2022 Fall Picnic
2022 SLAGA Christmas Party
Bellefontaine CITO November 2022
Cachemas 2022 Bonus Day
SLAGA at GeoWoodstock 2023
2024 SLAGA Spring Picnic
2025 New Year's Day Hike, Fort Bellefontaine
Cachetur 101 Class - March 2025
2025 Winter Potluck
2025 Spring Picnic
2025 Spring Picnic
2025 GigaStock in Morgantown WV
2025 GeoWoodstock, Morgantown, WV
SLAGA at Ted Drewes 2025
2025 Christmas Event
2026 NYD Hike
Crazy Beards!
2026 Winter Potluck
Making a Difference During the Holidays - Christmas Bash '24
- Details
- Written by Terri Nealon
- Hits: 1095
The month of December started with a bang when geofriends gathered at the "Christmas Bash in SLAGA-Land" Event held on December 7 at Sugarfire Smokehouse in Arnold, MO. This merry event was hosted by Nan (nan-d1955) and accompanied by her jolly elves, Carolyn (MrsSpongy), Sandy (Swelgus), Susan (Treasure Isle); Sandy and Mike (Breezy406); Lynette and Mark (Turtleladi1020nhubs). Attendees enjoyed delicious food, fun and fellowship. And one in attendence, Jan S. (JanS03), was presented with her 25,000 finds jacket to a rousing round of applause! (Her friend Sandy happened to have worn hers that day too.)
Some of the event fun included the UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER CONTEST. Several attendees wore their ugly Christmas sweaters to the event and had to mingle so people could admire their sweaters. Everyone voted by ballot and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners were announced. This year's Ugly Sweater winners were:
1st place to “Hubs” (Mark R.) $25 Panera gift card
2nd place to “BAPrn" (Barbara P.) $10 Burger King gift card
3rd place to “NEgirl55" (Carol S.) $10 Taco Bell gift card
While cachers always have a great time socializing, they are also very generous and kind folks. At this event non-perishable food items and toys were collected and given to Circle of Concern Food Pantry and Social Services Agency. In total, 220 pounds of food for the pantry and 68 toys/gifts for children were donated this year. These contributions really make a difference to families in need, not just during the holidays but year round. In appreciation, Nan gave treat bags to those that contributed this year.
The event was a grand success and full of merriment! There were tales of your 2024 caching trips as well as some upcoming 2025 adventures. Some traded travel bugs at the event. Chuckles over ugly sweaters could be heard and good ole holiday cheer was shared by all in attendance. "The food was tasty, converstation merry, and everyone really seemed to be in a festive mood," commented the hostess, Nan. She thanks all who attended and donated charitable items, those who participated in the ugly sweater contest, all her elves, and those who helped box up the food and toys and load the cars.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MERRY CACHEMAS TO ALL!
POPEYE’S SLAGA FRIENDS - Summer Picnic 2024
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- Written by Terri Nealon
- Hits: 1276
AHOY MATEYS! On Saturday, July 13, 2024, more than 35 of Popeye's new SLAGA friends converged on the town of Chester, IL for the summer picnic, hosted by deancmeredith. Chester, situated on the bluff above the Mississippi River, is the hometown of Elzie C. Seger, the creator of Popeye. To date, there are more than 20 statues of Popeye's friends spread throughout the city, and geocache COs have utilized all of them for one multi cache or another and for the Adventure Labs in town.
Picnic day was a hot one! Temperatures were in the low 90s but the high humidity made it feel hotter. The picnic attendees were very thankful that Dean graciously provided 2 fans (one a mister) and some freshly cut watermelon. They enjoyed the shade of a large shelter in the beautiful Cole Memorial Park, along with the lovely scenery, convenient parking, bathrooms and of course nearby geocaches. Folks socialized, talked all things geocaching, discovered or grabbed trackables, ate their lunches, and hunted down caches in the park as well as around town.
Reflections of a Lake CITO
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- Written by Terri Nealon
- Hits: 1822
To sit on the shore of a beautiful lake that reflects the landscape and sky above, or paddle your watercraft smoothly across its cool rippling waters is a completely satisfying and peaceful experience. It puts you in the center of nature and "carries you into recesses of feeling otherwise impenetrable." (Wordsworth) But...what if the shoreline of that lake is littered with garbage and debris?
Dumped debris along the shoreline and trash that floats into the lake with every high water event or from littering needs to be removed periodically, and who better to give back to the community and to nature than geocachers who enjoy the many caches in community parks. Events like the recent St. Louis County CITO - with canoes!! (GCAQ5KY) hosted by SLAGA's own StormRider22 (Laura MacLeod), on May 22, 2024 at Simpson Park lake, are essential in helping clean up our waters.
About fourteen geocachers attended the CITO, on the gorgeous May evening, and collected numerous bags of trash full of plastic and glass bottles, cups, straws, cans, styrofoam pieces, balls, bags, buckets, fishing bobbers/line, and more. A tire, a chair, some wood planks, and other large debris were also collected. A few cachers helped clean up the shorelines on foot, while the majority took to the water in canoes, a kayak, and a paddleboard. Surprisingly, what has always looked from afar to be a clean shoreline, across the lake, soon was discovered to be heavily littered, when approached by watercraft. While the removal and collection made a significant difference, there are still larger items, like a tin drum and a turbine engine, as well as other unreachable debris, that still need removal.
Trash à la CARTe - SLAGA CITO
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- Written by Terri Nealon
- Hits: 1398
Since SLAGA no longer has a MODot clean-up site, due to the program being dropped, the SLAGA CITO at Minnie Ha Ha event in Sunset Hills, hosted by Candyce54 on June 30, 2024, became the group's quarterly clean-up project. Of course for those there, it was fondly known as Trash à la CARTe, thanks to TheLegoPharoah and bobclassic's find and GeoWench78's witty input!
LEAP DAY ‘24 Across SLAGAland
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- Written by Terri Nealon
- Hits: 2231
Although we see Leap Day once every four years,
Cachers still got excited as the day drew near.
It was an unofficial geocaching day in 2024,
At least in SLAGAland cause there were events galore.
There were CITOs, lunches and happy hours too,
Besides other smileys that folks decided to do.
So February 29th was quite a big day,
As cachers in SLAGAland got out to play!
Many thanks to the hosts of all six Leap Day Events: paulgracie, stevendede, bluedaisy, rocksusan, nan-d1955, and RebelPenguin. You helped make the day fantastic with the CITO opportunities for community clean-ups, and the event gatherings to enjoy company of geofreinds old and new. Many cachers had personal goals to fulfill, so the stories of the day's caching were exciting to hear from event to event. Leap day was a lot of fun this year, but it makes you wonder what 2028 will bring!?
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