Another Boy Scout/Cub Scout Geocache Request

WGA Member Joined: 2007-11-26 Posts: 3259

Different than the Jamboree event listed in another thread here, the Bay Lakes Council posted a request for geocachers to establish various caches throughout the council (NE Wisconsin) in the latest newsletter:

"Are you an adult interested in Geocaching? Would you be interested in helping Bay-Lakes Council establish geocaching sites to help promote Scouting and celebrate Scouting’s 100th Anniversary. Please contact us by going to www.baylakesbsa.org and click on the Council Tab and then the contact us link and give us your contact information so that we can get this group organized and caches placed throughout the council."

Not all Scouts get (or read) the Guide so I thought I'd post it here. I contacted them using the general form as requested a few weeks back and haven't heard anything yet so that's all the detail I have.

WGA Member Joined: 2004-05-19 Posts: 730

I saw that in my guide too. All I could think of, isn't the 100s or 1000s already placed enough???

WGA Member Joined: 2007-11-26 Posts: 3259

AstroD-Team wrote:

All I could think of, isn't the 100s or 1000s already placed enough???

I'm guessing Question

they want some on scout property.

I haven't heard back from them and I've found them to be rather slow moving so I never may.

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 10:25 pm

If the BayLakes council wants some on Scout property, I have Camp Twin Lakes and Camp Napowan nearby and would be able to take a walkabout and see what could be placed out there. Let me know if you hear anything. I am guessing that if they are on scout property they would not be listed on GC.com.

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:05 am

I have Bear Paw in my back yard, and Gardner Dam a few miles away. The ranger at Bear Paw is a geocacher and the next time i see him Ill ask if he heard anything about this yet

Barry of sweetlife

WGA Member Joined: 2007-11-26 Posts: 3259

I heard back from Mark Logemann, Scout Executive out of Appleton, who advises that things are still in the planning phase. They'll contact people when they're ready to get the ball rolling.

If you're interested, his email is mlogemann@baylakesbsa.org. I normally wouldn't post the email address but it is on the Bay Lakes Council website so it's public already.

This might be a good outreach opportunity for the BOD as well.

WGA Member Joined: 2004-05-19 Posts: 730

I'm not even sure of the Boy Scouts even know exactly what they are doing or wanting to do. I hope it's not one of those jump on the bandwagon sort of things. I hope they are consulting with some experienced cachers who been in this game for awhile.

By the original description..."Would you be interested in helping Bay-Lakes Council establish geocaching sites to help promote Scouting and celebrate Scouting’s 100th Anniversary" it sounds a bit like commercialism.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-11-26 Posts: 3259

AstroD-Team wrote:

I'm not even sure of the Boy Scouts even know exactly what they are doing or wanting to do. I hope it's not one of those jump on the bandwagon sort of things. I hope they are consulting with some experienced cachers who been in this game for awhile.

You know as much about it as they do at this point. Here is the full text of the email I got back:

"To all:

Thanks for your response and interest in helping Bay-Lakes Council explore the possibility of engaging in geocaching. So far we’ve had good response from the note in The Guide and seemingly each day there is another expressing interest.

We want to give it a little more time and once we’re set, we’ll be back in touch to get the ball rolling."

AstroD-Team wrote:

By the original description..."Would you be interested in helping Bay-Lakes Council establish geocaching sites to help promote Scouting and celebrate Scouting’s 100th Anniversary" it sounds a bit like commercialism.

Could be, or maybe they're not intending to go through groundspeak but to do their own thing, or through another geocaching site. If they go to gc.com, remember anything would have to go through the review process to weed commercial stuff out. I mean, it's not like groundspeak would ever do anything tied to a commercial product like Planet of the Apes movies or custom Whereigo programs that you have to purchase, right?

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:58 am

Quote:

custom Whereigo programs that you have to purchase

Yeah but THEY (Groundspeak) make money off Whereigo not someone else.

