National Candy Factory Treasure Hunt Leads Man to Highland Park

By ERIN LARISON

The Kokomo Post Staff

Photo Provided | Andrew Maas

Andrew Maas shows off his golden necklace in Highland Park.

 Willy Wonka, step aside.

It was a sweet payday for a Colorado man in Kokomo’s Highland Park this week, as he became the proud owner of a 4,000-square-foot candy factory in a wild Willy Wonka-style treasure hunt that culminated under the Vermont Covered Bridge.

Colorado Springs, Colorado’s Andrew Maas beat out an estimated 35,000 contestants in the nationwide hunt to take home the unique prize.

David “Candyman” Klein, who co-created the Jelly Belly name in 1976, launched a series of statewide treasure hunts in 2020 – with each hunt seeing up to 1,000 participants deciphering clues and racing across their states looking for a gold ticket necklace that earns them a $5,000 cash prize.

 “We have a genuine love for people,” said Klein, in a phone interview Saturday. “We did this at the time of the year when COVID was around when nobody could leave their house, but a family could get together in a car and go somewhere remote.”

But just like in the classic book/movie “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” the grand prize was a whole lot sweeter than cash.

On Memorial Day weekend, Klein and his partner, Stephanie Thirtyacre, released a new hunt – this one for one of Klein’s candy factories. Klein parted ways with Jelly Belly in 1980 but continued on in the candy business and now operates Sandy Candy with his daughter, Roxanne, as well as a series of Candyman Kitchens in Florida.

Klein and Thirtyacre hid the gold ticket necklace at the base of the Vermont covered bridge in Highland Park during one of their treks across the country, she said. The pair hide each gold ticket necklace themselves to avoid possible scandal, and create head-scratching puzzles for each hunt.

But Kokomo? It was nearly on accident, Thirtyacre said.

“We don’t like to have a preconceived notion of where we are going to hide it. We thought somewhere in Kansas, but I got tired of driving,” Thirtyacre said with a laugh. The pair opted to head toward Illinois but saw the exit signs for Kokomo and knew it was the place.

But Maas – and thousands of other hunters – definitely didn’t know Kokomo was the place. He and his family have spent the better part of 2020 and 2021 following along with hunts, which have allowed them to experience new things.

“My wife and I we are very adventurous,” said Maas, by phone Saturday afternoon. “We met doing Christian missionary work around the world we are always up for adventure and having fun and getting out to see the world.”

This treasure hunt has taken the Maas family to several places – and had them less than a minute behind winners for the cash prize in Kansas.

The candy factory hunt, however, had the Maases stumped.

“I had tried to solve it, but I was just kind of never really gotten it figured out,” said Maas. “All my solves were missing too many components for me to make a 20-hour road trip with my family or fly anywhere.”

But last weekend, the couple was talking about it and realized the key might be in the Beach Boys’ song. They talked about it, prayed quickly, and Maas was boarding a redeye and hoping for the best.

“If you’re off, you could just be 2,000 miles away from where it was,” he said.

THE RIDDLE:

Don't have an instant idea, for a treasure diehard

We see witches nearby, two stand guard

Go Solve and Search, as low as our toe

Why find a nut and walks are no foe

The Maases knew the final location of the necklace was in Indiana or Illinois because the organizers narrowed down the search radius to these two states, but they unlocked the Kokomo location in thinking about the Beach Boys’ song.

“Don't have an instant idea,” made the Maases think they could get there fast and take it slow. Each line unlocked another series of Google searches until they were fairly certain that the two picnic pavilions in Highland Park that vaguely resemble witches hats had to be involved in the solution.  

After Maas landed in Indianapolis, he spent the morning combing through Highland Park, until he unearthed a small plastic bag containing the golden necklace – and a new adventure for their family.

“It’s a great opportunity that is really unique,” said Maas. “We are trying to iron out the details, because it is a lot of moving pieces … We want to figure out how do we leverage this not for our gain but to try to bring joy to people?

For Klein and Thirtyacre, they want to bring this fun to more people. Their new book, “The Candyman’s Treasure Hunt: The Orb Traveler” features a new series of hunts.

You can find out more about this and upcoming treasure hunts at www.thegoldticket.com.