make it, but a bit of a drive. An event where the boys would be
welcome! How Cool!
Psychomommy (mother of Gus and Fish)
In letterbox-usa@y..., "Dog Scouts Troop"
> This event is mostly geared toward people who want to involve their
dog in these sports, but all are welcome to attend! It is an RSVP
event, so if you are planning to attend or need more info, contact
Lonnie@D...
>
> COME TO THE DOG SCOUTS OF AMERICA THREE DAY LETTERBOXING AND
GEOCACHING EVENT!
> (please cross-post this information)
>
> WHAT: We are planning an event in Michigan, tentatively in the
Muskegon area, which will include everything you always wanted to
know about letterboxing and geocaching with your dog!
> WHEN: November 9-10-11 (Veteran's Day weekend) Saturday will be
Geocaching seminar/searches, Sunday will be letterboxing
seminar/searches & Monday will be open for both activities
> WHERE: Muskegon (?) Close enough to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, all
parts of Michigan, and Chicago, too!
> WHY: We want to teach everyone how to do letterboxing/geocaching
in their own area--it's a great excuse to get outdoors with your dog
and have fun!
> WHO: This is for everyone! All dog owners (& dog owner wanna
be's) are invited, so share this information with your dog friends
and other dog clubs (please cross-post).
> COST: FREE for DSA members! Free for Dog Scouts! $20.00 fee for
non-members for the seminars, fun, games, and competitions . (We
will probably charge a materials fee of about $5.00 or so, to help us
defray costs of providing you with a "getting started" kit, if you
are new to this fun activity).
>
> By the end of this weekend, we will have completed the following:
> Learn how to enjoy letterboxing (orienteering with a twist) with
our dog(s): get clues, follow compass headings, find letterboxes,
carve our own stamps, put together and plant letterboxes see
www.letterboxing.org for more info
> Learn how to enjoy geocaching withour dogs: get coordinates, use a
GPS (Global Positioning System) computer, find caches with a GPS, put
together and plant geocaches see www.geocaching.com for more info
> Have fun playing skill-building games to help us with our
searching, box-building and planting skills.
> Participate in contests and win prizes that will help us on our way
to being experienced letterboxers/geocachers.
> Complete the requirements for the new Letterboxing 1 and parts of
the Letterboxing 2 merit badges!
> Complete the requirements for the new Geocaching 1 and parts of the
Geocaching 2 merit badges!
> You'll be finding at least 5 letterboxes and 5 geocaches and
planting one of each over the weekend.
>
> What to bring:
> Your Dog, leash, collar, backpack, hi-vis bandana or other visable
clothing (read: Orange)
> Your Dog's stamp and geocache trade items
> A dish to pass for Saturday evening dinner
> Your letterboxing stuff (if you don't have your "stuff" yet, you
can get it at the event, but here's a list of stuff you'll need):
> Stamp (ink) pad
> Rubber Stamp (your own personal one that you will use to "sign in"
at the letterboxes you find)
> Pen or Pencil
> Compass
> Your own log book (small notebook with unlined pages to log the
stamps you "collect")
> Stuff for building a letterbox (this will be in your kit if you pay
the materials fee: Small resealable waterproof plastic container,
log book, pen/pencil, stamp pad, stamp, large and small zip loc
baggies)
> Your Geocaching stuff (if you don't have the stuff, you can get it
there, and you can share a GPS with someone) Besides a GPS, you'll
need "trade" items to leave in geocache boxes when you take something
out.
> Stuff for building a geocache (this will be in your kit if you pay
the materials fee: Medium resealable waterproof container, an
assortment of trade items, small lined notebook for log, pen/pencil,
large and small zip loc baggies)
> A bag to keep all your "stuff" in. (the dog is required to carry
the stuff in his pack to get the merit badge, so think "pack size"
when you select a bag. I keep my letterbox materials in one of those
zippered 3-ring notebook pencil holders. I keep my geocache trade
items in a little Dog Scout canvas bag (which would also fit in my
dog's pack--but I usually just take a few items at a time).
> Your own personal camping equipment or overnite bag for the motel
stay.
> Warm clothing (high visibility clothing, preferably)
> Your own food and snacks for the weekend.
> If you have a set of exacto knives or a linoleum carving tool, that
will be very handy for the stamp carving class. Large nylon erasers
or PZ-Cut would be handy to have, too.
>
> WHAT ELSE?: We're planning some really fun games and contests with
really cool prizes. If your dog is a scout, you can pay the badge
fee and get checked out for this badge on this weekend.
>
> Please let us know in advance if you are coming. We need to know
how many people to plan for. To sign up for this event, please
contact Lonnie via phone or email: 989 389-2000 lonnie@d...
>
> We want this event to be HUGE. We couldn't contain ourselves until
warmer weather. You guys are going to LOVE this activity. It is
very relaxing and truly addicting, and your dog will love the time
you spend with him or her. This info will be in the DSA newsletter,
but the newsletter may not arrive in time for you to get this
information.
> "All that we can give a dog that the dog will value is our time."
>
> --Donald McCaig
>
> Lonnie
> Dog Scouts of America
> www.dogscouts.org