Help Needed for Geocaching Program at Jacksonville Library

[OldRiverRunner]

ArkGeo Members and Website Users:

We received the email listed below requesting that someone put together a program on geocaching for the library in Jacksonville.
To Whom It May Concern,

Nixon Library is a participant in your geocaching efforts in the state. We have something in our shelves that members come to locate. I am planning programs for Mystery Month in October and think Geocaching really fits that theme. I wondered if you could either create a scavenger hunt in the area near the library for us to hand out to the community or if you could present a program in the library in October to explain what geocaching is all about. I want to make it fun and informative for the participants. Time is tight for me to get a certain date and program decided. This Monday, I have to turn in to the CALS headquarters the programs I will have in October. So I hope you possibly may read this today Saturday. I’m here at the library till 5:30 if you want to call 982-5533. Otherwise, just e-mail me your reply.

Also I wanted to make you aware that we will be moving into a new library building at year’s end so the coordinates for locating the item we have will need to be adjusted at that time. We’ll need to stay in touch. Thanks!

Kathy Seymour
Branch Manager

Esther D. Nixon Library
Central Arkansas Library System

308 W. Main St.
Jacksonville, AR 72076
I spoke with Ms. Seymour, the library manager, this afternoon and she said she was looking for a program of about 1 hour duration, with maybe a discussion of geocaching first, followed by a hunt for a cache placed on the grounds for the program. She selected a date of Oct. 18 for the program to be held, to start at 10:30 AM (when the library opens) or 11 AM. However, I think this might be flexible and could be adjusted to a different date or time if needed.

If there is someone interested in taking this on, please contact me by email ASAP at [email:2tnx3li8]oldriverrunner@hotmail.com[/email:2tnx3li8] and I will provide you with Ms. Seymour's email address. As noted in her email, she needs to turn something in by the end of business (5 PM) on this coming Monday, August 25. So time is short. She checks her work email from home over the weekend, so I think that you will be able to work out the details with her before Monday.

I told her that there were many active geocachers in the Jacksonville area, so let's show her what Arkansas geocachers are all about! If the Events or Community Relations Committees want to take this on as a project, that would be great, too!

Frank / ORR

[ShadowCachers]

I'm not sure if I could take this on myself but I would be willing to help with everything. I have only been caching since Feb. If someone little more knowledgeable could assist me that would be great.

[gespurr]

same here. I have that day off.. But I haven't been chaching long enough.
WAIT.. My DH is the "GPS" guy at work.

I can ask him. (man, he really needs to register here!)

Hey, will these people already know about GPS units or will he have to tell them what they are too (that is when I talk to him and IF he volunteers).

[gespurr]

George doesn't feel confident enough to do it :(


What about Pat? :)

[topkitty98]

I think I will be out of town the 17th and 18th, or I'd be happy to do it. Perhaps woodwalker9 could talk calicomo into helping him with it. They came and did a presentation at my school while I was in class. I put together caches, they did the talking. I would be perfectly willing to help do this - in case I am indeed away.

Pat? Susan? Whomever?

[BSA534]

My Scout troop will be planning our fall outings Monday night, so I won't know if there is something scheduled for that weekend until after the deadline. I'll try to keep it open, but sometimes I don't have a choice ;-(

[OldRiverRunner]

I think I will be out of town the 17th and 18th, or I'd be happy to do it.

I am sure that the dates are negotiable. When I talked to the lady at the library, I asked her when in October. She said anytime. I told her that it might work better if she set a date. So she selected Oct. 18. However, it sounded to me like any Saturday in October would work. So if you can do it any Saturday in October other than the 18th, I encourage you to take it on. I'm sure that the library would agree to a date change before they send in the program plan. But they need to send in the program plan at the end of business tomorrow. So time is of the essence! Let me know if you are willing to do it any time other than the 18th.

Frank

[topkitty98]

Okey dokey then how about October 11 ? Or October 25?

[ShadowCachers]

I can help either of those dates Topkitty. You pick the date and I will help if you need me too.

[BSA534]

The 11th is out for me to help. I believe I can do any other weekend in October.

