2022 Fall Picnic
2022 SLAGA Christmas Party
Bellefontaine CITO November 2022
Cachemas 2022 Bonus Day
SLAGA at GeoWoodstock 2023
2024 SLAGA Spring Picnic
2025 New Year's Day Hike, Fort Bellefontaine
Cachetur 101 Class - March 2025
2025 Winter Potluck
2025 Spring Picnic
2025 Spring Picnic
2025 GigaStock in Morgantown WV
2025 GeoWoodstock, Morgantown, WV
SLAGA at Ted Drewes 2025
2025 Christmas Event
2026 NYD Hike
Crazy Beards!
2026 Winter Potluck
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- Written by Terri Nealon
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Santa Cachemas got a Christmas gift too! SLAGA's very own VP, Geokid12 (Robert Klemme), is the winner of the December 2023 Adventure Awaits challenge! The officers had to laugh, during their monthly meeting, when the random number generator happened to draw Robert's number. Obviously the task of qualifying was easy enough for him given his 12 Days of Cachemas duties, since nine of the caches were hidden by elves, so he was able to find them along with other geocachers this past month.
As a SLAGA officer, Robert feels that it's good to set an example by participating in the monthly challenge, and as one of the brains behind Adventure Awaits, he also believes it's a great way to drive community engagement within SLAGA. Besides Cachemas caches, Robert chose the SLAGA Christmas party event as an entry because he felt it thematically tied into the December qualifications. His entries were:
GCADHZ6 Day 6 - 2023 Cachemas in STL
GCAE56C Day 7 - 2023 Cachemas in STL
GCAEBQV Day 8 - 2023 Cachemas in STL
*GCAFWP9 SLAGA-land Christmas Bash. Event*
If you've ever wondered how a geocacher chooses their caching name, here's Geokid12's back story. In 2007, when Robert was just 12 years old, he was introduced to geocaching on a Boy Scout troop outing at Whitecliff Park. He was enthralled by entering coordinates into a Garmen eTrex Legend, then being able to hunt and find a cache container at ground zero. So he bought his own eTrex, decided he'd register with GC.com and chose the username Geokid12, since he was a 12 year old kid who was now a 'Geo'cacher too.
Young Robert didn't start off as an avid cacher though, due to his schooling, scouting, non-driving lifestyle, followed by intense college studies. But once he graduated all that changed. His 575-day caching hiatus (Aug 2014 - Feb 2016) and only 400 total finds would soon be a thing of the past.
Starting in 2017, as a driving, employed young man, Robert got back into geocaching and became involved socially in SLAGA, which was a huge geocaching motivator. Since then he hasn't stopped. To date, he has over 10,800 finds and is working on conquering that 575 no-find streak of his with an even greater find streak. Adventure definitely awaits Robert on his geocaching quest!
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- Written by Terri Nealon
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The bi-monthly publication of the FTF Geocachers Magazine is enjoyed by thousands of geocahers as it is a forum to share their stories, photos, advice, milestones, and more. Our SLAGA VP, vorlon40 (John Layman), was surprised when he received his copy, which was a special 'Golden Seal' trackable edition! John was honored because he was one of the few drawing winners of the past edition's "Were You Puzzled?" contest called, 'Catsup or Mustard." "It was cool that it was close to home and one I had visited," said John.
In addition to John's accolade, both PaulGracie (Paul Williams) and TerriBikes+ (Terri Nealon), the SLAGA reporter/article writer, were also thrilled to see their names in print. Terri's August 11,2023 article, which has been viewed nearly 800 times, entitled, "Bike 'Across America' - PaulGracie's Adventure," was chosen as a Feature Story in the same FTF Geocachers Magazine as vorlon40's win! "It's exciting to see that Paul's adventure could now reach geocachers worldwide, and I'm psyched to be a 'published' feature story writer in the magazine," commented Terri. When Paul was asked how he feels about his article in the FTF Geocachers Magazine, he exclaimed, "It's cool...I'm famous now!"
If you subscribe to the magazine, you'll notice your local cachers being honored in the edition. Kudos to all three SLAGA members!
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- Written by Terri Nealon
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OCTOBER 2023 WINNER - ROUSEABOUTS
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- Written by Terri Nealon
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It's no secret that Missouri and Illinois have many pesky critters! These include nasty mosquitoes, black widow and brown recluse spiders, chiggers, the venomous snakes - copperhead, cottonmouth and timber rattlesnake, stingers like hornets, yellow jackets and wasps (bees are our friends), fire ants, and rarely a black bear, cougar or wolf, but maybe the worst of all -- the TICK! Ticks are blood-sucking parasites related to spiders and mites. They are arachnids, not insects. Missouri and Illinois have a few varieties such as the Lone Star, American Dog, Brown Dog, and Blacklegged (Deer) Ticks. Adults range from 1/4 to 3/8 inch in size and the newly hatched are known as seed ticks and can be as tiny as a pencil 'dot.'
