When: Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm
Where: Kennydale Memorial Hall, 2424 NE 27th St, Renton, WA 98056
Everyone is invited to the party as WSGA turns ten, and the founders will blow out the birthday candles. Yep, that's right, the Puget Sound party is the Founder's Celebration! WSGA's other six chapters are having their anniversary events on Saturday, and we're hosting our party on Sunday so that folks from around the state can attend.
Birthday Presents: A proper party has gifts, so sure to get your pens and bandanas at the Gift table after signing the log at the Welcome table. Special thanks to South Coast Geocachers of Oregon for donating the buttons! We'll also have a Travel Bug Depot for exchanging TB goodies.
Snacks & Sips: Since this is an afternoon event, it's a snack-o-rama instead of a meal. Please bring your favorite party treat, sweet or savory, to share with the crowd. Will it be sweet - brownies? cookies? fruit? Or savory - salsa & chips? Veggies and dip? Spicy wings? Crab dip? The possibilities are endless. Let us know what you're bringing in your log.
WSGA will provide the drinks and birthday cake. Mrs. FugeFinder (Lynette) is baking our cake, and it should be yummy!
Activities:
- Founder GeoBingo - Get your card at the Welcome table, then find all the founders and get their signatures. Turn in your completed card to be eligible for one of three special coins!
- Anniversary Presentation - 3:00 pm
- WSGA History - a brief tour of our first 10 years.
- Volunteer Awards - recognition of Puget Sound members who have gone "above and beyond" in supporting club activities during 2011-12, presented by hydnsek and Chapter Rep mc3cats.
- The Founders - introduction of the attending WSGA founders and presentation of a special gift. Several founders will reminisce about the early days of caching and the club. Founders attending (so far): Seth!, Moun10Bike, TravisL, Bryan and Hydee (aka Rothstafari and Ddog-n-ma), lucyandrickie, LindaLu, vds, Nikan, Wienerdog, mr.toad, 6 Pack Rats.
- Birthday Cake - we'll light the candles and the founders will blow them out, followed by a sugar fix.
- GeoBingo - we'll draw the three winners from the completed bingo cards.
- Silent Auction - we'll announce who won the auction items, and you can claim your prizes.
- Photo Ops - we'll take two group photos: 1 - the founders, mimicking the original photo; 2 - current WSGA members.
Silent Auction: No ordinary raffle at this party! Instead, we're doing a silent auction of cool caching goodies. The lots will have a range of values, so everyone can participate. NepoKama is managing the auction with the help of FenChurchE and Mekle. Here's how it will work:
- Auction items will be viewable at the Auction table starting at 1:00 pm (an hour before the event starts).
- Bidding begins at 2:00 pm. Each lot will have an opening bid and minimum bump. To bid, write your caching name and price on the bid sheet for the item you want. Current high bid is the last name/amount on the sheet, so check back to see if you've been outbid. Bid early, bid often! ;) If the minimum bid is not met for an item, it will not be sold.
- Bidding closes at 4:00 pm, and winners will be announced around 4:15, as the final part of our formal presentation. You should be there to claim and pay for your lots. If not, we will contact you afterward, but if you haven't claimed your lots by Sept. 15, we will award them to the 2nd-highest bidder.
- Payment is by cash, check, or Paypal (we will have smartphone access).
Auction items: We have 15 lots for your bidding pleasure.
- Northwest Triad Collection (4) - Original Stash coin + pin (2006), Ape gold GW8 Edition (2010), Log the Lilypad, GeoTriad Award coin. Donors: hydnsek, WSGA, Groundspeak, LandSharkz.
- APE Coin Collection (5) - 2010 gold GW8 Edition; 2010 antique silver Classic Edition; 2012 bronze Ape Event Edition; Ape cachekinz; special 2012 XLE President's Edition to be revealed at event. Donor: WSGA.
- The BOX (of coins) (20+) - 2-pound mystery box of geocoins, including rarities. The coins are mostly vintage, and include a Screw, a Crake Tracking Time, possibly an Australia, and some state coins. Donor: CENT5.