[idratherbehiking]

I should be able to help as long as we know an exact date within the next few days. That way I can be prepared to make sure work does not interfere. I will also post this in the Events Committee Forums to see if anyone else wants to help out.

[topkitty98]

ORR - Do I need to contact them or have you already?

If I had my choice, I guess I would choose the 25th but I am still cool with the 11th.

[idratherbehiking]

I talked with Kathy yesterday and the date is set for the 18th. I tried to get it changed but she was pretty set on that date. So it is now official. She is emailing me some more info tomorrow so I will know more of what she expects from us. If anyone has some good ideas on the presentation please pm me or post it here. Keep in mind that the theme for the month is Mystery. I was thinking of setting up a cloo game for this event. Check out this link (http://www.utahgeocachers.com/ClooIntro.html) to see how this works.

Thanks in advance to everyone who is willing to help with this project. Lets show these folks what we are all about.

[OldRiverRunner]

I want to thank Richard (idratherbehiking) and Ryan (ShadowCachers) for taking this on. They both contacted me directly (by email) to let me know of their willingness to do the program. If there are others out there who will be helping and that I've missed (perhaps Tim / BSA534?), I want to thank you, too.

If you are willing to help out on this and haven't volunteered yet, I encourage you to get in touch with either idratherbehiking or ShadowCachers to offer your services. This is a great opportunity to teach others about geocaching and is in line with ArkGeo's Vision statement, which reads (in part): Arkansas Geocachers Association exists for the purposes of promoting and improving geocaching in Arkansas.

Frank / ORR

[HikerRon]

i just got back in town and saw this posting. i have put it on my calendar and will be there to help out unless something happens between now and then.

[ShadowCachers]

Havent seen any threads on this for awhile. Any updates?

[idratherbehiking]

OK Saturday will be here before we know it. Would everyone who is going to be able to attend and help out please either send me a PM or an email so I will know how many are going to be there?

The program starts at 10:30am but the room is reserved till Noon. The library opens at 10am. I will probably arrive around 9 to 9:30 to get the temp caches in place outside before the library opens.

We will be setting up a table with some brochures and other information available for everyone to see. I would also like for everyone to bring a couple of different types of containers that are used in the game to give people a sense of what it is we are looking for when out geocaching. We will take them outside so that we can get people involved and show them how to use the gps.

Also if there is anyone out there that has some good family related geocaching pictures and stories that we could use please email them to me.

If anyone else has some other ideas on things we can do just let me know.

Thanks,
Richard

[idratherbehiking]

Here is a LINK (http://www.cals.lib.ar.us/kids/calendar102008/NX-October08.pdf//url) to the October calendar of activities for the library in Jacksonville if anyone wants to check it out.

This should be a great opportunity for us to show what we do.

[idratherbehiking]

Still looking for more volunteers to help out at this event. This will be a short event and we need volunteers to show people how to use the gps and take them out on the library grounds to find a couple of temporary caches. The event begins at 10:30 and will end at noon leaving the rest of the afternoon for caching in the Jacksonville area. No special skills are necessary. If you can cache you will be a big help. Please email me or send me PM if you can come and help.

Thanks, Richard

[Spice]

I wish I could help, but between time, distance, and another committment I am unable to help :cry:

[BSA534]

So how did it go? Sure wish we could have helped but we were attending my dad's 70th birthday celebration in Ashdown on Saturday. Hope you had a good turnout of cachers and muggles!

[idratherbehiking]

It took me a while but I thought I would just post a note to let everyone know how the presentation went at the library. We only had 8 folks that signed the log at the presentation but this was also the weekend of the state fair and the airshow at the airbase in town. This was not a major presentation or anything fancy and was only schedule to last an hour. I just covered the basics of geocaching and gave them an introduction to what it is we do. We then took them outside in groups to find a couple of temporary caches that we had hidden that morning. Although the turnout was not what I would have liked, I believe it went well. We had a few that I think were very interested and we may see them geocaching soon. At future events like these I hope to be able to get the other committees more involved so that we can draw a much larger crowd. Overall this event was a success and I am looking forward to doing it again.

I want to thank Woodwalker and Mathseeker for volunteering their time to come and help out.