3:15 PM to 7:45 PM
Picnic, games, prizes, and most importantly... geo-friends!
Returning for the sixth year to Shawnee State Park, Pavilion 7 - The Geo-Family Feud returns! Along with the 'Feud', some summer favorites, old and new are returning: The Wheel of Geocaching moves back from Fall to Summer, and we will do another year of our geo-version of the "Minute to Win It" type games. We may incorporate some of our past coordinate guessing games within the Minute to Win It format or as bonus games if time allows afterward, and there may be additional trivia and prize giveaways, time-dependent, as the evening comes to a close.
Probable schedule:
Before 3:00 pm: The pavilion is rented all day (and has been since February); setup will be ongoing at GZ as soon as the hosts are able to arrive, sometime between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm; enjoy the offerings of the state park if you arrive before the official start time. You might even want to track down some area geocaches if desired.
3:15 PM: Event kick off; meet and greet
3:45 PM: Food, friends, and geo-conversation; food should be available to begin enjoying between 3:15 pm and 3:45 pm and throughout the following game times (grilled food will become available as it is cooked, starting around 3:30 pm for getting the grills going).
4:30 PM: The Geo Family Feud - "Survey says!" Two teams compete to see who can think most like a geocacher based on surveys conducted of 100 geocacher responses to various questions.
Who will be the champion team this time around? We anticipate a new survey to be conducted before the event, and maybe some of our favorite past survey questions might re-surface... Who knows? Depending on interest, there will be either one game with five surveys or two separate four-survey-question games (plus a single Fast Money for the team with the highest score). We'll use the available sign-up sheet to make that decision at game time, and you may sign up as soon as 2:30 pm at the pavilion during setup.
5:15 PM: Intermission I (Game reset)
5:30 PM: Wheel of Geocaching "America's favorite game" has become a favorite for the geo-version at our Game Night events. After an appearance in the fall in 2023, "Wheel" is returning for the 2024 Summer Picnic Event. We anticipate between 3-4 contestants for this game, based on sign-ups. If demand requires, we could play two games or narrow down contestants using some toss-up style "Wheel" puzzles to work as a play-in round.
6:15 PM (or end of Wheel of Geocaching): Intermission II (Game reset)
6:30PM or 6:45 PM (when ready): "Come on down!" for The Minute to Win It games!
Several geo-caching related challenges will be presented to contestants who sign up (sign-ups can be done starting at 2:30 pm). Some might be physical in nature, such as re-rolling bison logs or interesting things regarding geocache containers, but we will have some mental challenges as well involving coordinate guessing and other fun geo-caching related trivia.
7:15 PM or 7:30 PM: When the games conclude, any final prize giveaways and drawings, potentially with trivia, could happen depending on the number still in attendance...
7:30 PM: Event conclusion and final event geo-conversation... Thanks to everyone for joining us! (The event officially ends at 7:45 pm, but we'll start tear-down at the conclusion of the games, usually before 8:00 pm, to try to beat sundown. Feel free to enjoy geo-conversations until the sun is dipping below the horizon.)
8:00 PM (or so) until 10:00 PM: Let the event organizers know of any potential "around the campfire" type events or similar that you would like mentioned in this space.
There is lots of lawn space to spread out at the pavilion site. Please bring your own lawn or camp chairs if you wish to make use of this large, relaxing space around the event coordinates.
Hot dogs and hamburgers will be provided. Soft drinks, bottled water, and individually-wrapped snack foods should also be present. If you do wish to bring food to share (not necessary to attend), there will be a table to place those items. Feel free to include that information in a "Will attend" or "Write note".
A donation "ammo can" will also be present for those that wish (certainly not a requirement) to chip in to help defray the cost of pavilion rental.
Helpful Items
Please indicate in your log the number that attend with your geo-user name, and if you are interested in partaking in hot dogs and/or hamburgers (which will help us plan).
Game-Night Information Page (at game-night.org)
As the geocache owner, I ensure that the above link is to a local geocaching group site that is active in the community and contributing to geocaching in positive ways. This link has not been checked by Geocaching HQ or by the reviewer.
Stay tuned! Announcements on this page will be used to communicate any updates or changes to the schedule. If you are "will attended" on this event, these announcements and updates should come to your email via geocaching.com
We are looking forward to sharing more Game Night fun with our geo friends and neighbors this summer!
If you can't stay for the entire event, feel free to drop in as you are able, considering the schedule posted above. If updates to the schedule are made as the event draws near, announcements will be made on this geocaching event listing to serve as alerts to these changes.
Driving to the event: Please see the waypoints on this event cache listing (if needed) for helpful navigation points to enter the roads of the state park where the event will be held. Please note the posted speed limits on roads within the park, none of which are likely above 25 mph. The hint will provide the specific location within the park by name. See this page for maps of the park.
For more information about the park, such as camping, hiking, or fishing opportunities, please see the main park page.
