October 13, 2011 / Eric Schudiske /

Featured Geocacher of the Month Nominees – Add Your Comments

supergoober2 — September's Featured Geocacher of the Month, SuperGoober

Last month the geocaching community voted SuperGoober as the September Featured Geocacher of the Month. According to those who nominated him, “he is a model geocacher which all of us in the area and beyond can be proud of. He is always willing to lend advice/help to any cacher that approaches him or contacts him.”

The featured Geocacher of the Month recognition celebrates geocachers for their contributions to the activity. A panel of Lackeys had the difficult task of selecting three of the most outstanding nominees. Now it’s your turn to help name one of these nominees the featured October “Geocacher of the Month.”

geocacherofthemonthGeocoin(anniephone) — Geocacher of the Month Geocoin

Write a comment on this blog post about which of these three geocachers you’d like to see as the featured “Geocacher of the Month.” Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month. Read the testimonials below and leave a comment with your suggestion. Some testimonials have been edited for length.

seping

(Member since 2007)

Nomination by Ceddy:

“seping is a very active geocacher, he lives in Catalonia / Spain, in his native [country] many geocachers know him! He has found more than 18,000 caches all over the world and has over 240 caches hidden!
seping also already has organized two Mega-Events, including the recent Mega Catlunya 2011, and brought together geocachers from around the world. I met seping. He’s a very friendly and helpful man, and I think that’s he’s seen similarly by many other people.”

coast2coast2coast + Zoe

(Member since 2002)

Nomination by adventureseeking3:

“They have hosted multiple events, hidden excellent caches, all at various levels of difficulty, and are always aiding fellow cachers when in need. Tom currently serves in the Canadian armed forces so not only is he promoting geocaching here in BC, Canada, but he is also contributing world wide. They head up a local organization, Mid Island Geocaching that just recently had a summer end event “The Geo-Poker Rally” which was held in conjunction with Our local BCGA year end Blitz. Even though he is currently overseas on a mission supporting world peace, he is still staying in contact and helping people back home who geocache. They are both very dedicated and very well respected in the community.”

bpp_picnic

(Member since 2006)

Nomination by Mrs.Hoagie:

“Around Chester County PA, caches by bpp_picnic are notorious for their unique locations and even more interesting camouflage. bpp_picnic hosts a great event at the Brandywine Picnic Park (his family’s place) every September, and though his park, Big Red (his truck), and the event were flooded out this year by all the rain in SE Pennsylvania, bpp_picnic was still gracious enough to feed those of us who showed up with his amazing bbq pork and brisket.”

Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured October “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 and certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by 2 of the founders of Geocaching.com. We will be accepting comments through Monday October 24th.

If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be the Geocacher of the Month, send an email to

GCotM_geocoin — Geocacher of the Month Geocoin

geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com.

Every nomination must meet the following requirements:

Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and description (in 500 or fewer 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 November Geocacher of the Month must be received by November 3rd.

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.

October 5, 2011 / Eric Schudiske /

Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter – October 5, 2011

Trackable Glossary

Geocaching Trackables add another level of fun to the game, but they also add a few terms that you may be unfamiliar with. Here is a guide to the key Trackable terms so that you know what to do the next time you come across a Trackable in a cache.

Retrieve or Grab — When you have picked up a Trackable to move it to another geocache, you must log its movement on Geocaching.com. The two logging options that you have in this situation are “Retrieve it from [cache name]” and “Grab it.” If you took the Trackable from the cache in which it is listed, choose to retrieve it. If you took the item from elsewhere, choose to grab it.

Discovered — This is a logging option for Trackables that indicates you have seen the Trackable, but have not moved it. At geocaching events, geocachers often “discover” the Trackables in others’ collections.

Missing — If a Trackable has been missing for some time, the Trackable owner or the owner of the cache in which the Trackable is listed can mark the item “missing.” This will remove it from the cache inventory and place the Trackable in an “unknown location” so that others will know it is no longer in the cache. More info.

Collectible — Trackable owners can choose to set their Trackables as “Collectible” or “Not Collectible.” “Collectible” may mean that the owner has decided to keep it in their personal collection or, if you find it in a cache, that they are okay with you keeping the item and placing it in your own collection. “Not collectible” indicates that the item should continue to travel. The Trackable’s page will state the owner’s preference. If the page indicates that the owner has not set their collectible preference, you should assume that the item is not collectible. Learn more about Collectibles, including how Trackable owners benefit from setting their preference.

