On Saturday, January 27th, more than 75 SLAGA members attended the Winter Potluck & Cabin Fever- 2024 Event (GCAG153) at the historic Jefferson Barracks Park along the Mississippi River in St. Louis County. The event was held in the main gymnasium and front room inside the large and comfortable Pavilion at Lemay facility, which was cost-free for SLAGA thanks to the generosity of the St. Louis County Parks. Event hosts, LFrank and Denmother, did a fantastic job, but they couldn't do it alone. They received a lot of volunteer assistance from start to finish.
To kick it off, the set-up crew consisting of spiritwolf922, vorlon40, and SWAseeker with the help of Cootieman, organized the event space nicely. Since this fun event was a potluck, there was plently of great food available which was provided by each attendee's family. The food line was set up by volunteers MrsSpongy, jray131, and StormRider22, and included tasty entries such as chillis, BBQ and other meat dishes, various 'sliders,' fruit and veggie trays, a wide variety of salads and yummy deserts. The lunch spread as always was a feast for the eyes and tummies.
Besides all the eating, attendees played Geo Bingo, which was run smoothly by your registrars 3nina and 6dancer, and many also entered the 50/50 drawing, because who could resist Ibew ret's selling prowess. Over $150 was collected this year. As always, there was a raffle table with some great items, which was successfully run by Uga_Mom, and a trackable exchange table too attended well by Kevinusmarshall.
In addition to the games and raffles, the SLAGA board were giving away Geocaching Vehicle Tags to any SLAGA premium member who wanted one. Basic SLAGA members could buy one for $2. These can still be acquired by contacting the SLAGA officers. Leap Day trackable coins (Crimson Croaker, customized by Crowesfeat30, and Archibald Hopper, customized by The_Cootie_Child and Crowesfeat30 ) were also available for pre-order at the event. If you did not attend or are still considering ordering, the two Leap Day coins can still be purchased. The cost is $15 for SLAGA premium members and $20 for basic members, however there is a LIMIT of one coin only per registered SLAGA membership. Pre-orders are being taken until Leap Day. Contact SLAGA treasurer, nan-d1955, at email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., if you're interested in ordering or have questions. Pick-up will be at any of the four SLAGA Leap Day (restaurant) Events. 
Thanks to this year's two event photographers, Cootie_man and SpikesPhoto, for the majority of the pictures included in this article. And last but not least, the less than fun clean-up duties were professionally conducted by arabbit&ubuck, vorlon40, and magpie27 with some help from late attendees and officers too.
Along with the good food, fun and games, awards for geocaching milestones were presented to SLAGA members. Additionally, prizes were handed out to the winners of the Premium Member Drawing, the Geo Bingo, and the Travel Bug Race. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
Milestone 100 Finds:
mialmita (Tara Garcia - caching since 8/2/14)
DriverMom (Yvonne Turner - caching since 4/15/23
and has 209 caches as of the picnic)
Milestone 500 Finds:
mialmita (Tara Garcia)
kevinusmarshall (Kevin Marshall - caching since 9/17/17)
piggylovr3214 (Emily Marshall - caching since 9/17/17)
Milestone 10,000 Finds:
Cootie_man (Michael Smith - signed up in 2012, but made first find on 6/2/18.
He has completed 1000 day streak, 1508 (48%) of the counties in the USA.
He visited the Great Wall of China in Wisconsin.)
Premium Member drawing:
Turtleladi1020 - $25 Cracker Barrel
Geokid12 - $25 Buffalo Wild Wings
Stormrider22 - $25
Bingo winners:
Angelboy 12 - $10 Jersey Mike
vorlon40 - $10 McDonalds
spiritwolf922 - $10 Starbucks
Travel Bug Race winners:
Bluedaisy - $10 Subway
MrsSpongy - $10 Subway
Hobbit Taz - $10 Burger King
This Winter Potluck Event is held the last weekend in January every year. It is always an afternoon full of delicious food, good fun, old and new friends, and some great geocaching stories. Walking around the room listening or joining in on conversations never fails to motivate other cachers to expand their own geocaching adventures. So happy caching till next year's potluck.
