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Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: May 18 2017

Last Updated: May 18 2017

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                While it’s always a great time to practice CITO (Cache In, Trash Out), April brings with it lots of opportunities with Earth Day and Groundspeak’s practice of issuing a special souvenir for attending and participating in special CITO events.  This year, there were three CITO events in the St. Louis area:  two hosted by brantole and one hosted by Hobbit Taz.

                The first one scheduled, Spring Cleaning at Fort Belle Fontaine, was held at…, well, Fort Belle Fontaine in north St. Louis.  It was attended by about two dozen volunteers, cachers and non-cachers alike.  In addition to providing water and snacks for the workers, brantole also held a drawing with a CITO coin for the prize.  BaldEagle45 was the lucky winner and received his coin by mail within a few days.

                The second CITO, Spring Cleaning at Columbia Bottom, was held at – you guessed it! – Columbia Bottom Conservation Area.  Sixteen volunteers posted their “Attended” logs for this CITO, which was cosponsored by The Missouri Department of Conservation.  MDC provided equipment to aid in the cleaning up of trash and debris left by floodwaters.  As an additional incentive, they also provided lunch, consisting of sausage and chicken jambalaya, Dutch oven veggies, a pear cobbler and a giant cookie.

                For this event, brantole drew CuriousGEOrge3’s name as the winner for the CITO coin.  Two other names had been drawn previously, but both had declined to accept the prize.

                The third CITO, Imperial Crown Pet Cemetery, was… I think you see where this is going... to be held in Florissant.  Unfortunately, due to the severe weather, the event was canceled.  Cemetery officials determined that between the lightning – which made it dangerous to use the metal tools – and the heavy ground saturation – which could result in additional damage to the cemetery – it would be best to postpone the CITO efforts until the following Saturday.  The winner of the third CITO’s coin was Luckycharmer.

                Geocachers don’t have to wait for a formal event to CITO, however.  It’s always good policy to practice CITO when you’re out in the field.  Whether it’s pulling a sopping log out of a cache and replacing it with a fresh one, or picking up a bottle or can off the trail, geocachers can make a positive impact on our environment every time they go out.  Consider packing a small plastic grocery sack in your TOTT bag and you’ll always have a trash bag with you.

                For more information on CITOs, please visit:  https://www.geocaching.com/cito/

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Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: April 04 2017

Last Updated: April 13 2017

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Walkingstic-Stl with her group.

                The forecast of a rainy day didn’t keep a dozen SLAGA members from volunteering their time to go to Dardenne Prairie to teach American Heritage Girls (AHG) Troop MO3130 about geocaching.  March 25, 2017 was expected to be soggy at best and stormy at worst, with the heaviest rain supposed to hit between one and three p.m. – at the exact time of the AHG Father/Daughter event.

                Sharon Samson of the AHG contacted SLAGA in January to request assistance in teaching geocaching to their troop so they could earn their badges.  Several SLAGA members had previous experience in doing this with other organizations, but this one would be the largest class size our group has taken on for a single session, with the event being open to about 80 girls and their dads.

                After extensive communication between SLAGA and AHG, How-D reached out to several seasoned geocaching trainers to request help.  In all, a dozen SLAGA members volunteered their time and efforts, contributing to a successful event.

                While the main focus was centered on geocaching in the field, there were also two lectures for those who needed to fulfill additional requirements for their badges.  Eravau spoke about geocache publication, while Jamrok Shake answered questions about her job with the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.

                Most of the caches were typical traditionals, with the students simply able to follow their GPS units to the coordinates and hunt for the container, but there were also a multi and a puzzle cache, both of which proved popular.  TerriBikes+ created a Bible-based puzzle that led those who solved it to a micro on a fence.  Two of the cache containers were large ones with SWAG, some provided by AHG and some donated by TerriBikes+.  To expedite matters, instead of having the finders sign logsheets, each cache contained a three-letter code which the girls recorded on a sheet of paper, then turned in for SWAG at the end of the event.

                Several of the dads brought along their own GPSes, which allowed the students to see the variety of types available, but each got to handle and use the SLAGA-provided units.  Many of the girls picked up on how to use them quickly.  In the case of Spiritwolf922’s group of five students, each was able to be the GPS handler three times.  By the second round, they were already confident enough to go through the steps of searching for the next cache and setting up the compass to lead them to it.  During the session outside, the instructors were able to give more information than was covered in the lecture portion, including CITO demonstration and answering all manner of pop-up questions.

                The rains had held off until about three o’clock, at which time it poured for about ten minutes, causing groups that were still in the field to flee back indoors.  By then, the event was winding down and the girls and their dads were packing up their things, visiting with the troop leaders or asking more questions of the SLAGA members.  Both groups agreed that the event was a success.

                Thanks to the following SLAGA members who took on this challenge:  How-D, eravau, JamrokShake, walkingstic-stl, nan-d1955, GeoConformity, buffettmo, 2_cats, Mixed Breed, Aunt Dot, TerriBikes+ and Spiritwolf922.

Where can it be?

TerriBikes+ observing her group making the find.

What's the code?

Their first LPC!

It's starting to get cloudy again.

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Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: February 07 2017

Last Updated: February 08 2017

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Continuing in its tradition of educating new geocachers, SLAGA VP How-D, with the help of other SLAGA members, introduced Cub Scout Pack 499 to the activity on Saturday, February 4, 2017.

