Virtual Reward 2017/18 Old Jeremiah: it's a blast Virtual Cache

We have been honoured with a Virtual Reward. We choose to use it to highlight a University of Guelph artifact. The University has been part of our lives for decades.

CAUTION: Wet paint. Don't lean up or sit on the cannon or anything nearby without testing it for wet paint.

"The Cannon", a central feature at the University, has graced the campus since the early 1900s.

The cannon is a British naval gun, rumoured to have been used in the War of 1812. Its name is “Old Jeremiah”.

"In 1913, students fired the cannon at 1 a.m., prompting college officials to silence it by filling it with cement. The cannon was placed in several locations on campus before it was permanently cemented in Branion Plaza in 1973, aimed menacingly at the University Centre’s administration offices."

"Students began painting the cannon as a protest against war. The former weapon now has a more peaceful role as a message board for students to paint and decorate."

It is repainted almost daily, sometimes multiple times in a day. It was restored in 1983. And again in 2010 for an art project. Here's another news article about the project. It was stripped of thousands of layers of paint. Some of the resulting paint chips were then encased in acrylic and sold as paper weights in the University bookstore. Peter Wolf collected and framed some of the chips he collected from Dawn's project. This university news article has a link to some macro photography of his chip collection.

We hope you enjoy your visit to the University of Guelph campus.

INSTRUCTIONS:

To validate your visit to the campus and the cannon:

1. Go to the posted coordinates and take a photo of the cannon. You can include yourself, or your gps, or your hand. Include something that shows you were there. Groups can post a group photo of the team by the cannon, or team's hands/feet/GPSs/etc. Have fun.

Here's an example:

2. Please include the date the photo was taken, in the photo's name field.

The photo gallery will be a catalogue record of the different cannon paint jobs as observed by geocachers. FYI: One member of the JARS team sees the Cannon on almost a daily basis and may add photos to the gallery occasionally.

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Parking is available at parking meters and lots with a manned kiosk. Parking is free after hours (after 5pm) on weekdays and on weekends and holidays.

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Virtual Reward - 2017/2018

This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.