Tom's Tall Tales

From: ladynorelle (ladynorelle@yahoo.com) | Date: 2006-09-16 02:13:14 UTC

My dad and his wife got me involved in letterboxing a little over a
month ago. They proudly showed me their logbook and told me about
some of their favorite hunts, including one called Tom's Tall Tales.
(I got hooked after one day of tagging along with them and had
myself a hand carved stamp that same weekend. We go boxing together
now, and it's really nice to have a hobby that I can share with
the 'rents as an adult.) but I did need to go back and collect the
boxes that they had gotten before I started. So I dragged another
friend with me and we went to find Tom's Tall Tales.

We found the box, right where it was supposed to be with it's lovely
stamp. I knew what it was going to look like, but it was still a joy
to hold in my hand and stamp in my own book. I love seeing who else
has been to that particular box and the feeling that i kind of know
these people, through their stamps and the places they have been.
That particular day I was also able to revel in how much activity
the box had seen since my dad had stamped in just two weeks before.

The box was placed in a cemetary and was named after an older
brother who had spooked his kid sister with scary stories about the
cemetary as kids. So I was touched to see that Tom had found his
sister's box and left her a message.

Goose Chaser placed this box along with many others in the eastern
iowa/western Illinois area. I've just started, but at least 75% of
my finds are Goose Chaser boxes. I found out this afternoon that
Goose Chaser died in an motorcycle accident on August 13th. Her real
name was Paula Egolf.

I've already talked with my parents about adopting her boxes, and
perhaps placing a memorial box, maybe with the girl scout troups she
led and introduced to letterboxing. but tonight, things are too
fresh. I feel like I have lost my letterboxing mentor, a woman who I
felt I knew, but had never met. She was also a member of this list,
and i wasn't sure if anyone else knew her or her letterboxes.

in a few days I'm sure I'll be full of questions for how one goes
about adopting boxes, but tonight all I can think about is the
message her brother left in the Tom's Tall Tales logbook.

"Fly away home, Goose Chaser."

bigpurplefoot/donna

Re: [LbNA] Tom's Tall Tales

From: (RMORGAN762@aol.com) | Date: 2006-09-16 00:54:02 UTC-04:00

I remember Goose chaser posting on these boards earlier this year. A little searching brought up this obituary:

http://www.legacy.com/QuadCityTimes/DeathNotices.asp?Page=SearchResults

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/08/15/news/local/doc44e157c7ed2db833907586.txt

-----Original Message-----
From: ladynorelle@yahoo.com
To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 10:13 PM
Subject: [LbNA] Tom's Tall Tales

My dad and his wife got me involved in letterboxing a little over a
month ago. They proudly showed me their logbook and told me about
some of their favorite hunts, including one called Tom's Tall Tales.
(I got hooked after one day of tagging along with them and had
myself a hand carved stamp that same weekend. We go boxing together
now, and it's really nice to have a hobby that I can share with
the 'rents as an adult.) but I did need to go back and collect the
boxes that they had gotten before I started. So I dragged another
friend with me and we went to find Tom's Tall Tales.

We found the box, right where it was supposed to be with it's lovely
stamp. I knew what it was going to look like, but it was still a joy
to hold in my hand and stamp in my own book. I love seeing who else
has been to that particular box and the feeling that i kind of know
these people, through their stamps and the places they have been.
That particular day I was also able to revel in how much activity
the box had seen since my dad had stamped in just two weeks before.

The box was placed in a cemetary and was named after an older
brother who had spooked his kid sister with scary stories about the
cemetary as kids. So I was touched to see that Tom had found his
sister's box and left her a message.

Goose Chaser placed this box along with many others in the eastern
iowa/western Illinois area. I've just started, but at least 75% of
my finds are Goose Chaser boxes. I found out this afternoon that
Goose Chaser died in an motorcycle accident on August 13th. Her real
name was Paula Egolf.

I've already talked with my parents about adopting her boxes, and
perhaps placing a memorial box, maybe with the girl scout troups she
led and introduced to letterboxing. but tonight, things are too
fresh. I feel like I have lost my letterboxing mentor, a woman who I
felt I knew, but had never met. She was also a member of this list,
and i wasn't sure if anyone else knew her or her letterboxes.

in a few days I'm sure I'll be full of questions for how one goes
about adopting boxes, but tonight all I can think about is the
message her brother left in the Tom's Tall Tales logbook.

"Fly away home, Goose Chaser."

bigpurplefoot/donna

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Re: Tom's Tall Tales

From: alwayschaos (alwayschaos@yahoo.com) | Date: 2006-09-16 23:20:53 UTC

Oh my goodness, how sad! I hadn't realized that she had passed away.
Thank you for sharing this information with us. Our condolences go out
to her family. She will be missed.

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "ladynorelle" >
>> Goose Chaser placed this box along with many others in the eastern
> iowa/western Illinois area. I've just started, but at least 75% of
> my finds are Goose Chaser boxes. I found out this afternoon that
> Goose Chaser died in an motorcycle accident on August 13th. Her real
name was Paula Egolf.
>
> "Fly away home, Goose Chaser."
>
> bigpurplefoot/donna
>