Special thanks to park manager Jon Quisenberry and Punderson State Park for allowing and promoting geocaching in this beautiful park, and for permitting this special geocaching event!
Stump Lake
Pine Lake
Come on out and celebrate the 20th anniversary (plus a few months) of Geocaching with your fellow cachers and enjoy the fall scenery at beautiful Punderson State Park in Geauga County! This event will take place at the Marina shelter between the hours of 10:00 AM and 4:30 PM. There will be cachers at the shelter at all times throughout the event hours, so you can stop in any time to say hello, or spend some time chatting about the past 20 years, maybe pick up some helpful tips if you're a relatively new cacher, or if the mood strikes you, hang out with us for the entire day!
Community Celebration Events - 2020
This Event is part of a limited release of Community Celebration Events to celebrate 20 years of geocaching. Geocachers hosted events between May 2, 2020 and December 31, 2022. Learn more about Community Celebration Events on the Geocaching Blog.
It's been a long time since I hosted a GeoPoker Run, and I'm not really sure I can even remember how to do it anymore, but since this is the 20th anniversary of Geocaching, I decided to give it one last try. I hope I don't regret this!
Note that you do not need to participate in the GeoPoker Run in order to attend this event!
** If you do wish to play GeoPoker, please be sure to note that in a Will Attend log as soon as possible, as there will be a limited number of hands available. **
In addition to the event, there will be 16 new permanent caches in the park to find, including traditionals, multis, mysteries, a letterbox, and a wherigo. Note that there is a LOT of poison ivy in this park, and you will see some at almost every cache, so please be cautious. The final Joker cache will be a Reverse Wherigo, so please be sure to bring a device which can play the Wherigo module, and make sure to download the most current version, as it gets updated on occasion.
Click here for the Reverse Wherigo module download.
** Since these new caches will be permanent, there will also be a lottery for the FTF on each of the seven card caches and corresponding joker micros. If you wish to be considered for a chance at one of the FTF's, please note that in your log. To be fair to everyone, only individual cachers, not groups, may go for the FTF. Geocaching names will be chosen and posted the day before the event, and those cachers should arrive early so they can get the coordinates and hunt for the caches beginning at 9:45 AM. If less than seven cachers enter the FTF lottery, then the FTF on the remaining caches will be up for grabs by anyone at the event. **
Tentative Schedule
I will do my best to stick to the schedule, but like I mentioned before, it's been a long time since I hosted one of these events. I'm older and crankier, and I have to use the bathroom more often, so we'll see how it goes.
One of the conditions the park demanded in order to approve this event is that there will be absolutely no parking on the side of the park roads or on the grass. Please obey this rule, and if a particular parking lot is full, go and hunt for a different cache and come back later when the lot has open spaces. Caching in groups and carpooling might help also.
9:45 AM - FTF winners receive the cache coords and may hunt for their two caches prior to the official start of the event.
10 AM - 12 Noon – Sign up for a poker hand at the Marina Shelter if you intend to play. Complete a Chris K quiz for a chance at some very special prizes, then pick up a coordinate sheet and go hunt for caches.
12:30 PM - Pizza time!
There will also be a new puzzle cache presented at this time. Will you take the time to work on the puzzle and maybe score the FTF or will you stick with the GeoPoker Run caches to try and finish before 3:30 PM?
3:30 PM - All poker and joker cards must be returned by 3:30 PM!
4:00 PM - Once all cards are returned and scored, the final presentation will begin. Chris K quiz answers will be revealed and awards presented. All eligible players must be present to choose a prize.
4:30 PM - If all goes well, the award presentation will conclude by 4:30 PM when the event ends.
Please note that the Marina shelter holds several picnic tables, but seating tends to be limited. The final presentation can potentially take quite a bit of time, and some of the tables will be used for administration, food, and prize display. It might be wise to bring a camp chair along with you if you plan to stay for the entire event.