                In late November, 2016, Den Leader Larry Willick contacted SLAGA to request a class in geocaching for his Cub Scout Pack.  Six scouts and their parents attended the class, held at the Grand Glaize branch of the St. Louis County Library in Manchester, MO.  How-D (Bill Lange) spoke to the students for about an hour, covering the basics while illustrating his commentary with samples of cache containers and trackable items.

                GPS units were distributed to Pack members and parents alike, so that everyone could have a hands-on experience.  After a brief demonstration with the units, Walkingstic-stl (Nancy Gelb) and GeoConformity (Rick Rouse) led the class into the library’s parking lot, where there happened to be a published cache – SLCL: The Hobbit 5 – Riddles in the Dark (GC4KR92) – on site. The Pack followed their GPSes to the cache pretty quickly, where they made the grab and signed in, while checking out the contents of the container.  After replacing the cache for the next seeker to find, How-D used the picking up of the trash in the area to demonstrate the geocaching practice of CITO.  Then the group moved to Queeny Park where they hunted both temporary and permanent caches.  The students were able to not just sign in on the logs, but could trade items from their swag bags as well.  The activity proved to be very popular with the Cub Scouts.

Cub Scout Pack 499 in the field.

                As the class ended, several of the attendees indicated that they would be interested in doing more geocaching in the future.  All were encouraged to check out the SLAGA website for more information and to become involved in geocaching by attending upcoming events.

                Groups interested in learning more or requesting classes should contact SLAGA.  Because training sessions are led by volunteers, it is best to submit inquiries as soon as possible to ensure someone is available during the timeframe requested.

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Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: January 03 2017

Last Updated: January 30 2018

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                The holidays that bookend the close of one year and the beginning of the next have come and gone, but not without some fanfare from the SLAGA family.

                Beginning with the Twelve Days of Cachemas on December 13, SLAGA celebrated with new caches and several events.  Twelve lucky (and persistent) geocachers obtained not only smileys but the coveted annual Cachemas ornament, created by L Frank.  The bonus cache, released on Christmas Day, was FTFed by SWASeeker.  Congratulations to all who braved the cold, venturing out before sunrise in some cases.

                In the middle of the Cachemas fever, Nan-D1955 hosted the SLAGA Christmas Party at Kirkwood Station Restaurant on December 17.  In spite of freezing temperatures and icy conditions, about thirty-five party animals showed up, bearing canned goods and toys to be donated to charity.  Nan collected ninety-one cans of food for Circle of Concern in Valley Park, while Spiritwolf922 carted out four large bags of gifts for Toys for Kids.

                On Christmas Day, for the fourth year in a row, Strider and Crowesfeat30 hosted Cachemas Day with Friends at the Hibachi Grill Supreme Buffet in Ballwin, with about eighteen cachers logging for their Attended smileys.

                Team_State brought the celebration to a close with two same-day events:  SLAGA New Years Brunch and SLAGA New Years Day Hike 2017.  The group effectively took over the Eureka Culver’s restaurant with over thirty attendees, filling the main dining area.  The hike drew a few more with nearly forty Attended logs posted.

                The hike consisted of two teams – Strider’s and L Frank’s – hiking in opposite directions on the loop trail (which wasn’t nearly as flat as advertised), picking up the few ‘resident caches’, but also collecting twenty-two temporary caches which contained two Scrabble-style letters in each, intended to spell out a secret message at the end.  L Frank’s team arrived at the parking lot first, but Spiritwolf922 made everybody wait until all the hikers had returned before she opened her gallon-sized bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies to share.

                Both New Year’s Day events were great successes, with the weather cooperating beautifully.  What was expected to be gray and chilly turned out to be sunny and upper forties, allowing many of the hikers to leave their heavier coats in their cars.

                The holidays may have come to an end, but there are still many SLAGA events yet to come in 2017, including two in January:  The Ninth Annual Slurpin’ Soup and Watchin’ Eagles (GC6XK93) in the Village of the Blue Rose, between Clarksville and Louisiana, MO; and The SLAGA Winter Potluck & Cabin Fever – 2017 (GC6X1ZQ), in The Pavilion at Lemay, in Jefferson Barracks Park, St. Louis County, MO.  Be sure to check out the upcoming events in the panel on the right side of the screen on the SLAGA.org webpage.

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Written by Slaga Board

Published: May 09 2016

Last Updated: May 09 2016

Hits: 3791

Time to start nominating capable people to run for office on the SLAGA board. If you believe that you or someone you know would make an excellent SLAGA president, vice president, secretary or treasurer, then login to your account and submit your nomination before the Summer Picnic. The nomination page can be accessed by clicking on the SLAGA Officer(s) Nominations link in the gray "User Menu" box along the right side of the home page.

Once all of the nominations are gathered, they will be organized into a ballot that will be sent to our members at the email address associated with their SLAGA.org account. Only one ballet will be emailed per Slaga account.  Completed ballots must then be emailed back by August 31st in order to be counted. Next year's board will be officially announced at the Fall Picnic.

For more information on Slag elections, refer to our Bylaws, Article 3, section 4 and 5. http://slaga.org/homepage/slaga-buisness/slaga-bylaws.html