• Sistina Giordano | sgiordano@syracuse.com

Kevin Czerniel of Tully found the Post-Standard | syracuse.com Treasure Hunt medallion at Erie Canal Park in Camillus. He's a Post-Standard subscriber.

(Photo by David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com)

Camillus, NY --Kevin Czerniel knew he was so close to finding the medallion that under the pressure he almost gave up on the search, he said.

Around 7 a.m., with just a few people searching the same area in the Camillus Erie Canal Park, Czerniel could sense that he was in the right place but feared, like other years, he wouldn't get to it in time.

Czerniel, his wife Natalie, his mother Nancy and brother Mark have been so close before, he said.

"We go every year and we try to look for the thing," he said. "Two years ago we were really close to finding it but it someone found it before we could get to it."

So when Czerniel, who lives in Tully, finally got his hands onthe Post-Standard | syracuse.com Treasure Hunt medallion in the canal park, he said he was excited and elated to have found it for the first time.

Czerniel and his team members were scouring the area, reading clues online at Syracuse.com and in the paper every day hoping that this year would be their year to find it, he said. (Here's what the clues meant).

With flashlights ready, he and the team prepared for the wet weather early Saturday morning.

"On the way there it was sleet and rain and we thought we were going to get wet today," he said. "But we knew if we found it, it would be worth it."

An hour into their search Czerniel found the medallion tied to the bottom of some brush on the south path in the park.

"We were digging in the snow around the area and I just happened to see this little piece of wire sticking out of the bottom of this brush," he said. "So I pulled on it and when I saw it I just couldn't believe it."

Czerniel tried to keep his cool when he found it but said he couldn't get the medallion in his pocket fast enough.

He called over to his brother who was searching nearby and they quietly celebrated together before heading back to their truck, relishing in their victory.

Czerniel, who is a Post-Standard subscriber, wins the $2,000 and he said he plans to share the money with the team.

He's a warehouse employee at Erie Materials in Syracuse and was working most of the week so he wasn't able to devote much time to the search, he said. He relied on his family and without them he said he wouldn't have been able to find it.

"I'm just so nervous and jerky all at the same time," he said. "I've never felt so much pressure before but now it feels awesome."

"They're all excited and we're just going to enjoy this special time," he said.