Many ticks carry and transfer different types of diseases. Lyme or lyme-like disease is one many have heard about, but other tick-borne diseases are Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ehrlichiosis, Tularemia, Heartland Virus, Bourbon Virus, Southern Tick-associated rash illness, Alpha-gal Syndrome (red-meat allergy) and a newly identified disease in 2023 known as Babesiosis. Anytime temperatures are above freezing (March through November) is an active 'season' for ticks, especially in tall grasses, leaf litter and wooded places, but your own backyard can be a haven as well. As a matter of fact, nearly 75% of reported Lyme disease cases, are from bites that occurred in people's own yards.
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- Written by David DeWitt
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St. Louis County Park Ranger Earns National Recognition
We are happy to announce that St. Louis County Parks Ranger Laura MacLeod received the award for Ranger of the Year from the Park Ranger Institute. This national award recognizes an individual who exemplifies all the personal and professional traits necessary to carry out their duties in the most efficient and effective manner possible. This can include work production, arrests/citations, voluntary overtime, program development, community relation efforts and education efforts with school groups, scouts, disadvantaged youth, elderly.
"Ranger MacLeod is a Ranger who is an avid programmer with both geo tracking, spelunking and equestrian programs. Ranger Macleod does an excellent job when interacting with the children involved in programs and is constantly making herself available to groups both inside and outside the park system,” said Deputy Commander Richard Banahan. “The St. Louis County Park Rangers are extremely proud of this national award.”
Ranger Macleod also coordinates outdoor scouting opportunities and the Junior Ranger program. Ranger Macleod has been with the department since 2011.
For over 50 years the St. Louis County Park Rangers have provided public safety for visitors to the parks in our system. The main goals of the Ranger division are public relations, programming and protection.
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- Written by Terri Nealon
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The calm brush of the autumn breeze, with the scent of a bonfire burning and the glow of the embers rising, invited the smiles and laughter of geocachers gathered 'round the fire ring at the Halloween Bash on October 21st.
Hosted by TerriBikes+ and StaceyBassoon, the Bash, with over 40 attendees, was filled with shared caching memories, friendships old and new, and tasty food and snacks. Some new 'scary' caches in the park, a few decorations, some creative costumes, a few lit jack-o-lanterns, and anticipation of event and Grave Hop awards, added to the fun and spirit of this Halloween event! Hot chocolate and s'mores didn't hurt either.
Costume winners of the night:
*1st - Curious GEOrge 3, "Doc Brown" (Back to the Future), in his white lab coat and wild hair, with radioactive gloves and a geobox of glowing 'plutonium pops.'
*2nd - Korriaan adorned head to toe in her perfect buccaneer attire, which included a vulture, because "good pirates have vultures and only bad pirates have parrots."
*3rd - JamrokShake in a terrific throw-back waitress costume from "Happy Days Arnold's Drive-In."
*Special Kid/Parent Team Costume Award was presented early to Chezna and son for their awesome James Bond "Octopussy" portrayal.
Jack-O-Lantern winners of the night:
*Grand Prize Geocaching-Themed went to The Mad Chef, with his strobe-lighted "AMERICAN MoGA SToRY" carving.
*1st Traditional Halloween - Curious GEOrge 3 for his haggard old woman holding a crystal ball jack-o-lantern.
*2nd Traditional Halloween - paulgracie with his blood drooling 'jack.'
Event prize winners and all who dressed in costume, were rewarded with their choice of geocaching or Halloween-type gifts and items from the prize table. After the Halloween Bash awards were distributed, the Grave Hop hosts, L Frank and Denmother, arrived with results of the earlier competition and thrilled teams with their scores and awards, as well.
As the night air cooled and the fire died down, content geocachers began to depart, leaving behind just the glow of embers and the memory of a happy time. With thanksgiving for all who attended and especially for the kindness and assistance provided by StaceyBassoon, How-D, spiritwolf922, and The Mad Chef, this author ended the day with a smile and warm heart.
Curious GEORGE Korriaan Jamrock Shake
The Mad Chef, PaulGracie and Curious GEOrge Tick Magnet TerriBikes+ and StaceyBassoon
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