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Geocaching on the Greenway trails

Details: Written by Major134; Published: October 27 2017; Last Updated: October 27 2017; Hits: 3939

Grave Hop 2017

Details: Written by Den Mother; Published: October 23 2017; Last Updated: October 23 2017; Hits: 3862

Photo by "The Griff"

The 2017 Grave Hop event took place entirely within beautiful Bellefontaine Cemetery on October 21 this year. The cemetery has seen the placement of a dozen geocaches since 2016, many sponsored by SLAGA. This year, Bellefontaine graciously provided a parking area, registration tent, and portapotty for the Grave Hop participants. L Frank and Denmother hosted the event, and sent 16 four-person teams to starting points all over the cemetery. The teams were given a list of gravestone symbols and had four hours to find and record information on as many as they could find. Over 150 different symbols were recorded, in addition to some bonus symbols which were not on the list. The top three teams were: 1. Team Hollenbeck/Rogers (1475 points), 2. Team HUGS (How-D, spiritwolf922, the Griffs) (1340 points), and 3. Team excagirl (1185 points).

Congratulations to everyone who participated!

HALLOWEEN BASH "Costumes, Carvings & Campfires" Event Warms the Spirit!

Details: Written by Terri Nealon; Published: October 23 2017; Last Updated: January 29 2023; Hits: 3813

The calm brush of the autumn breeze, with the scent of a bonfire burning and the glow of the embers rising, invited the smiles and laughter of geocachers gathered 'round the fire ring at the Halloween Bash on October 21st.

Hosted by TerriBikes+ and StaceyBassoon, the Bash, with over 40 attendees, was filled with shared caching memories, friendships old and new, and tasty food and snacks. Some new 'scary' caches in the park, a few decorations, some creative costumes, a few lit jack-o-lanterns, and anticipation of event and Grave Hop awards, added to the fun and spirit of this Halloween event! Hot chocolate and s'mores didn't hurt either.

Costume winners of the night:

*1st - Curious GEOrge 3, "Doc Brown" (Back to the Future), in his white lab coat and wild hair, with radioactive gloves and a geobox of glowing 'plutonium pops.'

*2nd - Korriaan adorned head to toe in her perfect buccaneer attire, which included a vulture, because "good pirates have vultures and only bad pirates have parrots."

*3rd - JamrokShake in a terrific throw-back waitress costume from "Happy Days Arnold's Drive-In."

*Special Kid/Parent Team Costume Award was presented early to Chezna and son for their awesome James Bond "Octopussy" portrayal.

Jack-O-Lantern winners of the night:

*Grand Prize Geocaching-Themed went to The Mad Chef, with his strobe-lighted "AMERICAN MoGA SToRY" carving.

*1st Traditional Halloween - Curious GEOrge 3 for his haggard old woman holding a crystal ball jack-o-lantern.

*2nd Traditional Halloween - paulgracie with his blood drooling 'jack.'

Event prize winners and all who dressed in costume, were rewarded with their choice of geocaching or Halloween-type gifts and items from the prize table. After the Halloween Bash awards were distributed, the Grave Hop hosts, L Frank and Denmother, arrived with results of the earlier competition and thrilled teams with their scores and awards, as well.

As the night air cooled and the fire died down, content geocachers began to depart, leaving behind just the glow of embers and the memory of a happy time. With thanksgiving for all who attended and especially for the kindness and assistance provided by StaceyBassoon, How-D, spiritwolf922, and The Mad Chef, this author ended the day with a smile and warm heart.

Curious GEORGE Korriaan Jamrock Shake

The Mad Chef, PaulGracie and Curious GEOrge Tick Magnet TerriBikes+ and StaceyBassoon

Geocaching International Film Festival 2017

Details: Written by David DeWitt; Published: October 16 2017; Last Updated: October 16 2017; Hits: 3416

Join us at St. Charles Smartt Field for the premiere of the 2017 GIFF films.

Attending this event will earn you the official GIFF 2017 souvenir!

