The Membership Relations Committee is happy to showcase some ArkGeo Geocachers through the "Geocacher Profile". The committee thought Searcykid aka Thirlo Roberts should be the next cacher to be in the spotlight.

What is your geocaching name?
My geocaching name is "Searcykid"

How did you choose your handle? When I bought my first computer I was working at Land O Frost and I kept pestering one of my younger coworkers with questions about how to use it and he blurted out one time, "Your worse than a kid with a new toy." Shortly after that I was trying to sign up for EBAY but every name I tried to sign up with came back,
Already been taken. So I remembered what my friend had said that I was like a Kid with a new toy so I tried Searcykid and it had not been taken. So ever since I have used the handle Searcykid and used it when I signed up for Geocaching.com

How long have you been geocaching? Since 2007

How did you find your first Geocache, and which one was it? The first geocache to find was one by Woodwalker called Courage. Here is the post I made on that day.

'Found this cache today. My first find ever. Do not have a gps yet so I had to use all the spoilers, maps, and hints I could get.. Quick find. First place I looked after crossing street.
The log is full. Needs new sheet. tftc sl '

Who usually goes with you when you go caching? My wife Sue who goes by the handle Quiltingranny.

How long will you work on puzzle caches before you give up? Not very long. I am the impatient kind.

What town/areas have you most enjoyed caching in? I have enjoyed every area I have geocached in. Sue and I spent a lot of time searching for the State Park caches. We did not complete the entire challenge, but we spent a lot of time and found almost all of them. Other than that we hid almost all our caches in the Searcy and White County area.

Do you do paperless caching? No. I need all the help I can get and I am not very tech literate.

What kind of geocaching rig do you use? I use a Garmin GPSmap 60CSx

Why would you recommend anyone else to take up geocaching? For all the reason that I found interesting and fun. Geocaching was the most fun of any activity Sue and I had ever participated in. When I told my doctor about my new hobby he told me that that sounded like something he would have recommended I do if he had known about it. I needed to do exercise and walk and my hobby fit that perfectly. The new acquaintances we met while geocaching were the nicest people we could have ever met, and we made a lot of long time friends through this hobby. The Meet and Greet events are the greatest, and we enjoyed every one we ever attended.

Where are you originally from? I was born in Little Rock and did not leave Arkansas until 1953 when I went to Washington DC to live with my brother and his wife. I had intended to quit school after the 8th grade and my brother offered to send me to high school and teach me to fix TV's and Radio's if I would babysit their baby while he and my sister in law worked in the evenings. That sounded like an adventure to me so I did just that. I spend 4 years in DC and graduated in 1957 from Theodore Roosevelt High School. I was the first of my siblings to graduate high school out of eleven. Several that were younger than me followed me and graduated high school.

In what states have you geocached? Other than Arkansas the only other state we have geocached in is Indiana.

What was your first event ever attended? The first Event was at Burns Park in North Little Rock.

How many caches have you found? 579

Which type of cache container do you prefer over the rest? I used to prefer the Ammo Can and tried to hide all my caches in Ammo Cans until we had a run of thefts and all my ammo cans were stolen. That really took the wind out of my sails and I quit hiding caches for a long time. Then I started just using micro containers and a log. But that was not near as much fun as the larger containers so I started using waterproof plastic containers which also got pilfered but I did not lose as much money with them. But the most fun was using unique and home made containers.

What was the most famous cache that you have found? Gorilla Stash. The oldest geocache in Arkansas

Do you use disposable batteries or rechargeable batteries? Rechargeable mostly.

Do you enjoy hiding or finding more as your part of the hobby? I like hiding and finding equally. Sue and I used to compete with other cachers here in Searcy for First To Find. Sometimes there would be two or three geocaching couples arriving at the cache site at the same time and have to run to find the cache first.

Do you have a personal goal in mind when you make a hide? Mostly just to give the cache an unusual name. Caches such as 'Take a Kid Fishing", "This One is for Bryce.", "Kids Cache", "Rainbows and Browns" hidden on the Little Red River at Ramsey's Landing, and "Safe at Home" which fooled a lot of people at first as they thought that one had to be at the Sports complex but It was just a cache hidden at my house near a sign that says Protected by Superor Protection Systems.

What is your favorite type of cache hide? Ones that have a theme and with a unique container.

Out of all your hides, what are your personal favorites that you take pride in? They are both gone now but the two I really liked was "Take a Kid fishing." and "Kid's Cache."

What do you think the proper hide to find ratio should be to keep the sport fresh? I don't think a certain ratio would be necessary but I do think that all geocachers should try to hide as many caches as they possible can and look for unusual and special places to hide them.

How did you end up getting into this wacky hobby? At first I was just curious and got on Geocaching.com and looked for a geocache in Searcy. I did not have a GPS but found one of Woodwalkers caches that had enough clues that I found it without one. Then I was hooked.

What's your favorite geocache? Woodwalkers " Illuminating Louis" It is a multicache and Sue and I had trouble finding the final cache and we had to "Phone a Friend" and Pat gave a clue that helped then it was try all combinations until we got it right.

If money was no object, where would you like to go geocaching? I would like to try to find a cache in every state.

Do you like geocaching by yourself or in a group? Both are fun but most of my finds are just with Sue and me.

How many First to Finds do you have? I don't know, and I don't know how to find out, but I found a lot.

Are you a First to Find person who is always set on go and if so, how many miles out do you have your settings on to get notifications? No, I am not really a first to find person, but for a while Sue and I did keep an eye out for new hides in the Searcy area and rushed to be the first to find them.

Do you have any other hobbies besides geocaching? I play around with making things out of wood but my skills are limited, so it is just to entertain myself. I made a few Jig Saw puzzles from photographs that I glued to wood. Some were Ok. The ones that turned out good, I gave to the subject in the picture.