Clarksville

[sayitagain]

It came by word of e-mail yesterday from Brenda ( Bluesbreezy). News that I had kind of expected after not seeing anything posted this late in the year. I finally sent an e-mail yesterday morning just to verify my suspicions. There will be no event in Clarksville this year the first Saturday after tax due day. According to Brenda, some people have moved away, others have retired from geocaching and she is dealing with some other issues which are affecting her ability to step in as she did last to help make this event happen. I was extremely sad yesterday when I received the news because the Clarksville event was definitely the Grand Daddy of events in Arkansas. In fact ,though others may disagree with me ,Clarksville was the geo capital of Arkansas. I don’t think that I could let this news pass with out expressing my sincere appreciation to all of those good Clarksville people who helped spearhead geocaching activities in Arkansas. They are all up there at the top of the list of the top 100 cachers in Arkansas (http://www.cacherstats.com/Arkansas1.html) : Nonipoppy, Golfnuts, RKLMBL. Whereas you used to have to travel to Clarksville to attend a big event there are now events in every part of the state, spread out over the entire year, Paris, Searcy, Hot Springs, Fayetteville to list only a few. So today, although I am still sad that there will be no event this year in Clarksville I am extremely happy to see the effects of the groundwork that was laid in Johnson County. The torch has not gone out in Clarksville. It has been passed to the people who have attended and benefited from not only the Clarksville event but the many hundreds of caches placed in the Clarksville area. There are many other pioneers of geo caching in the state but I’m sure most of them will agree the Clarksville bunch deserve our thanks for introducing so many of us to this great sport and the friendship that can be achieved by placing geo names with real names at an event cache. Thanks Clarksville for the many great memories you have given me and my family at the 4 events we have attended and the many unique and special caches we have found the day before and of the event. My daughter was already planning on coming down from Fayetteville for this years event as she has the last 3 years. Event or not I think that April 17th of this year will still find me and my family in Clarksville looking for some great hides.

[QuartzCachers]

AMEN BROTHER JIM!
I was lucky enough to have had a daughter living just outside Clarksville, when I discovered this game. I'll never forget the first caches I found there. I rememeber thinking that these were different than others that I had found, and that this Nonnipoppy and that Golfnutz guy must be some kind of steppin' cat daddies to come up with this stuff. Turns out I was right, and they are some pretty great guys.
Then I found out that rklmbl lived in the vicinity, and I went in search of some of their caches. I am still searching for a couple of those, and some day I hope to finish finding them all. Lol! Now I am lucky enough to call them neighbors, and these are some of the best caching times I have had.
Still, I miss those early days of my geo education, and the wonder of finding all the different types of caches. It is pretty rare when I find a cache that I haven't already seen in Clarksville. It has made me a better cache finder and hider for sure. I sure do miss those great Glolfnutz and Nonnipoppy caches.
Don't send the stretcher for Clarksville caching just yet though. Bluesybreeze, CFD29, CFD10, and FirefighterEMT have some great caches available to find there. They still have some head scratchers, and I know that they will have even more soon.
Thanks for mentioning this Jim! It was a great trip down memory lane in my brief (so far) caching career, but I feel fortunate that I was able to get off to a great start in Johnson County.
While some of the geo-masters may have retired, their influence lives on in many Arkansas cachers, me included. I am kinda proud of that too! :D :D :D

[arkfiremedic]

We all had a blast last year at the event in Clarksville and it is still my #1 day for finds. We also enjoyed the variety of caches there and that TB Hotel is my favorite one of those by far. Many, many caches remain in the area I have yet to find, but after I get through with school (only 71 days left- yeah me!) I will return to work on finding the rest. Thanks again to those who played a part to making the event a success and the area geocaching friendly.

[travcojim]

I am up for coming to town on the 17th just to go on a massive hunt that day, I have a lot that I have not found just because everytime I am in town I just don't have the time. I understand the immense work that is involved in putting on the great time that everyone had each year. It was for sure a day we marked on the calender each year.

[astrodav]

I haven't even touched a Clarksville cache yet. Thanks to my caching "mentors" (even if they don't know that 8) ), I can pretty much stay in the Jessieville/Crystal Springs area until I hit 1,500 or so. :lol:

But I do know of the Clarksville caches & I intended on that to be my next area-of-concentration, once I get most of Yell, Montgomery, Pope, & Garland counties colored in.

If there is to be no formal event in Clarksville this year, I'd definitely be in for an informal "meet up in the park, then go caching" get-together on the 17th. I don't see why that can't be done & we can plan it right here in this thread.

No building, no door prizes, no food, no games....just show up at the park (or a good breakfast joint) at, say, 8 or 9 o'clock A.M., talk a while & arrange some temporary teams if you want to. Then go caching, then come back to the same place at 5 or so that evening, eat supper, talk about any interesting cache-happenings that day, then head back to home territory.

I don't see why that can't be done & it just might be highly successfull. There's always a couple small ways to throw in a game or two if wanted also. One idea might be for someone to go up there the day before & hide 10-20 "somethings" in widely scattered & random caches around the city & within about 5 miles of it. And see who can bring the most of them back that evening. That might be good for a prize.

But even if that wasn't done, the "Meet, Eat, Cache, Eat" thing I bet would work pretty well. :D

I must say that I'm sad to see this one gone! I had this on my calender since last year. My wife and I had a lot of fun.

[nonnipoppy]

Thank you Jim for your very kind words about Clarksville. Nonni and I really enjoyed our swing at geocaching. We found some great caches and met loads of fantastic people.

Caching was fun for us but we will always treasure the friends that we made while we were caching. We are pleased that others in the state are hosting great geo events.

Best Wishes to you all.........poppy

[rklmbl]

We would like to say Thank You for your posts regarding Clarksville. Over the years, we have tried to place entertaining caches and extend our hospitality...be it at events or at our home. We agree that some of the newer cachers will never have the Clarksville experience first hand, but, as you so wisely said, the seed was planted in Clarksville and is now being harvested around Arkansas. The friends we have made through geocaching are priceless and they alone make the work of placing caches and hosting events effortless. Again, thank you for your kind words.

[Ashallond]

I did a Clarksville run one day, and currently holds the record for most in one day.

But there's a powertrail southeast of me that may break that. :)

[Jffok]

The Clarksville event was a first for me when I started caching. Great bunch of people in that area and I have met and made lots of friends from that event. I attended the last two years and it was great. But I will be back to the area to do more of the great caches there.
Thanks Clarksville for your geocaching history.