A popular JAGA-land Christmastime tradition returns for another year! As it was last year, we will be gathering outside in a spacious public location right in front of a storefront at Ivyside Plaza where mrGreen317 (store manager) will provide table space on the sidewalk for TB discovery and exchanges, plus a place to deposit any gift bisons for the exchange (read on below). Stop by and say 'Hi', sign the log (optional), and if you want, join us in the JAGA-land Christmas bison-trading tradition.
Additional fun and games this year:
If interested, attendees will be allowed to enter the business location in teams to attempt to see if they can solve a chain of puzzles from the business owner's 'Naughty or Nice' escape game (the puzzles and props of which have been gifted to mrGreen317). These puzzles and props will be set up in the lobby and back room areas for interested players. Those teams who can solve all the puzzles will find additional prize rewards awaiting after the last lock is opened! The team with the shortest solving time gets an additional prize. Team signup for the 'Naughty or Nice' activity will be at the table out front, and the teams will get a chance to play before or after the main event activities.
Expected event schedule:
9:00 am to 10:30 am - If participating in the Bison Exchange, hide your prize box within 10 miles of the posted coordinates (if you have not already done so).
9:30 am - Early groups to challenge the 'Naughty or Nice' game may arrange an earlier time slot with mrGreen317 if desired. mrGreen317 should be onsite by 9:30 am, but you may also make any early time arrangements with him by geo-messenger. Estimated time to complete all the puzzles could be between 15 and 30 minutes.
10:30 am - Meet and greet, sign the log; grab a morning-time snack and drink.
11:00 am - All bisons for the exchange should be received by this time. The bison exchange itself should happen right around 11 am.
12:15 pm - Any interested participants who have yet to attempt the 'Naughty or Nice' game may do so. A signup will be at the table. Additional times might be available throughout the day based on when regular non-geocacher customers are not using the facility that day.
12:30 pm to 'Oh Tannenbaum' event start time - Enjoy the day in Altoona grabbing caches, finding your bison prize box (if you participated in the exchange), or however else you may see fit to use your afternoon in Altoona, PA.
As in previous years, the "Bison Tube Gift Exchange" portion of the event is totally optional. You may still come out for the meet and greet even if not hiding a gift and exchanging a bison. We just ask that only those providing a bison participate in picking one out from "the hat" (bowl, ammo box, what-have-you). If you are interested, please read on...
Many thanks to Profbrad for bringing this tradition to the area, starting back in 2016. And thanks for his encouragement to proceed with this event this year and for the following text (copy-pasted directly from his work in the past):
Bison Tube Gift Exchange Guidelines (you know the drill!)
1) Prior to coming to the event, I would like you to hide a gift (never-to-be published Christmas Cache) to be exchanged with another geocacher somewhere within 10 miles of downtown Altoona (or just use the event coordinates as a center point of the 10-mile radius). The gift can be whatever you like... gift card, unactivated geocoins, TB dog tags, swag items, cache containers, etc. Please use your own judgement in selecting your gift items and make sure that they are approximately $25 dollars in value (container included). It's important that people receive gifts worth what they gave, so don't be a grinch! You may place your gift items in an inexpensive cache container (i.e., tupperware, Christmas tin, etc.) and hide it to be found later that day. You may fill the container with Christmas cookies or candy to take up any leftover space in the container, but make sure your gift container is weather resistant and critter-proof. Don't forget to mark a waypoint for your hidden gift for step 2.
2) Bring a regular (preferably black) bison tube (https://shop.geocaching.com/default/geocaching-supplies/cache-containers/micro/bison-capsule-black.html) to the event if you are participating in the exchange. Inside the Bison tube, place a slip of paper with the coordinates of the Christmas Cache you hid for another cacher to find. In addition, it would be a good idea to write your geocaching name and cell phone number on the paper in case the Christmas seeker needs a phone-a-friend to help them find their Christmas Cache.
3) At the event, the bison tubes will be placed in a bowl (ammo box, or similar) and mixed up. Everyone who places a bison tube in the bowl (bag / hat / ammo box - whatever we use) will then be able to randomly choose another bison tube from the bowl. For those families with multiple cachers, you may bring more than one bison tube, but there needs to be one Christmas Cache hidden for each bison tube placed in the bowl or someone will be disappointed.
4) After the event, go find your Christmas Cache! Remember... the entire cache is yours to keep, including the container; so make sure you take everything with you after the hunt. These containers are not to be left behind or published as a regular cache.
5) Please wait to log your event attendance until you find your gift! Use your log as an opportunity to thank the cacher that provided it. You may share what your Christmas Cache contained if you like, and feel free to post pictures of the Christmas Cache, too. You can even post a picture of the hiding spot, since this is not a regular cache hide. I'll leave the event page up for a while to make sure everyone can easily log and see others' logs. People are interested, so say more than "TFTE. Found my cache." Again, don't be a grinch.
Additional Thoughts...
You can be as creative as you want in hiding your Christmas Cache. You can make it a traditional type cache, or you can make it a puzzle-cache or multi-cache to make the hunt more fun. Use your imagination!
Message me if you have any questions concerning the rules.
Thanks to LeadSinger for introducing the idea several years ago and to Carsten (carels) for relaying [to Profbrad] the idea also now several years ago. With permission, I've [Profbrad] borrowed extensively from LeadSinger’s excellent event description (GC673E0).
Community Celebration Events - 2021
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.
