[GeoStL] Re: Curious and I am sure controversial (MOGA story)
- From: Dan Henke <thunder_monk@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 21:08:39 -0800 (PST)
-
Jeff,
I am glad that MIGC and MOGA were a great experience for you and I know that
I have enjoyed meeting and getting to know you as well but these huge type
events are definetly NOT for everyone and while I encourage people to get out
and attend them I can also understand why they don't. My first experience with
other cachers and an event was a much smaller "picnic" which took place at
Barramus' house ...I had possibly 5 or 6 caches at the time and was very new
to using a GPS....Here I met some very interesting people that went with names
I was seeing on cache logs and who have since become friends. People like
BruceS (My kids thought I was obsessed with caching till they met him and
others and this was before he had found his first 1000), RGS, konopapw,
Strider, Barramus, Myotis and Ma and Pa and many others ...I became hooked on
caching by experiencing it through the eyes of others. So I understand what
you are saying but there are times even when working on the M
OGA
events that I got tired of hearing about it. We who work on or really enjoy
these type of events sometimes get carried away and just can't understand why
others don't.
By the way thanks for reposting your story...I remember reading and enjoying
it the first time and the deja vu was a nice reminder of events of the past.
Jeff the Blue Bead Man <bluebeadman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: -
Jen and others- I know that this newsgroup is watched by very active experi=
enced cachers. While most of us really enjoy MOGA and work very hard for i=
ts success, some of the cachers who subscribe to this newsgroup are tired o=
f constantly hearing about MOGA. I can, and do, understand their frustrati=
on. Honestly, no one wants to irritate and annoy anybody else=E2=80=94real=
ly! But I think this newsgroup is the ideal place to talk about and build =
up this event. Mike had a very good point a few days back about some inact=
ive cachers. Some of these cachers wrote about =E2=80=9Chaving an awesome =
time=E2=80=9D and that they were =E2=80=9Chooked on the sport.=E2=80=9D Un=
fortunately, many of those cachers stopped caching, or at least took a VERY=
long hiatus, soon after typing up their logs. I am sure there are a varie=
ty of reasons why they stopped caching. I would bet that one of the top re=
asons involves the frustration experienced when one cannot find a cache. I=
t can be embarrassing, frustrating, and downright no fun to look for and fa=
il to find a cache. Of course, we all know that=E2=80=94it happens to all =
of us. But I think that what separates a cacher with lots of finds from so=
meone who finds 22 and then quits is how we handle that =E2=80=9Cno find=E2=
=80=9D situation. I love caching by myself at times. Most of my finds are=
solo finds, but I feel more comfortable knowing that if I cannot find a ca=
che, then I can make a call to Strider or Lancelot or a host of other SLAGA=
folks and get a helpful hint. How does one make those types of connection=
s? Well, attending and socializing at an event like MOGA is one of the key=
s. Heck, just finding SLAGA and the website is a major step, but then we a=
ll know that.
At the risk of annoying even more people, I am posting a story I wrote abou=
t a year ago. It=E2=80=99s in the newsgroup archives=E2=80=94somewhere in =
the March 2005 listing=E2=80=94but I think it is appropriate to dust it off=
, update it, and post it again. I apologize in advance if it annoys anyone=
=E2=80=94that is really not my purpose. It was originally written to answe=
r one of Nancy=E2=80=99s (tklnhl & kyd) questions about last year=E2=80=99s=
MOGA event. She wanted to know stories about the 2004 event at Hawn. Her=
e was my answer: =20
Here's my "MOGA" story from Hawn and I'm sticking to it. :-)
As you know, I started caching back in Feb, 2004 at your "Generally a Cache=
Here-Now" cache at the Gen. Bissell House. What you might or might not kn=
ow is that my 2nd (or maybe 3rd) cache was the older Tanglewood cache by Is=
land-Dave. That older Tanglewood cache directly led me to SLAGA. I rememb=
er I wrote on my gc.com log something like this: "I wonder if there is a St=
. Louis Geocacher's Association. I'll have to check it out." After I fini=
shed typing up that log, I googled for SLAGA. Sure enough, I found the www=
.geostl.com web site. Now this was just a month before last year's Hawn ev=
ent, and the web site really promoted the event well--just like it is doing=
this year. I decided to go despite the fact that names like Brawny Bear, =
Bridge with a T, RGS, Strider, Thunder Monk, and Myotis were simply just ca=
ching names to me. I knew NO ONE associated with the sport. I was a bit i=
ntimidated to think that I might be "competing" against all these experienc=
ed folks. I didn't want to make a fool out of myself. So I registered for=
the event with some hesitation. To my surprise, Hawn State Park still had=
a few camping vacanies. I doubt it will be that way this year at Meramec.=
(2006 edit: now at Pere Marquette) Ok, I would go and camp out in my truc=
k--I thought it would be too cold to stay in a tent and it would only be a =
night or two. I was all set and ready to go.