Boy Scouts are non-profit, no?

I say it's about time the Boy Scouts recognize Geocaching. It's been a badge/accomplishment in Girl Scouts for how long??

There's no reason they should not pursue some caches on their own properties that could be incorporated into an achievement system. To really teach about the activity they should be encouraged to list the caches on geocaching.com but as was mentioned prior they certainly do not "have to".

I'd be willing to help out if anyone wants help once they "get the ball rolling".

WGA Member Joined: 2004-05-19 Posts: 730

Girls Scouts have had a geocaching badge fro several years now. Jacob just got back from Boy Scout camp (no GPSrs allowed) and the focus was on map reading skills, compass use and then orienteering courses. Nothing was ever mentioned about GPS use.

I may send in a note to the council and see what's up. I'm already involved with the council meirt badge wise anyways....

Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 2:39 pm

AstroD-Team wrote:

Girls Scouts have had a geocaching badge fro several years now. Jacob just got back from Boy Scout camp (no GPSrs allowed) and the focus was on map reading skills, compass use and then orienteering courses. Nothing was ever mentioned about GPS use.

I may send in a note to the council and see what's up. I'm already involved with the council meirt badge wise anyways....

I hope the BSA doesn't look at GPSrs as a move away from map and compass. Orienteering is great in itself and teaches you alot about getting from here to there efficiently. the challenges of orienteering are different from geocaching though some may look on it like using a calculator to do basic math.

WGA Member Joined: 2004-05-19 Posts: 730

I got the Boy Scout Catalog and this is the two paragraph blurb about the Scout geocaching.
And I quote word for word as it is printed....

Recruit youth to Scouting and show them how fun it can be! Through "Get in the Game!" geocaching recruitment events, Scouts and non-scouts compete in a fast-paced, high-tech scavenger hunt game.

In geocaching, players use GPS devices to search for buried treasure - or "caches". Scouts invite friends along to join their teams. In each cache, there's information about the value of Scouting along with the clue that points them to the next site. Contents of the caches are customized locally to show off favorite landmarks or share pieces of an area's Scouting history.
-----------

All I can say is Yikes!!! This just seems to a disaster in the making. Geocaching is not nor should not be about buried caches, commercialism or competition.

I signed up for this program to assist, but I'm thinking the Boy Scouts don't need assistance as much as they need education!

WGA Member Joined: 2004-05-19 Posts: 730

I forgot to mention you can order an official "Get in the Game" Geocaching Emblem Patch for only $1.99. The design honors and I quote "the Geocaching Recruitment Program"!

The patch is rectangular with the words "Geocaching (the 'O' has the Universal emblem) Get in the Game" on the bottom and the top has a picture of the world with what I'm thinking is supposed to be satellite sensor lines with the satellite at the top.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-11-26 Posts: 3259

Holy carp!

That's all we need is a bunch of boys looking for buried treasure in a "fast-paced" setting!

Looks like this was dreamed up by someone with no knowledge of the game.

Thus far, no other contact from the BSA other than the generic response we got a while back!

WGA Member Joined: 2004-05-19 Posts: 730

gotta run wrote:

Holy carp!

That's all we need is a bunch of boys looking for buried treasure in a "fast-paced" setting!

Looks like this was dreamed up by someone with no knowledge of the game.

Thus far, no other contact from the BSA other than the generic response we got a while back!

No contact here either. The more I think about this the more questions/concerns I have.

I'm just wondering what conflict this could cause (proximity to other caches, cache placement in areas where caches are off limits etc) if these caches are placed w/o going through gc.com. As I understand the premise of these caches - purely scout recruitment - I don't think GC.com will allow them to be published as it's nothing more than solicitation of an organization. If GC.com does allow them, yikes. I can see every group/organization etc wanting the same.

Yeah, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm one who'd rather look ahead for possible problems to ward off, instead of dealing with the repercussions when crap hits the fan from not thinking things through.

Can't wait to get the details on this program.