Alderman giving cachers a bad name.

[Team Hemisphere Dancer]

Here is a link to the Appleton Post Crescent article on an alderman blaming some vandalism on Geocaching. What can we do to change this perception before we have to pull all caches out of town.

http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060717/APC0101/607170529/1979

[shine_like_a_star]

Hm. I don’t think he’ll be gaining much popularity by saying the cachers need to get a life.

But! What the heck are people doing digging up and trampling flowers and damaging trees? Shame on them! It seems more like the cachers are giving themselves the bad name if they can’t act responsibly. 🙁

I’m not sure what can be done to fix this image. Maybe point out that the areas surrounding other nearby caches have been traeted respectfully?

-katy-

[hogrod]

I would suspect that if someone was digging up flowers it wasn’t a cacher….. It makes more sense that it was someone taking home some flowers for their own garden.

everyone knows caches are NOT buried.

[marc_54140]

The cache is gone, and the owner has contacted both the post crescent and the parks deprtment. Will see what comes up next.

[Jeremy]

@marc_54140 wrote:

The cache is gone, and the owner has contacted both the post crescent and the parks deprtment.

Glad to hear someone is taking this seriously. Marc, based on where this was cache was placed, is there any way geocachers could have been accidentally trampling the flowers or digging for anything? (And how is the population of deer and other animals in the downtown area… they may be munching on the flowers and causing this damage?)

If the newspaper refuses to print a rebuttal story or “correction” of these accusations, I’d suggest writing a letter to the editor (which I’m guessing would get published in a small town paper like this) mentioning how caches are not buried, how geocachers respect the environment, CITO, the fact that this activity goes on in many, many other parks without any damage, etc. If you need a hand with drafting or proofing this letter, let me know.

Also found this doing a Google search Blog Entry: Walter Kalata

[cacheseekers]

I love how this guy knows nothing about geocaching and just assumes. Sounds like a typical politian not knowing facts before they speak.

[greyhounder]

But, it also shows how really important it is to get permission — although I doubt it would have been given.

Really glad to hear it was removed! Now let’s put the record straight for the uninformed!

Bec

[Cathunter]

I think some local cachers should run over there ASAP and plant a bunch of awesome looking flowers. This would be a quick fix and a way to turn the story around. 🙂

[cacheseekers]

Replanting something sort of indicates cachers are the ones who did something wrong in the first place, which I personally doubt is what occured.

[Crazy Buzzard]

As the owner of the cache at issue I wanted to let everyone know what has happened since yesterday morning. As soon as I was made aware of the problem at Union Springs I immediately archived the cache listing. I then sent an email to the individual who wrote the Post Crescent article and also called the Director of the Appleton Park and Rec Department, who unfortunately was unavailable for the day. In my message I informed both of them that the cache had been archived and that my intention when placing the cache was to introduce people to this unique little park and its history, not to damage it. I am hoping to talk with the director about what has happened within the next couple of days. In addition, I have been in contact with other cachers in the area who have or will be contacting the newspaper and sharing their thoughts and opinions on this matter.

For those of you who were unfamiliar with this cache prior to this incident I have included a couple of links to pictures that I took of the park in August of ’05 when I placed the cache.

On the right side of the first picture is the tree the cache was hidden in. To the left of the well and behind the bench in the left hand corner is where the damage to the flowers supposedly occurred.
http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/c33747b5-a204-4648-ae53-d5abc2342981.jpg

The second picture is looking from the road back across the park.
http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/cd5da6dc-7665-4eff-abe4-2dbdf4112e63.jpg

[Eclecticpeople]

I did this cache in the winter, so I didn’t have to worry about flowers. Just snow. I didn’t know this park existed until Crazy Buzzard’s cache. Which is one of the biggest things I love about geocaching–I find things in the area I grew up in for 30 years that I never knew were there.

It’s always possible that cachers stepped on the flowers–possible, but not likely. We all know there are a few “bad apples” in every bunch, no matter what you are talking about. My 3 year old and 6 year old know better than to step on flowers, but no matter…

But dig them up??? I’m not buying it. I am wondering what was witnessed and what was “deducted” from “Hey, there’s a geocache there Ald. Kalata! Maybe they did it”

It also needs to be taken into consideration that this little park is in the back parking lot of a bar and liquor store downtown.

I just read the article and I will begin writing letters shortly, including one to the Post Crescent. Maybe I’ll offer to take the Alderman out with us one day. Then he can see what our sport/hobby/obsession is about. And see we don’t dig up flowers to do it.

[LightningBugs Mum]

“He said one woman dug up some flowers attempting to find the prize.”

Who is this woman and how does he know she’s a geocacher?

Like it was said above, geocaches are never buried and no geocacher I’ve ever heard of would ever dig up flowers.

Good luck with your quest to get to the bottom of this, CB. But don’t just let them lay all the blame on you and your cache without some real evidence. There are lots of other possible causes of the damage such as thieves and vandals.

[Ray]

I suppose that all the dents in the bucket were the result of cachers thinking the cache was hidden pinata style.

[Johnny Cache]

Maybe that’s where Volvo buried the SUV. 😯

[Miata]

My thought was to plant a bunch of flats of flowers, almost to the point of being ridiculous. 😈

I might stop over there to view the “destruction” myself.

………curmudgeon?

[Author]

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