September 20, 2011 / Eric Schudiske /

Geocachers Care: Strength in Community

July 2, 2011 began similarly to any other day of geocaching for Mike (Radioman84) and his wife Iris (ikolor). Mike woke up, packed his geocaching gear, and hit the road. He drove three hours with his family to attend the SCGA’s 4^th Annual Geo-versary in Merritt Island, Florida. But on July 3, 2011, as he and his wife prepared to cache along the drive home, their lives took an unexpected turn.

radioman84&pole — Radioman84 out geocaching

As they were preparing to head out geocaching, Mike suffered from a massive stroke. Medical care workers took no chances. He was flown by a medical helicopter to the hospital in Orlando.

Mike was treated at the Orlando hospital for weeks. During this time, his wife Iris remained right by his side. According to Iris, “Mike and I spent three weeks in Orlando while he was in the ICU and the neurological floor of the hospital.”

Mike and Iris have been avid geocachers since November of 2009. Mike, a communications technician from Sunrise, Florida is known for his committed participation in the geocaching community and for his series of famous “What is that doing there” caches. Mike has found over 1,700 geocaches and attended around 19 events.

Once news of Mike’s stroke reached the Southern Florida geocaching community, they rallied together in support. Because Iris and Mike were staying in Orlando, geocacher friends organized a fundraiser barbecue.

According to friend and fellow geocacher Marty, the barbecue was to “help defray the high costs of Iris having to stay in Orlando as Mike recovers and other expenses that they will experience at this difficult time.” The barbecue consisted of delicious food, a raffle, and donated items to be auctioned off. Iris requested for geocachers to donate money and supplies to the Hubbard House, a charity that provides services for families of seriously ill people seeking treatment in the Orlando area. At the end of the day, more than $2,000 was raised.

radioman84&ikolor — Radioman84 and his wife ikolor

Although they were three hours away from their hometown, Mike and Iris felt supported because according to Iris, “Cachers from all around Florida visited with me and Mike while we were in Orlando. I actually was able to steal away some time and go caching with some of them that came to visit. It felt so good to take a break and get to do something I love to do.”

As of today, Mike and Iris have returned to their home in Sunrise where Mike now frequently visits a rehabilitation center. The center is surrounded by specially hidden caches and is often visited by local geocachers.

Iris says, “a poster was made and signed by all the cachers that love him” and it now hangs in his recovery room. Mike is still on the road to full recovery. Marty, one of the lead organizers of the fundraiser barbecue, says, “[Mike] is in good spirits and even attended We are a little cheesy #3 event.”

Through this challenging circumstance Mike, Iris, and the rest of the geocaching world have experienced the beauty that can be found in community. In response to the event, Iris says “The amount of love is incredible.”

radioman84CITO — Radioman84 and ikolor at a CITO Event

August 20, 2011 / Eric Schudiske /

Announcing the First ‘Geocacher of the Month’

Congratulations to all the Geocacher of the Month nominees. The geocaching community is comprised of inspirational individuals – who go above and beyond in geocaching innovation, creativity, respect for the environment and helpfulness. Each nominee should be congratulated as exceptional geocachers and individuals. We should all be proud that each of the cachers are part of our worldwide community.

The choice for the first Geocacher of the Month was difficult. A panel of Lackeys, relying on voting and community comments, could ultimately choose only one.

haksu10 is the August Geocacher of the Month. Dozens of geocachers wrote in to share stories about haksu10’s humble dedication to geocaching, geocachers and his local community. haksu10 created geocache.fi site, used by most Finnish geocachers daily. He also placed nearly a hundred creative and engaging caches. One of the most memorable is GC16QCH Haksulandia. According to a Finnish geocacher, “What makes it special, though, is that it is located at haksu10′s yard. According to the description, the cache is equipped with an electric outlet in case you need to charge anything. Call before you arrive (or just ring the doorbell) and haksu10 will make you some coffee.”

haksu10 will receive a collectors Geocacher of the Month geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by the founders of Geocaching.com: Jeremy Irish, Bryan Roth and Elias Alvord.

The other two outstanding finalists Dale & Barb and De broekies will also receive special gifts from Geocaching.com, and we hope the recognition from geocaching community for their truly outstanding contributions. We can all be inspired by reading the testimonials and comments about all the nominees from other geocachers in this blog post. Community members are encouraged to renominate those who were not awarded Geocacher of the Month.

If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be the Geocachers of the Month, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com.

Every nomination must meet the following requirements. Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and description (in 500 or fewer 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 September Geocacher of the Month must be received by September 3rd.

Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the Latitude 47 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.

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