It gets bigger and better every year and 2015 will see us expend the effort by joining forces with a number of locally active environmental organizations in what will surely be the largest city parks and Fox River shoreline clean-up to date! Along with the WGA sponsorship of this year's CITO, we will also be teaming with Friends of the Fox, Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway, Sculpture Valley, Fox Valley Group of Sierra Club, and the City of Appleton. Our 9th Annual Appleton CITO event will be headquartered at Peabody Park this year with clean-up beginning at 9:00am Saturday morning. Around noon we'll regroup for potluck and geocaching related stuff. Participating organizations will also be present and it will be a great opportunity to introduce them to our sport and demonstrate our commitment to not only hiding trash in the woods but fining it and taking it out as well.
Friends of the Fox looks at the complete picture of the river and the people who live and work on her banks, advocating for responsible use, responsible re-development, preservation of both culture and natural resources, and striving to bring the many individuals along the system together to form one community of Fox River advocates. Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers and their history coving the Rox and Wisconsin River's vast expanse across Wisconsin diagonally from Green Bay, through Portage, to Prairie du Chien. The Fox Valley Group of Sierra Club is a regional unit of The Sierra Club in northeastern Wisconsin. It is now the nation's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust is a non-profit land conservation organization, working with families in 12 counties to preserve lands that protect our waters, landscapes and natural habitats for this and future generations. Sculpture Valley is a nonprofit organization fostering creativity and art excellence is presently working to preserve and enhance our existing public art. Fox River Environmental Education Alliance, Inc, based on the former Monte Alverno property along the Fox River, provides resources for the promotion of environmental education through outdoor recreational activities, programs and classes as well as facility and meeting space rentals.
Arrival
When you arrive at Peabody be sure to check in at the WGA table and fill out the customery waiver forms for your group. Alternately, you can print Adult and Youth forms as needed and bring completed versions with you. We will have a simple log-in sheet available when you arrive to sign your team in, and as we did last year, we will post a large Appleton Overview map with designated clean zones. Pick a zone and sign your team in there as well. Don't show up late, as the free coffee and cookies go pretty quickly.
Schedule
8:30am Sign-in & Waiver forms, Coffee & Cookies
9:00am Shoreline Teams and Zone Assignments, Supplies Distribution, Clean-up Begins
12:00pm Regroup, Lunch at the Pavillion
1:00pm Group Picture, Strangest Trash Award, Door Prizes.
1:30pm Geocaching 101 Class, Watercraft Race
2:00pm Final Trash Pick-up, Cleanup Ends
Shoreline Crew
New this year, a team shoreline clean-up effort that will join adventurous geocachers with adventurous canoe and boat captains. These pairings will work in tandem to clean the significant flotsam that collects along the water's edge, the most significant and unsightly debris we can address! Interested individuals will need to bring waders and hip boots as well as any light duty rakes you may have. We haven't worked out the specifics of the collection process but will before the event.
Trash Collection & Pick-up
Zone leaders will help me get the collected and sorted trash and recyclables to the proper receptacles. Locations of trash and recycling dumpsters are plotted on the map. A note on recycling: Please sort only the stuff that is easily recognizable and not too far deteriorated into recycle bags. When in doubt, trash it. PLEASE use extra caution if you are working along the riverbank, it's no beach and many areas are deep and treacherous. Let your tools do the work.
Parking, Facilities and Water
Parking may be a challenge so be patient and courteous. The pavilion is reserved, but depening on weather, access to the restrooms may be restricted. If that's the case, porta-potties and wash stations will be provided. Base camp at Peabody will remain open for water and supplies. Potable water will be provided to take with you on the trail in the form of recycled sport bottles. We will supply several dozen washed and pre-filled water bottles for those in need. You can keep the bottles after the event or let us use them again next year.
Strangest Trash
We will once again have our annual "Strangest Trash" contest, as well as some other giveaways and other sundry surprises. Anyone interested in donating items to the cause, feel free to PM me. We will extent this contest to all participants from all participating organizations!
Potluck
We'll have our potluck lunch before you head out for the rest of your day. If you bring potluck, you partake in potluck, so please bring something. The following potluck system will be used to mix up the choices to bring. First character of your Geocaching Nickname:
A-H- Chips, Crackers, Snackies, etc.
I-P- Desserts or Sweets
Q-Z- Salads, Veggies, Fruit, etc.
Numbers & Symbols - Choose Any!
Green Gecko grocer and deli is donating brats, dogs, buns and coffee to the effort. We thank them immensely for their continued support. We will have a grill fired up for lunch and you're welcome to bring your own grillables if desired. Brats and hotdogs will be free to all participants of the trash clean-up effort. Donations accepted and encouraged :)
Equipment to Bring
- Gloves
- Walking stick, poking apparatus, "grabber". These devices work well for picking up trash.
- Shoes / boots that can get muddy
- A friend who wants to learn about geocaching, having fun, cleaning up parks, meeting new people, etc.
- A dish to pass, based on nickname.
- ADDITIONALLY if you intend to participate in shoreline clean-up efforts, bring your waders, hip boots and any easily manageable rakes. The small head gardening variety should work well. We will attempt to secure a number of them for the day. You may wish to bring a change of clothes, in case.... I know someone will end up in the water and need them!
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Don't forget to add this cache page to your watchlist to keep up to date on who's coming and any relevant notes that are posted. An attempt was made to expand the period of eligibility for the 2015 CITO Souvenir. Officially, those attending CITO Events between April 25th and April 26th will earn a 2015 CITO Souvenir for their Geocaching profile. However, if you attend this event, we are granting permission to log a second "Attended" log on the 25th if you feel strongly about having earned that badge for your profile, at which point you can change your log on the 18th to a "write note".
For more information and images from past Appleton CITO events, please check out the following cache pages:
A special thanks goes out to Tim McGuire and Dean Gazza at the Appleton Parks and Recreation Department for allowing us to return for our 9th year and not only use of the Park's pavilion but provide optional stations in the event of cold weather. We thank you heartily for your continued support of geocaching in Appleton. A huge thanks goes out to all of the participating organizations for answering the call and making this partnership all about the goal of creating cleaner parks and cleaner waters in and along our beloved Fox River!