Update 3/9/24:
The 10Th Metro Mega event Pre registration STORE is now open! Supplies are limited so please pre order. See you for another fun mega event!
metrogathering.org
Come join the entire New Jersey Geocaching community on 6/15/24 as The Northern New Jersey Cachers, NNJC and Central Jersey Cachers. CJC, hosts the 10th annual Metro Gathering Event.
This year the Mega event celebrates the "Tree of Life” with interconnections of strength, growth and friendship that has been made over the past nine years, and enjoyed by the entire the geocaching community.
The day of the event will feature Lab Caches with props from the past Mega themes of Halloween, Witches, Pirates, American Revolution, and others. The 2024 event coin(s) will feature the "Tree of Life"!
The "Golden Ticket" and "Capture" promotions will start in early 2024. In keeping with the "Tree of Life” theme we will feature very cool "Green Man” of the forest tags and coins!
The 2024 Metro Mega event will be our 10th and final Mega event.
Our first mega event was in 2014 in Union county, we received the mega status and had 4 months to plan the event. We did scramble! We then moved to a larger venue at NJ State’s Waterloo Village which gave us more room to roam, it ran there for for 5 years. In 2021 we moved to the beautiful and historic Middlesex Counties East Jersey Old Town.
The 2023 Mega event theme will showcase " Celebrating 10 years of the Metro Gathering ". Since this will be our last Metro Mega event we want to bring back some of the previous 9 years of our creative themes. In developing these Mega events we have taken pride to offer exciting theme experiences by creating caches and adventure labs around these themes for everyone to enjoy.
The past Mega event themes were always very fun and creative, starting with the original Metro Gathering, Canal Town at Waterloo Village Historic Site, Spooky Haunted Village, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Haunted Village, Witches of Salem, Pirates of Port Royale, American Revolution, Spies, and recently the Postcards of New Jersey.
2024 Metro Gathering - Celebrating 10 years outlined below
2014 Metro Gathering Event
2014 started the new Metro Gathering event as Geocachers from the NY-NJ Metro area and beyond joined our Mega event at Warinanco Park, Roselle, NJ for what is officially the area's first MEGA Event.
2015 Waterloo Village Historic Site
2015 Waterloo Village Historic Site was a wonderful location bringing history and the outdoors together. This 19th century restored canal town located in Byram Township, Sussex County, New Jersey contains a working mill complex with gristmills and sawmills, A church, a general store, blacksmith shop and many other historic buildings. Waterloo Village was also once a prosperous Morris canal town with a bustling port. Waterloo Village Historic Site is also home to the 400 year old Lenape (Delaware) Indian Village.
2016 Spooky Haunted Village
2016 Metro gathering a spooky Haunted Village Theme! Getting into the Halloween Spirit we walked among the jack-o-lanterns, Ghosts and Goblins, as the spooky deserted old Waterloo village came alive for All Hollows Eve! There was lots of spooky things roaming the haunted village, many came in costume, carved a jack-o-lantern and perhaps they found the resident ghosts!
2017 "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
2017 Metro gathering saw the "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" Theme come alive! We got into the Halloween Spirit, walked among the jack-o-lanterns, Ghosts and Goblins, as the spooky deserted old village came alive for All Hollows Eve weekend! Ichabod Crane traveled through the Sleepy Hollow settlement and we had to beware of the Headless Horseman for which each Halloween night he rises as a malevolent ghost, furiously seeking his lost head.
2018 "The Witches of Salem" Event
2018 Metro gathering "The Witches of Salem" Theme! We got into the Halloween Spirit again and walk among the jack-o-lanterns, Ghosts and Goblins, as the spooky deserted old village came alive with many Witches!
2019 "The Pirates of Port Royale"
2019 "The Pirates of Port Royale" Theme! We got into the swatch buckling Pirate Spirit and walked among the Buccaneers, Pirate crew and merchants as the old village came alive as a thriving Pirate town. We even had a Geocaching Wedding celebrated at the event! "Arrr I Do" said the groom!
2021 "Crossroads of the American Revolution"
2021 we embrace New Jersey’s American Revolutionary War history as New Jersey is called the "Crossroads of the American Revolution", because it held a key geographical position at the center of the new nation. George Washington and the armies were in or crossing it throughout the war. NJ was heavily involved in the fighting, due to the troop movements through the state, and its key geographic position between New York City and Philadelphia.
2022 "Washington's Spies"
2022 we continued to develop New Jersey’s American Revolutionary War Theme with "Washington's Spies". Throughout the Revolutionary War Washington's Spies were important to the patriots cause against the British which made a dramatic difference in the founding of America.
2023" Greetings from New Jersey: A Postcard journey of the Garden State"
The 2023 Mega event theme showcased New Jersey’s heritage with "Greetings from New Jersey: A Postcard journey of the Garden State". The state is featured with many national and state parks, historical sites, resorts, museums, harbor towns, entertainment spots like the Jersey shore and Atlantic City. There are also some amazing Weird NJ stories out there, so lets take a postcard journey across the Garden State!
The 2024 Metro Gathering will hold the event at East Jersey Old Town Village. This village is a collection of historic structures that were relocated to Johnson Park in Piscataway. The village is comprised of sixteen reconstructed and replica 18th and 19th century structures that represent architecture typical of farm and merchant communities once found in the Raritan Valley.
Visitors today can explore the site and meet the historical interpreters that bring the Village to life through their historic trades and crafts. A gateway site for the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area, situated along the Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail, the Village offers award winning exhibits, living history, and seasonal programs.
Geocachers have attended the previous Metro Gathering event from all over the United States, Canada and many international geocachers! Come and Gather in this Metro area with all the local Geocaching clubs from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and the Mid Atlantic States.
Metro Gathering Event Mega ~ Location:
East Jersey Old Town, 1050 River Rd, Piscataway, NJ 08854-5645
Date: Saturday, June 15, 2024
Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm
NNJC is about promoting a quality caching experience in
Northern New Jersey.
NNJC.ORG, Metrogathering.org, njpatriots.org