THE ART OF GEOCACHING

FILMS SCREEN WORLDWIDE | NOVEMBER 2-6, 2017

There's no arguing that geocaching is an art, as much as it is a game. In designing a creative container, writing a memorable log, or going to great lengths to reach a cache, we express ourselves every time we play. See how the community has turned geocaching into an art form by attending a 2017 GIFF Event

"Where?

EAA 32 Building at St Charles Smartt Field, 6390 Grafton Ferry Rd, Portage Des Sioux, MO 63373

When is it?

7:00 PM to about 9:00 PM , November 4th, 2017.

Girl Scout Troop 1146 Gets A Crash Course In Geocaching

Details: Written by Patricia Hutchison; Published: September 19 2017; Last Updated: September 19 2017; Hits: 3531

091817 Troop 1146 2

Troop 1146 - a group of enthusiastic Girl Scouts - along with some members of their families arrived at Mastodon State Park, ready and eager to learn about Geocaching. Their attention was immediately focused on the two boxes of materials sitting on the picnic table, and they were already asking questions as they took their seats on the benches.

Fourteen kids and eight adults listened with interest as How-D explained about GPS units, satellites and how the technologies work to make geocaching possible. When the various cache containers were introduced, the students were amazed at the possibilities. They were most impressed with the natural wooden containers, split logs with a small plastic insert for the log sheet.

After the presentation, Breezy406 assisted How-D in passing out the GPS units to the Girl Scouts, then led them in search of the lone physical cache in the park, GC6RCRD Walking With Critters V.2. The unique container elicited squeals, but one of the girls bravely picked it up and all those who wanted to do so signed the log sheet. With the cache replaced, the troop returned to the parking lot for a final photo before the rain started.

Breezy406, Spiritwolf922 and How-D with Troop 1146

CITO Season

Details: Written by Patricia Hutchison; Published: May 18 2017; Last Updated: May 18 2017; Hits: 3840

While it’s always a great time to practice CITO (Cache In, Trash Out), April brings with it lots of opportunities with Earth Day and Groundspeak’s practice of issuing a special souvenir for attending and participating in special CITO events. This year, there were three CITO events in the St. Louis area: two hosted by brantole and one hosted by Hobbit Taz.

The first one scheduled, Spring Cleaning at Fort Belle Fontaine, was held at…, well, Fort Belle Fontaine in north St. Louis. It was attended by about two dozen volunteers, cachers and non-cachers alike. In addition to providing water and snacks for the workers, brantole also held a drawing with a CITO coin for the prize. BaldEagle45 was the lucky winner and received his coin by mail within a few days.

The second CITO, Spring Cleaning at Columbia Bottom, was held at – you guessed it! – Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. Sixteen volunteers posted their “Attended” logs for this CITO, which was cosponsored by The Missouri Department of Conservation. MDC provided equipment to aid in the cleaning up of trash and debris left by floodwaters. As an additional incentive, they also provided lunch, consisting of sausage and chicken jambalaya, Dutch oven veggies, a pear cobbler and a giant cookie.

For this event, brantole drew CuriousGEOrge3’s name as the winner for the CITO coin. Two other names had been drawn previously, but both had declined to accept the prize.

The third CITO, Imperial Crown Pet Cemetery, was… I think you see where this is going... to be held in Florissant. Unfortunately, due to the severe weather, the event was canceled. Cemetery officials determined that between the lightning – which made it dangerous to use the metal tools – and the heavy ground saturation – which could result in additional damage to the cemetery – it would be best to postpone the CITO efforts until the following Saturday. The winner of the third CITO’s coin was Luckycharmer.

Geocachers don’t have to wait for a formal event to CITO, however. It’s always good policy to practice CITO when you’re out in the field. Whether it’s pulling a sopping log out of a cache and replacing it with a fresh one, or picking up a bottle or can off the trail, geocachers can make a positive impact on our environment every time they go out. Consider packing a small plastic grocery sack in your TOTT bag and you’ll always have a trash bag with you.

For more information on CITOs, please visit: https://www.geocaching.com/cito/

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