The Background:
From this "?" location on the map, looking westward down from the Tussey Mountain ridgeline to the expanse of JAGA-land, our 25-for-25 series has placed a pin once again on the supposed "eastern edge", much like the 20-for-20: Social Distancing (GC8PY8K) almost 20 miles south and 5 years ago has done. But don't come all the way up to the ridgetop looking for this cache (unless you want to wander down to the powerline cut for a likely fantastic view). No, this cache is hidden somewhere within a 2 mile radius, and you might just have to first solve a puzzle to find the correct coordinates.
The year 2025 is soon coming to a close, and in celebration of Christmas and the last 25th day of a month in the 25th year since 2000, this 25-for-25 cache is hiding, ready for you to discover it, sporting a silver-themed "disco ball bow" (at least it did when originally hidden). So whether you are out searching on the 25th or a few days after, or a few weeks after, remember from previous mrGreen317 Christmas caches, the 25th is just the start of the Christmas season, and you have 12 days to enjoy the Christmas season from Dec 25 to Jan 5 (regardless of what the retail outlets have on the shelves), and of course you have 365 (or 366) days to go out and find caches at any time of the year!
This Cache:
Even though there are officially 12 Days of Christmas starting on the 25th of December, many people mark off the time before Christmas with a 25-day Advent calendar similar to the one pictured. Advent is the season before Christmas which is actually observed over the 4 Sundays prior to Christmas Day, but the first 25 days of December usually make a convenient "mark off the days until Christmas" for many Advent calendars today, so we'll imagine that Holly Snowflake, the lead character in our little story has one of those hanging in the kitchen.
Holly also has a very peculiar clock in the adjoining music room at her house, but considering her fascination with music theory and love of Christmas carols (she plays them on her piano all through December and many times past the New Years well into Groundhog Day in early February), I guess her choice in timepieces fits her style. When looking at Holly's clock, even though there are no numbers on it, we know that the '1' is still in that spot 1/12th of the way around the clock's face when moving clockwise from the very topmost position, where we would normally see a 12. And we know that any two digit numbers on any clock face, such as 10, 11, and 12, can stand for the single digits that come second in those numbers, such as 0, 1, and 2 respectively.
So on the days leading up to Christmas in 2025, Holly had a list of things to accomplish, and she labeled them with letters. It was a long list, so we'll only pay attention to her first 5 and last 5 items, just to get an idea of her busy December. An excerpt of her list is reprinted here...
A: Go to the greenhouse and pick up some beautiful greenery, probably of the kind that matches my name, and make sure the leaves are frosted white and the berries are a festive red.
B: I need to be sure to practice "What Child Is This" for the Christmas concert (I love minor key music!), but I also need to add two more songs to the list...
C: My nephew asked me to make him a gingerbread house to share with his class. Got to get those ingredients and get that project started.
D: It's predicted to be cold this month, so definitely leave time on the schedule to make a snowman out front in the yard. The neighbor kids love to come and help when school is called off.
E: Work on playing Silent Night for music during the church dinner later this month (it is an annual favorite).
V: Head on over to REGENT SQUARE for the town's annual Christmas Lighting Celebration and to help sing that town's favorite carol at the countdown to flipping on the lights.
W: Little Alice, my niece, wants a hobby horse this Christmas. There is a good price at J&J Toys this month
X: I saw these really pretty white on red snowflake designs for ornaments at the Christmas Shoppe. I really should go pick some up for decorations.
Y: Work on the finale Joy to the World for the Christmas Cantata, but we must add two more shepherds to that scene at the manger, since more kids are interested in participating than first anticipated.
Z: Go to J.J.'s Tree Farm and Landscaping for one of those beautiful Christmas Trees to place in the front room this year.
While Holly likes her 25-day Advent calendar, when she is thinking about things related to Christmas music and carols, the calendar may be forgotten. In those moments, she only has time for thinking about music and that is a key thing to remember.
Whether you are as busy as Holly or not, take time to pause and reflect and enjoy this Christmas season. If you solve the puzzle and stop by the cache, be sure to grab one of the Christmas cards in envelopes (while supplies last) from in the baggie with the logbook. The 3 'E's wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Note that if the solved coordinates take you into a state game land, please wear orange during hunting season and consider all the normal precautions when hunting for caches in the game lands (such as the presence of wild animals, ticks, and thorny plants).
Your cache may be found at N 40 AB.CDE W 78 VW.XYZ
The Series:
This 25-for-25 Series was placed as a collaboration of local geocachers in the Johnstown-Altoona Geocaching Association (JAGA) area and surrounding counties. We wanted to place a series of 25 geocaches to celebrate 25 years of geocaching. We hope you enjoy the various types of hides, all across JAGA-land: Micro, Small, Regular, Large; Traditionals, Multi-Caches, Letterbox-Hybrid, Wherigo, and those pesky Mysteries. Happy 25th Birthday, Geocaching!
On May 3, 2000, Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, wanted to test the accuracy of GPS by hiding a navigational target in the woods near Beavercreek, Oregon. He called the idea the "Great American GPS Stash Hunt" and posted it in an internet GPS users' group. The idea was simple: Hide a container out in the woods and note the coordinates with a GPS unit.
The finder would then have to locate the container with only the use of his or her GPS receiver. The rules for the finder were simple: "Take some stuff, leave some stuff."
On May 3, Dave placed his own container, a black bucket, in the woods, taking the location's coordinates to be N 45 17.460 W 122 24.800. Along with a logbook and pencil, he left various prize items including videos, books, software, and a slingshot. He shared the waypoint of his "stash" with the online community on sci.geo.satellite-nav.
THE REST IS HISTORY!
(Historic text taken, mostly as-is, with minor edits, from www.geocaching.com/about/history.aspx)
Throughout the spring and summer of 2025, and also in December 2025, look for various caches of this series to publish most weekends, with a "series final cache" to conclude the series in January of 2026. That's one new JAGA-land cache for each year of geocaching's history, plus "one to grow" as geocaching enters its 26th year.
Be sure to write down or take photos of code words provided in some of the series caches (for any caches that have them) that will help you get the coordinates for the series final when it is available at the end of the series.
See the entire 25-for-25 series list at 25for25.jaga.group
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.
Acknowledgements:
Many thanks to the fellow COs on the 25-for-25 series for assisting throughout the spring and summer with all of the first 23 caches to be hidden. Thanks to our local volunteer reviewer, Keystone, for reviewing and publishing all of them as they were coming in. And of course thanks to all of you, the finders, for taking the time to go and track down the caches as you have the time and interest. Happy 25th anniversary of geocaching!
Note that the built-in geochecker is provided for changing the coordinates to the solved ones. See the third-party geochecker in the puzzle above if you want parking info, hide hints, and any necessary waypoints to help locate the cache container.
A congratulations on FTF goes to ???, ???, and ???. Happy 25th year of Geocaching and Merry Christmas! Thanks for coming out to get another cache before the year turns over to 2026.