from Netherhill discovered this stone hidden beside the Netherhill Hall. The Tyndall stone is one of 100 stones from the Legislative buildings in Regina, which were hidden throughout Saskatchewan in 2012. Mark checked out the clues on hiddentyndale.com and was successful in finding the Netherhill stone. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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The scavenger hunt began in 2012, marking the centennial anniversary of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building. At that time, Terri Fedalik, an in-residence artist, salvaged a large piece of Tyndall stone during a renovation project. The stone was cut into cubes, which she hid throughout Saskatchewan.

Mark noted that on two sides of the cube, an engraved message gave instructions to return the stone to the Legislative building in Regina, where the pieces are gathered to celebrate the cooperative spirit of people from Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan residents are invited to check out the clues on the blog at hiddentyndall.com, just like Mark did, because there are many more stones yet to be discovered. So far, the artist is aware of 46 of the stones that have been found, but not all of them have been returned to the Legislature in Regina.

On the blog, the artist noted that some of the stones are no longer where she had hidden them, but have not been reported as found. Those locations include: Manitou Lake, Bald Butte in Cypress Hills Park, and Nokomis.

Tyndall stones, which were discovered within a 100-mile radius of Kindersley, were found at Plato, Kerrobert, the Great Sandhills, Scepte, Maple Creek, and now Netherhill.

While you may think this 13-year-long scavenger hunt is breaking a world record, France’s hunt for a golden owl lasted for 31 years, finally coming to an end in October of 2024.

Meanwhile, over half of the 100 Tyndall stones remain hidden. No one knows how many more years it will take for all the stones to be discovered, but Mark Shaver’s recent discovery may pique the interest of Saskatchewanians to get back in the game.

Meanwhile, Mark plans to display the Netherhill stone at the Kindersley Museum for a short period. After that, he will return it to the Legislature in Regina.

“I was surprised it was still there,” Mark said after discovering the Netherhill stone. And for anyone who loves participating in a good old-fashioned scavenger hunt, there’s still more to be found.