- Groundspeak Vintage Lackey Coins (3) - The first three coins (2005, 2007, 2009), back when you had to receive them from a Lackey or visit HQ. Donors: Groundspeak, hydnsek.
- WSGA Vintage Coin Set (3) - 2004 Mount Rainier, 2005 Mount St Helens 25th anniversary, 2006 Member coin. Not trackable. Donors: jcar, hydnsek.
- WSGA 2010 Coin Set (3) - silver Regular Edition; gold Member Edition; antique silver Volunteer Edition. Donor: WSGA.
- WSGA 2012 Coin Set (3) - black nickel Regular Edition; satin gold Volunteer Edition; antique silver Founder Edition. Donor: WSGA.
- Avroair Coin Set (4) - GeoCoinFest Portuguese Musketeer LE; Arabian Nights, Artist Edition; 10-10-10 Multi-Event; GCC Club April 2011: Crop Circle. Donor: Avroair.
- NepoKama Coin Set (4) - Voyages of Exploration "Sunset" Set, Artist Edition, copper. Donor: Random Lunacy Productions (NepoKama and Mekle).
- Washington Geocacher Collection (5) - Personal coins from Suckerish, Princess Trouble, FluteFace, FenChurchE, NepoKama. Donors: the geocachers.
- Groundspeak Founder Explorer Tags + Pirate Tag (4) - Jeremy, Bryan, and Elias Explorer Tags; Founders Pirate Tag. Donors: Groundspeak, hydnsek.
- Oakcoins Washington Coin + Tags Set (3) - Washington Spinner coin plus Seattle-related TB tags. Donor: Oakcoins.
- DeLorme PN-60 GPS Unit - includes Topo North America maps, lanyard, manuals, rechargeable batteries. (Missing $12 USB data cable). Retails for $240 on Amazon. Donor: Puppers family.
- WSGA Starter Kit - 50cal ammo can filled with WSGA swag, including an anniversary T-shirt, cap, car decal, lanyard, pen, and 2011 geocoin. Donors: WSGA, NepoKama.
- Geocaching Starter Kit - Dr B's Newbie Kit (cache, TB, supplies), The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching book. Donor: Cache Advance (Lookout Lisa).
WSGA Puzzle Series: We are releasing a "cache art" series of 54 puzzle caches in honor of our 10th birthday. The caches spell out "WSGA" at the south end of Lake Washington, and will be published at 9:00 am on Saturday, Sept. 8 (our founding date). Props to PhilNi for managing the project, and to the 38 WSGA members who created puzzles. Thanks to mc3cats and Terrible Ts for the idea, to Tobias & Petronella for initial mapping, to jim_carson for computing coordinates, and to Rock Rabbit for managing the review process. The location scouts were PhilNi, mc3cats, and hydnsek. Well done, all!
On Sept. 8, 2002, a group of Puget Sound geocachers met to discuss forming a statewide club. They were concerned that Washington State Parks was threatening to ban geocaching, and decided to create a geocaching organization that would represent and support geocachers across Washington. Thus was born Washington State Geocaching Association. The original officers were: Seth! (president), Moun10Bike (vice president), BillP3rd (secretary), and Hydee (treasurer).
Here are the 19 founding members:
WSGA did forge an agreement with the State Parks to permit geocaching on its lands, the first of many successes in working with park systems at all levels (city, county, state, federal), culminating in the Park Liaison Program and numerous CITO activities we have today.
But it wasn't all business. Hosting social activities and creating a geocaching community was equally important, leading to countless pizza parties as well as our annual Summer Campout, Travis's cache machines, and most recently, our Going APE mega-event. (Not a member? Check out the benefits here.)
Along the way, WSGA has grown from 19 cachers in Puget Sound to seven chapters and 360 members across Washington State. Both Groundspeak and cachers from other areas cite WSGA as a model of geocaching advocacy and community support. We done good!
 This event is sponsored by the Washington State Geocaching Association. If you are a geocacher in the state of Washington, please consider joining WSGA. See the WSGA website for details. |