2023
FIND SHAYNA'S TREASURE !
TAKE A HIKE AND FIND SHAYNA'S TREASURE!
Shayna Seymour, Emmy winning journalist, and co-anchor of WCVB's nightly news magazine, Chronicle
came out with us in September of 2021, and hid a LARGE glass diamond on one of the Retreat Trails in Brattleboro .
Watch Shayna bury the treasure in this edition of the Chronicle.
This cryptogram reveals where Shayna hid her jewel . According to Dr Balderdash , Dean of the University of Brattleboro, it was found in one of the notebooks left in this town when James fled from Vermont to the Boston area.
T. P. James' signature is dated 1878. That either means T. P. James was psychic, and knew Shayna was coming,
or this is a forgery. Either way, solve this cryptogram and you will learn exactly where her diamond is hidden.
Other cryptograms with clues to glass jewels hidden in Brattleboro, are scattered on this website,
including the "Jade Frog" treasure map tile Cynthia Parker-Houghton created for the Chronicle television show.
The Jade Frog treasure map tile, which is farther down this page, gives clues to a second jewel
which is hidden in the same general area as Shayna's gem.
It is impossible to find the Jade Frog's Jewel without cracking the treasure tile code. Good Luck.
If you crack one of these coded message, and are heading out to retrieve one of the diamonds
PLEASE bring a replacement treasure
(made of all natural materials,like stone, wood or glass)
for the next person who comes searching.
Great replacement treasures are available at Experienced Goods and at Beadniks, in Brattleboro.
WATCH CHICKEN REX BE BORN !
HOUGHTONART.COM CREATES MURALS,
CERAMIC TREASURE MAPS, AND T-SHIRTS.
The University of Brattleboro uses some of the profits from the T-Shirt sales to fund free events
in southern Vermont
Did you start but not complete an expensive education? Did you, like, me, bomb out of your Phd oral exam? You might not be able to get a doctorate from other Universities, but the University of Brattleboro can still get you a diploma, no thesis required. All you have to do is create a fun, free and substance-free event
and send us photos.
On this page you can see examples of events faculty
members of the University of Brattleboro have created.
There is a $25 fee to cover shipping and handling for the diploma, but if you don't want the piece of paper,
you can still be an honorary faculty member.
Click below to send us photos a description of your event.
ANOTHER GLASS DIAMOND OF T. P. JAMES
- Want to find one of T. P. James' other (glass) diamonds?" Click HERE for one of the harder puzzlers. This one leads to a diamond that is NOT on one of the many trails in Brattleboro. This has been solved, but the people who solved it put out some old coins to replace the diamond they found. We went ahead and put another large diamond to replace the one the original one..
Good luck !
Past Event
In 2010 and 2011, The University of Brattleboro (with Ned Phoenix and Dennis Warring) created the "Make! Tune! Play! / Levi Fuller Extravaganza" for the Estey Organ Museum. Read the Brattleboro Reformer Story, here.
Ongoing
Coming in October 2023
Over the last 23 years, the Universety of Brattleboro faculty have hosted about 425 people, and shown them how to carve Jack O' Lanterns so that they float on the river.
The T.P. James/ "Write Like The Dickens Contest"
When Charles Dickens died in 1870, he left his last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood" unfinished.
Millions of people wanted to know how Dickens would have ended this novel,
and what the solution of the mystery would have been.
T. P. James was a spiritualist and apparent con-man who lived in Brattleboro in the 1870s.
He persuaded many thousands of people that he was channeling Dickens' ghost,
so that he could write the ending of this novel.
The University of Brattleboro's history is explained IN THIS ARTICLE in the Reformer about the
"Write Like The Dickens / T. P. James Writing Contest".
This event was run as part of the Literary Festival, at the Brooks Memorial Library, for Write Action
and we hope to run it again in late 2023.
Past Event
In 2012 The Sewing Party Sleep-Over, Was Hosted by
Dr Very O'kay. This was one of the first events where new faculty took on a great project, and participants had a great time. The video is only about a minute long, and explains the philosophy of the Universety. Take a peek. It's short and good, and uses locally made
music by E B Woo with Dave Cohen.
The Story Behind The Diamond Treasure Trails
According to Dr Balderdash, Dean of the Universirty of Brattleboro, T. P. James hid many large glass diamonds, (as well as semi precious stones cut and polished to look like eggs) along trails in Brattleboro
and the surrounding region.
Legend also has it that James created many clues, hidden in cryptograms and other puzzlers,
which explain where these glass treasures can be found.
Dr. Baldersash plans to publish
all of the puzzlers from James' notebooks
which he says James left behind when he fled Brattleboro around 1879.
FUTURE EVENT
'In 2023 the University will host the
"Chicken-Rex Run For Your Life"
We are still working out the details
but we think if might involve
running away from a Chicken rex.
A WANTASTIQUET CRYPTOGRAM TREASURE TRAIL
LOOK FOR AUSTIN'S ROCK ON THE WANTASTIQUET TRAIL
According to Dr Balderdash, T. P. James hiked up the trail towards the summit of Wantastiquet with his friend J. S. Austin. Austin chiseled his name into a rock that is on your left as you go up the mountain.
You will find Austin's rock just before one of the switchbacks on the trail.
While Austin was working away at the rock, T. P. James found a hiding place for another one of his large glass diamonds. The cryptogram above, taken from his notebook, tells you exactly where he put it.
If you crack one of these coded message, and are heading out to retrieve one of the diamonds
PLEASE bring a replacement treasure
(made of all natural materials,like stone, wood or glass)
for the next person who comes searching.
Great replacement treasures are available at Experienced Goods and at Beadniks, in Brattleboro.