The big night arrived and I had trouble getting to the park. I didn't arri=
ve until the next morning--nuts! I thought I would miss something good. W=
ell, it couldn't be helped so I got up VERY early on Saturday morning and d=
rove to Hawn. I got there in time to check-in for the competition and get =
my packet. Because I registered very late, I did not have a registration p=
acket waiting for me. The SLAGA folks were VERY helpful and pulled togethe=
r all of the essential stuff. I found my "camping" site and set up everyth=
ing I needed for the day. Then I wandered off to go find the competition. =
Well, my last minute packet didn't have EVERYTHING I needed. I figured on=
e area was the starting location and it turned out to just be the main dini=
ng area. I still had to climb this MAJOR hill just to get to the starting =
location. NUTS!!! I remember thinking to myself "Do I go home now or what?=
I'm not even going to get to START on time because I can't find the start=
ing line WITH my GPS!" Well, to make a LONG story shorter, I stuck around =
long enough to climb the hill where I met Tim of Tim, Pam, and Molly, Rich =
who was RGS, and Bridget, the famed Bridge with a T. They gladly fixed me =
up with a start time and even some much needed help. I kept thinking that =
I looked like a fool, yet they kept offering help. "Creating and using way=
points? Easy...Here's how." Maybe this would be good after all.
My starting time arrived for the course. I received my first waypoint and =
away I went--off into the wilderness. At the first waypoint, I met GEO*Tra=
ilblazer1 (from Southern Missouri) and Phantom491 (from Arkansas). We exch=
anged hellos and then we departed somewhat seperately. I started to hunt w=
aypoint #2. Now understand, this is one point which will be different this=
year at Meramec(2006 edit: And very different this year at Pere Marquette)=
. Last year's (2004) course was linear--that is, you found the first point=
and then moved to the second waypoint and so on. Meramec (and Pere Marque=
tte) is NOT set up that way. So GEO*Trailblazer1, Phantom491, and myself a=
ll converged on the second waypoint at more or less the same time. At that=
point, we decided to hunt the course as a team. That was the end of the I=
NDIVIDUAL competition for me. For the rest of the weekend, I was part of t=
he "A Team." We called ourselves the "A Team" because we were working on t=
he A Course and we were operating as a team. Now, some of the best memorie=
s I have of Hawn were being a part of that team. I would HIGHLY recommend =
anyone thinking of doing the courses to think about getting a team together=
. Group caching is ALWAYS a blast, and depending on how your team is set u=
p, the team approach can make mincemeat out of any course.
