Where: Outside @ Colonel Palmer House, 5516 Terra Cotta Rd, Crystal Lake, IL
When: Saturday, 9/18/21, 8:00am -10:00am
Come celebrate the 20th1 Anniversary of Geocaching and the 100-year Anniversary of the Crystal Lake Park District (CLPD).
I first became aware of geocaching in 2013 after reading about it in a CLPD publication. After further research followed by the purchase of a Garmin eTrex30 handheld GPS unit (which I still use), my neighbor and dear friend messi#10 and I began our geocaching adventures. The following year, I wrote an article for our local newspaper...below is a short excerpt that still resonates with me today:
"So why geocaching? It's about the hunt. It's about the stories, about making connections with people and places. Maybe it's the adventure diary and stats bank online that allows you to track your activity. Some will tell you it's not about the numbers. For others, it's all about the numbers. It's about discovering places you never knew existed, or watching your trackable move from cache to cache starting in Crystal Lake then to Mexico and onto Sachsen, Germany where it awaits its next pickup. Maybe it's learning a new trick and honing your puzzle-solving skills. Or maybe it's just about meeting the Challenge and getting that cool coin! Whatever the reason, the journey to discovering the cache can be quite entertaining, educational and even challenging...and it's a good excuse to get outside with family & friends."
Did Someone Say Free Food???
Mmm...campfire breakfast! John Fiorina, CLPD Manager of Natural Resources & Interpretive Service, has been kind enough to offer his talents in demonstrating a variety of outdoor cooking techniques over open fire such as the use of dutch oven and clay oven.
Details:
- Free Hot Breakfast provided. Please indicate the number of people coming in your "Will Attend" log to ensure enough food is available.
- Free copy of John's recipe booklet referencing this Community Celebration Event.
- Door prizes (must be present to win): various telescopic, magnetic, lighted TOTTs; ammo cans; bisons; "Celebrating 20 Years of Geocaching Trackable Tags; Puzzle Solving XL Travel Tag; Geocaching 10-in-1 Card Tool; etc.
- Earn the new Community Celebration icon & souvenir.
- Bring your lawn chair or blanket to spread on the grass - we will gather outside.
- Tours of the Colonel Palmer House will be available.
- Restroom onsite.
- Group photo at about 9:30, immediately followed by door prize drawings.
- [Planning is underway; adjustments will be made as necessary to comply with any COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that may be in place at the time of this event.]
Parking:
- Driveway entrance is located on the northwest side of building off Terra Cotta Rd & parking will be in the grassy area to the north of the driveway exit. Additional Parking is available in the Cosmetology Academy, et al., parking lot immediately to the east off Rt. 176 where you can park & then walk through the grass over to the Colonel Palmer House without crossing any streets.
Community Celebration Events 2020-2022
This Event is part of a limited release of Community Celebration Events to celebrate 20 years of geocaching. Geocachers hosted events between May 2, 2020 and December 31, 2022. Learn more about Community Celebration Events on the Geocaching Blog.
1Actually 20 + 1 years. This event was originally scheduled for 6/27/20 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2020. Geocaching HQ extended the timeframe for hosting these special events by 2 years.