A first-time hunter and one of the most successful ones were the winners in the 2026 McPherson County All Schools Day Button Hunts. Cassandra Slife of McPherson found the medallion Tuesday morning, hidden under a slightly elevated on one end rock next to a tree on the northeast side of the McPherson County Courthouse, while Nikolous Rempe guessed the Ad Astra Statue in front of the McPherson Municipal Center Saturday afternoon.
Slife, the first-time hunter, said she was carrying on a family tradition. Growing up in Newton, her mother frequently took her out hunting for the Chisholm Trail Festival’s Cattle Chip, and she wanted to carry on this tradition with her children, ages 6, 4, and 3.
Slife said clues kept pointing her in the general direction of the Courthouse. After searching on the west side of the Courthouse and adjacent Memorial Park, they took another look at the clues. “I told my kids we need to go to the front. We need to walk around the courthouse, Slife said. As they walked the sidewalks, “Me and my kids, we see that rock and we just started running.”
Slife said her family is getting ready to go to Corpus Christi, Texas on vacation, and the $250 cash prize will come in handy for purchasing things like shark tooth necklaces and other “fun beach things.”
For Rempe, who also received a $250 prize, this is the 4th time he’s won the medallion or virtual hunt. He told Ad Astra News he and his mother had been brainstorming a couple of days prior to the hunt about potential places where the virtual location was.
The virtual hunt second clue is what led to the winning guess. That clue made reference to it being something relatively new to the location, where other things have been in the past. “I was reading through a little timeline of history in McPherson and came across the statue about the placement of the statue. I saw there was a new Ad Astra Statue that was there in the early 2000’s,” Rempe explained, and saw that the site of the Municipal Center had been a few other things over time, including two different grocery stores
The Button Hunts this year were sponsored by Peoples Bank and Trust and the McPherson Optimist Club. Stewart’s Sports and Awards again this year donated the medallion for the hunt, which Slife gets to keep as a memento of her successful hunt.
2025 Button hunt clues
Here is the complete set of clues for this year’s hunts, and the meaning behind them
CLUE 1 FRIDAY 5-1
BOTH HUNTS – As you begin your hunt, remember your boundaries, stay off private property, and remember to have your license. This may be important later in the hunt.
This is the generic day one clue used each year, with certain variations, to start the hunt.
CLUE 2 SATURDAY 5-2
MEDALLION. Some places have hills, others do not. Hills are not a factor in this year’s hunt but things found on some hills could be.
This clue directed hunters to confine their hunt to places that are flat. On some hills you’re likely to find rocks, which this year’s medallion was hidden under.
VIRTUAL – Different things have been at this site over the years. This thing is relatively new.
This clue referenced the southeast corner of Kansas and Oak, the current McPherson Municipal Center which began life as a Safeway grocery store, then was another grocery before it became the home of city government in the late 1970’s.
CLUE 3 SUNDAY 5-3
MEDALLION – History plays a big role in the general area where you should hunt, though not necessarily what you might think.
This referenced the historic 1894 McPherson County Courthouse, of course, along with the many things that can be found in Memorial Park to the west. The second part of the hunt was intended to direct hunters to the block where the Courthouse sits.
VIRTUAL – There are many of these in McPherson County, some go by different names. One is where it’s at.
The purpose of this clue was to focus hunters to an office of government , such as a city hall or other city, county, or school office.
CLUE 4 MONDAY 5-4
MEDALLION – If you look at quadrants, it’s possible to be in more than one. The medallion rests in a place that could be considered to have three. Balance isn’t a factor for at least some of those.
The quadrants in question are
- The southwest fourth of McPherson County. The Courthouse is in the southwest quadrant of the county, the center of which is at Maxwell and Northview in McPherson.
- The Courthouse is located north of Kansas Avenue and West of Main Street, which is what the city’s voting precincts are based upon (the northwest ward of the city)
- The Rock the medallion was hidden under is on the northeast portion of the Courthouse block.
VIRTUAL – If you’re of a certain age, you have learned about a number of things related to this year’s virtual location.
The Ad Astra Sculpture is a replica of one that sits atop the dome of the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka, where laws of the state are made, much like the Municipal Center is where the laws of the city are.
CLUE 5 TUESDAY 5-5
BOTH HUNTS – All Schools Day factors into areas you should be looking, though in some cases not quite.
Many of the original All Schools Day events were centered around the McPherson County Courthouse, particularly as it relates to Memorial Park to the west, as well as other locations in the downtown area. Linnea Park, which is northwest of the Ad Astra Sculpture, has been the home for many All Schools day Activities in recent years, including the Madathon, bounce houses, and other activities.
CLUE 6 WEDNESDAY 5-6
MEDALLION – “The Four Freedoms” factor prominently in your hunt. All four are or have in the past been present or expressed in the vicinity.
The Four Freedoms, which inspired the famous series of Norman Rockwell painting, were first mentioned in President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1940 State of the Union Address. Freedom of Speech is represented by the Courthouse where County Commissioners met for many years and people could express their views to them, and also by the McPherson Public Library to the north. Freedom of Worship is represented by the current presence of one church and past presence of others in the neighborhood of the Courthouse. Freedom From Want is represented by the many businesses that are located in downtown McPherson, the grain elevators, and many other institutions in the area along with the work of the many churches in McPherson County. Freedom From Fear is represented by the fact the McPherson County Sheriff’s office sat very close to the site where the medallion was hidden.
VIRTUAL – There are a number of things in McPherson that bear this name. Most are off limits to hunting, but one is what you’re seeking.
The name of the sculpture is derived from the state slogan of Kansas, Ad Astra Per Aspera, which is on every Kansas flag displayed in McPherson County and elsewhere. That’s also the legal name of the place where button hunt licenses were sold in-person
CLUE 7 THURSDAY 5-7
MEDALLION – Your treasure is hidden below a rock, next to a tree celebrating an earlier day.
The rock in question sits next to a tree that was planted to commemorate the establishment of Kansas Territory, which later became the state of Kansas.
VIRTUAL – Get to the point. Figure this out, and you win.
The point is on the bow that is aimed towards the North Star.