The individual competition was held in the morning. Couples and "real" tea=
ms competed in the afternoon. Well, since I really didn't know anyone befo=
re the competition, I didn't set up or join any "official" team. Instead, =
I went caching for the event caches on Saturday afternoon. I got deep in t=
he park looking for some of the event caches and I run into a group of geoc=
achers! It turned out to be just most (not all!) of the "MOGA" event staff=
. They were, uh, hmmm, uh, course monitoring--yea, yea, that's the ticket.=
Of course, if their course monitoring duties just happened to take them b=
y an event cache, well then, they might as well log it. I think their cour=
se monitoring duties took them by oh, say, maybe half of the event caches. =
We didn't even see one single competitor during that whole time. Well, ok=
, I WAS a competitor, but I was not competing at the time. I guess I COULD=
name names but I wouldn't. I think I would get shot if I did! LOL! Besi=
des, this is one of the things that got changed for this year's event: staf=
f are NOT allowed to hunt event caches DURING the event. But the greatest =
point of this story was the connections I made with LOTS of SLAGA folks. T=
hese were the movers and shakers of the association. The people you read a=
bout and hear about. They are the names on the newsgroup, on the top of th=
e cache pages as cache owners, on the bottom of the cache pages as cache fi=
nders. They set up the events. They return your phone calls and email mes=
sages AND give you hints about finding any particular cache. These were, a=
nd are, good people to know. I gained SO MUCH information from these peopl=
e that I immediately knew that I would be a part of this year's staff. I k=
new I would get back to St. Louis and go nuts with this sport. I knew I wa=
s hooked.
I got back from the event on a geocaching high. Some people may say I neve=
r came down from that high. My students think I'm nuts. Well, whatever. =
It was fun weekend. I look back at that moment on that Saturday morning wh=
en I thought about leaving and I cringe. I would have missed out on quite =
a bit. I would have missed an entire year (now a couple years) of fun. I =
would have missed making new friends and connections. I would have missed =
out on seeing some places I never knew existed. I would have missed out on=
the opportunity to become involved in this sport. Certainly, I could have=
attended a different event and experienced the same rush and could have be=
come just as involved as I am now, but for me, the event WAS the MOGA-type =
event last year at Hawn. So the event was special to me.
I dunno know--maybe I'm just way too sappy and sentimental, but as I help p=
lan and work on this year's event, I keep hoping that this event will spark=
just SOME of the emotion, some of the excitement, some of the passion, for=
some of the cachers who attend the event just like it did for me last year=
(2004). I guess time will tell if it will or not, but I HOPE it will! Un=
til then, I keep on working to try to make it a success. (2006 note: Time=
has proven that MOGA 2005 was a success. At least four staff members were=
participants last year at Meramec and decided it was so much fun that they=
decided to step up and help staff the event this year!)
Now, for anyone thinking about attending MOGA, here are some things I would=
encourage you to do:
1) DO IT!!! Plan to attend--even if you can only attend for part of one day=
! I was nervous and scared and knew NOBODY when I decided to attend last y=
ear. I left with LOTS of new friends and GREAT memories.
REMEMBER: Every cache is loggable and YOU DO NOT need to compete to hunt an=
d log the caches!
2) Register early--to insure you get ALL the stuff coming to you. T-shirts=
, lanyards, starting locations... :-) It is WELL WORTH the admission price=
...
3) Reserve your camping site, cabin, or hotel room--the park will be packed=
with people. If not with geocachers, then with campers and other guests. =
Think spring: red buds and pink dogwoods in bloom again. Everyone, not j=
ust geocachers, will want to see the earth's grand yearly reawakening.
4) Bring your friends, relatives, and spouses--Work as a team if possible. =
You will learn something about them you never knew--trust me--you will!
5) Get involved--say hi to everyone you meet! You'll leave with so many fr=
iends and connections--wow! There will be GPS and geocaching educational w=
orkshops on Sunday morning. There WILL be Cracker barrels both Friday and =
Saturday nights. Everyone is invited to attend those...AND join one of the=
groups to do the event caches--it will be a blast if you do!
6) And the most important: HAVE FUN!!! This WILL be a great experience fo=
r you and those around you. Leave your troubles back at home for the weeke=
nd, and let yourself go for the fun of it. You will have the time of your =
life!
Ok, I've rambled on long enough. I have just one more thing to say to ALL =
of you (besides "Thank you for reading such a LONG message"):
SEE YOU AT MOGA 2006 at PERE MARQUETTE STATE PARK!!!
-Jeff, the Blue Bead Man
-Jeff, the Blue Bead Man
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