This cache is not located at the posted location; rather, it will be found by discovering information at the posted site that will give the coordinates of the second site, etc. The cache is located at the fourth site, which is on land of the Ridges Sanctuary. It has been placed there with permission of the Executive Director of the Ridges.
Born on February 9, 1891, Emma Toft, known as Miss Emma by generations of folks in Door County, was a woman whose story shows what a person who has little besides her integrity and the strength of her character can accomplish to make the world a better place. That story is told in a film produced by Wisconsin Public Television: http://video.wpt2.org/video/2365054149/ (7/29/2013).
At the first posted site there is something that was used nearby where Miss Emma had one of her first jobs as a young woman of 18. She was very young to be working in this profession, and that tells us something important about her. The dates of the building in which she worked are listed on the sign below as 1 8 W X - 1 9 Y Z. The coordinates of the second site are:
North 45° 03.A B C’
West 87° 07.D E F’,
where A=C=W-1; B=X+5; D=Y+Z; E=D+1; F=Y.
At Thanksgiving, Emma would walk from where she was working (near the posted site) to her parents’ home (the second site). This was around 1910 and the roads and vehicles we have for making the trip were not available to Emma. As you go to the second site, think about doing this on foot and in cold weather! Norbert Blei, in his book Door Way, quotes her as saying, “I was independent, you bet!”
The house at the second site was the Toft family home and is one of the oldest standing buildings in this town. It has a plaque on it with the approximate date the house was built, c. 1 8 W X. The street number (by the door) of the house is 8 0 Y Z. The coordinates of the third site are:
North 45° 04.A B C’
West 87° 05.D E F’,
where A=C=W; B=9-X; D=E=Y-4; F=Y+Z.
Be prepared to walk the last half-mile or so, since the road is now closed well back from the third site (with parking near the gate). In the summer, mosquitos can be challenging, and it is best to keep to the center of the road, since there may be poison ivy. In the winter, this road makes for an easy and beautiful ski or snowshoe trip.
The third site is near the foundation of the Toft family lodge, where they spent summers and worked hard running an old-fashioned resort.
Here you will find some information you will need to determine the coordinates of the cache: Emma’s parents were married in 1 8 W X. The Toft family sold their land to the Wisconsin Chapter of the Nature Conservancy in 1 9 Y Z. The coordinates of the cache are:
North 45° 04.A B C’
West 87° 05.D E F’,
where A=W-5; B=X+2; C=X-3; D=Y+2; E=F=Z+2.
The cache is located on land of the Ridges Sanctuary (and placed here with permission from the Director). Miss Emma was one of a small group of conservation-minded people who were responsible for protecting this land so that it could become the Ridges Sanctuary. There is a story that she stopped a plan to make the land into a trailer park by lying down in front of the bulldozer. That people who knew her believed the story tells us something about her. That she denied the truth of such a good story may tell us even more about Emma Toft.