The December Featured Geocacher of the Month nominees work tirelessly to shape their communities and to make them stronger. No matter where they live or how long they’ve been pursuing the hobby, these geocachers are truly dedicated to giving the sport and their communities all they’ve got.
Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as the Featured Geocacher of the Month for December.
Write a comment at the bottom of this blog about which of these geocachers you feel should be awarded the Featured Geocacher of the Month title.
In November, Ted, a.k.a. balkamper13 was recognized for introducing and helping countless novice geocachers become caching addicts. Balkamper13 is known for donating quality homemade swag, time, and money to geocaching events. He spends numerous hours teaching his secrets and always invites new geocachers on geocaching outings and events. Ted also shares his geocaching adventures and tips on his blog, LiveLoveCache.com.
Here are your nominees for the December Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
ekitt10
Nominated by jo.b, Nik, a.k.a. ekitt10, “has been caching since August 2001, making him one of the oldest cachers in New Jersey. Since then, he has always been working to improve the geocaching community in the state. Nik is the the founder of the Central Jersey Geocaching group and co-founder of CentralJerseyGeocaching.net. He also organizes our big monthly meetup called, ‘Third Tuesday Beer and Burgers.’ Nik’s favorite phrase is ‘take pride in your hide.’ His view is that every cache owner should put the creativity and effort into their caches to make them truly worth finding. He is also an avid puzzle cache creator. Some of his puzzles are famous and notorious. Nik has held puzzle solving classes and will always help a cacher out with one of his puzzles, especially if it’s one of their first forays into the sometimes intimidating world of the ‘scary blue question mark’. For over a decade, Nik has been a pillar of the New Jersey geocaching community, but beyond tenure, he has truly made a mark on the game and helped shape it into what it is today. He works hard to make the game more accessible and to make the community larger.”
Team GatorOKC
Team Gilo writes, “Michael and Bonnie, a.k.a. Team GatorOKC has been a great asset and participant in the COG (Central Oklahoma Geocachers) group since 2007. They are instrumental in organizing COG meetings and generally participating in all the social events concerning geocaching in the OKC area. They invest a lot of time and energy in placing and finding caches here in Oklahoma. They are very friendly people who have made many friends from out of state and have influenced them to become addicted to this sport that so many of us have come to love. I believe they would represent geocaching well and would fly the banner of the geocaching community high.”
Moneydork
Kjwx and Cumbyrocks write, “His surname says it all really … Wayne Champion is a champion – of and for geocaching. Such is his dedication to this hobby and its community. The veteran New Zealand player has multiple names to prove it: Moneydork, camocrab, and Wayne. Whichever handle you know him by, Champion has been a major player in the Australasian geocaching scene for many years. As Moneydork, he has established himself as one of our most prolific cachers, most recently celebrating his 15,000th find. As camocrab, volunteer reviewer for Geocaching.com, he has examined and evaluated New Zealand and Australian cache listings since 2006. And as Wayne, he was involved in the recovery efforts for both the Christchurch earthquakes and the Pike River coalmine tragedy. Last year Champion relocated to Australia for a job, but that didn’t stop him from returning frequently to oversee his dream of hosting the country’s first Mega-Event, GC35TTR. Champion initiated the idea while president of the New Zealand Recreational GPS Society and oversaw its planning from more than 3500km away. His efforts as chairman before and after the four-day event helped ensure glowing logs from all 501 attendees. More importantly, Champion himself is respected by his peers, fellow reviewers and leader board rivals. His own hides and events are legendary Down Under and he never hesitates to give his all to this sport.”
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured December Geocacher of the Month. A panel of Lackeys will use your comments to help decide which geocacher is awarded the honor. Each featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat, a Geocacher of the Month profile icon, and a certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. This month only, the recognized nominees will also receive a special edition John Grisham THE RACKETEER Geocoin. We will be accepting comments for December’s award through Monday, December 17th.
Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month. If you know an outstanding geocacher you would like to nominate to be a featured Geocacher of the Month, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com and include the following information:
- Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
- A picture of the nominee
- Description (200 or more words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month
- Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award
Nominations for the January Geocacher of the Month must be received by Tuesday, January 8, 2013.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.
