McGregor-Smith Scout Reservation, Inverness, FL

Saturday, April 17, 2010

“Hey?  Whatever happened to the good ol’ FGA anyway?  Haven’t seen much activity from the Sunshine State’s geocaching organization lately…Did it “die” or something?”  Sound familiar?  Well, I am happy to announce that recent Events have proved that the Florida Geocaching Association, after a little jump start,  is alive and well and on the move.

It all started several months ago when the FGA Board members put their heads together to answer the question “How can we bring the FGA back to life, once again becoming a resource & just a downright fun place for Sunshine State geocachers ‘to be’?”  Well, realizing that talk is cheap, we decided to take action in the best way possible – by planning a series of FGA Revival Events throughout the State to once again promote quality caches and Florida-style geo-camaraderie.

The first of these events, organized by our North-Central Rep, Tallahassee-Lassie , with assistance from Paintfiction (Northeast Rep) and LionsLair (Northwest Rep) on March 16, 2010, was GC23E8J – Geocaching North Florida Style – a FGA Event.  Located at the Forest Capital Museum State Park and Cracker Homestead, geocachers had the opportunity to socialize, find a bunch of caches and even celebrate the heritage of Florida’s forest industry if they so desired. 

Then onward to Southwest Florida, for some Team Crime Scene-stylin’ FGA fun …GC242G7 Geek Speak: intricacies & nuances,  courtesy of our  Southwest Rep, Team Crime Scene.    Located in  Lakes Regional Park in Fort Meyers, a 279-acre facility featuring 158-acres of a freshwater quarry lake, several pavilions, some cool playgrounds and even a miniature railroad, Team Crime Scene called in the “experts” for several education geo-workshops, including informative “sessions” about Whereigos, Projections, GSAK, Alternate Caching Devices and Event Planning.  ….followed, of course, by a delicious pulled pork buffet, and of course, mucho socializing and geocaching, enjoyed not only by Floridian geocachers, but also by a caching contingency from abroad…Germany to be precise.  FGA South goes international!!!  Hey, even the circus stopped by, just so an evil clown could join the fun…

…and last, but certainly not least, the FGA Revival Weekend extravaganza at the McGregor Smith Scout Reservation, successfully pulled off by the following Board Members - FSUDad , Dale&Barb and M&M Melted….not to forget Isonzo Karst and Lbase.  The planning that went into the event was intense, but loads of fun.  After FGA’s Fearless Leader, FSUDad, scouted out the property, which was purchased by Southwest Florida Water Management District from the Boy Scouts of America in 2004, and negotiated successfully with the most supportive Ranger Bill, a day of well-planned cache placement (with 20 ammo cans donated by Dale&Barb for the cause), the total cooperation of the local Florida approvers, palmetto and BoJab, and a shopping excursion or two, the greatly anticipated weekend arrived.

To kick off a weekend of fun, geocachers gathered ‘round the campfire on Friday evening , 4/16/2010, for some good, ol’ fashion s’mores at  GC23C0E - Let's Cache S'More.  As we indulged in marshmallows, chocolate & graham crackers, we enjoyed the company and even a beautiful display of “fireworks”, complements of an unusually large population of some variety of fireflies hanging out in the palmettos.

Next up, the  GC23ABE - FGA Revival, on 4/17/2010… The entire day was fun-filled – lots to eat, lots of caches to find, and even a rip-roaring game of Geo-Yahtzee, first prize awarded to Ice Cream Man.  A great day!

…and for those who just happened to be wandering around the Florida wilderness at 10pm, desperately seeking geocoins, Dale&Barb did their part to assist at GC231ZE – Coin You Make It?, an FGA –sponsored geocoin swap meet-n-greet.

FGA mirrors the Geocaching community as a whole in its concern for the environment and the role that geocachers should play in maintaining healthy natural areas.  So, with this in mind, GC23DB6 –McGregor Smith Scout Reservation CITO seemed like the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend.   Many thanks to all those who helped clean up the surrounding campgrounds.

This is just the beginning…stay tuned for more FGA fun in the future.

Good times,... good friends & good caching...'dats what it's all about!