This cache, like the library itself, was a community project. Many thanks to all the participants in the "Geocaching 101"program: Ridgeway Librarian; Presenter, Author and Geocaching Expert Damned Rodan; Geocaching Experts TracksAll and FishDownTheStair; TheBunn family and the newly christened "former muggles" attending the presentation; and all the tiny tyke Swag Specialists who painted rocks to add to the cache.
** Congrats to jminton, whose perseverance earned him FTF! **
To the utter astonishment of a Ridgeway delegation attending, a feasibility study made by a fund-raiser recommended to the library board that the Ridgeway library branch project be abandoned because of a lack of interest in the community. Five civic-minded ladies literally took to the streets to put the decision once and for all before the people ... and the people of Ridgeway came through.
Dr. Robert L. Mason, a public-spirited lifelong resident - he was Ridgeway’s mayor for 50 years and son of Dr. Drewry Mason, for whom the nearby school is named - gave a major gift to start the drive. Then, armed with only a typed sheet describing the proposed building, the ladies knocked on doors, talked, cajoled, promised, persuaded, and literally begged families in a radius of several miles to support the project. “I fell in ditches, got covered with beggar’s lice, was chased by dogs, almost suffered a heat stroke one hot summer night, and almost froze in the wintertime while canvassing for funds,” said Mary McGee who, with two or three others of the committee worked almost every day for two years to raise the $500,000 plus.
The majority of pledges ranged from $10 to $1,000 with many young families budgeting each month and systematically making payments for as long as three years to fulfill their pledges. The library opened on June 9, 1990, coinciding with the Town of Ridgeway Centennial Celebration. The Ridgeway Garden Club created the Centennial Flower Garden on the grounds, which garnered them district and state first place awards in 1993.
Indeed, it took the whole village to raise this library building, and they've tended it well.
There are plenty of nice spots to sit outside and read... or just enjoy the serene grounds. A berm was built to offer children a nice outdoor spot for story time. What a wonderful idea! I'm fond of magnolias, so I particularly like the shade of the enormous specimen found here. There is also a stone terrace with a couple of benches just out the back door of the library.
This could be a quick grab, but the grounds and library are so nice - as is the little park beside it - I hope you'll take a look around while you're here.
As with all caches, please replace and recamo as well or better than you found it.
Note: While permission was granted by property managers on either side of GZ, you might save yourself a chat with Ridgeway's Finest by not hunting this at night.