Questions for Candidates – CITO/Adopt-a-Hiway

[Ray]

One of the initiatives introduced at the Feb 2006 BOD meeting was to sponsor a section of roadway (Adopt-a-Hiway) and hold 2 or 3 CITO events on that section of roadway over the year. What is your position on such an initiative?

[zuma]

Regarding adopting a section of highway, I think that this is a very good idea, and should be pursued.

zuma

[K0rpl]

I agree with Zuma whole heartdely. I think it is a great Idea, and it would get us out there into the General (Non-Caching) Public, and will also be a great way to bring in new members.

Justin

[GrouseTales]

Sounds like a nice idea, but I’m concerned about our ability to staff the required cleanups. For a group this size, I’ve been disappointed at the small turnout at CITO’s.

This would require a long term commitment from the WGA. I think to adopt a certain section of highway, we would need a core group of people willing to take on this responsibility. They would need to help, even if others didn’t show up.

If we can get enough volunteers to get on-board, I’d be all in favor of adopting a highway. It would look bad if we took on the initiative and no one came to help out. We shouldn’t have to “lure” people to a cleanup by placing temp caches like in the past.

[Cheesehead Dave]

It would be a great way to get out name out into the general public, and if it could be combined with CITO events along with some other incentives, I think we could get enough interest to make it work.

But what road? To get the most participation, it would have to be somewhere near the statistical center of the membership. If it’s a highway in the middle of the north woods, participation would be close to nil.

[rogheff]

I can see this discussion going in the same direction as many discussions about where to hold annual events. The majority of the membership is in the southern part of the state, so to get the most volunteers, the highway would also have to be in that area.

I’d rather see the “Adopt a…” be part of other annual events. If there’s an annual picnic, why not clean up the park at which it’s being held? At the annual campout, why not adopt that campground for the duration of the campout?

[Cache_boppin_BunnyFuFu]

This is an area we have been in discussion with in our N.E. W portion of the Forums. We think it is a great idea, but there are issues with the limitations of the adopt-a-highway portion of it. It states on the form, the following:

* NO more than 20 participants shall be allowed to do a clean-up at the same time.

Is this a big deal?? I don’t know for sure, as there probably isn’t as big of a draw of people, especially if they are looking for numbers. It’s about camaraderie, sharing stories and of course EATING afterward!! LOL

The CITO’s are a definate. I would like to see each of the 6 State Regions holding their own CITO. This by no means would mean that as a cacher you had to do JUST your area, but would be able to attend one or all. I know Earthday is a big time for CITO’s but, possibly staggering CITO’s thru the month would be a consideration. Then again… do we really NEED any other reason to have a CITO, if we find an area in dire need!

[Cache_boppin_BunnyFuFu]

Another note on CITO and Earthday.

Though I would like to see them staggered thru the month of April, when Earthday occurs. I think we should definately have at least one, since the Earth Day founder, Gaylord Nelson, was a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. Maybe we can get some pull and get national NEWS too!! Ok…. don’t know HOW to do that but there is time to figure it out 😉 Just thought I would add this note since I was only recently educated on the fact that it supposedly started in this state. Looking through some other articles, there seems to be some conflicting information and that some say it was started in California.

[LightningBugs Mum]

I like the concept and I think anything involving CITO is worth pursuing. Personally, I would love to attend a highway clean-up CITO event. However, there are some issues that need to be considered first – logistically speaking.

This would require a long term commitment from the WGA. I think to adopt a certain section of highway, we would need a core group of people willing to take on this responsibility. They would need to help, even if others didn’t show up.

Maybe this would work if someone in the state who wanted to take some initiative for this would get a small group together, then approach the WGA about it – instead of the board trying to go out and find people who may agree to help, but maybe don’t really have their heart in it. So this would be more of a regional thing, like what Anne was talking about in her area.

NO more than 20 participants shall be allowed to do a clean-up at the same time.

Will this be an issue? Well, I don’t have a crystal ball, but I could see it becoming one at some point. I guess whoever was hosting would have to cut off attendance to the first 20 people who log their intent to come, but I know from experience that people will sometimes show up anyways to try to get that smilie. On the other hand, Brian fears that there won’t be enough attendance. If that happens, then incentives could be used to bring more people in. (A few temps would be easy or maybe a prize for the person who picks up the most? Something like that anyway.)

From the Adopt-A-Highway terms:
“The Group shall work only during daylight hours and in good weather.” That good weather clause is another potential snafu for an event listed on GC.com. A contingency plan would need to be formed ahead of time in the event of bad weather.

In summary, I would say that if a group in one part of the state would commit to this, then the WGA should go ahead and do it. If it works out well, then perhaps other groups from other areas could do it as well. The initiative should not come from the board, but from the membership. That way we know that the committed people are already there. Of course, that is not to say that a board member couldn’t get a group together themselves. But it just seems that this is ultimately a regional thing – not a state thing. And I for one, hope that this can happen.

[GeoPink]

One of the initiatives introduced at the Feb 2006 BOD meeting was to sponsor a section of roadway (Adopt-a-Hiway) and hold 2 or 3 CITO events on that section of roadway over the year. What is your position on such an initiative?

I am all for this. This last fall and winter I took the initiative to get all the information necessary to pursue this venture. I have been in email contact with each of the Adopt a Highway representatives from each of the statewide regions and they are aware of our interest. Right now we are at the point where this information needs to be brought before the board for perusal and discussion. I have listings of which sections of Highway are availbale for adoption in several areas of the state. More or less we will need to decide how many sections we would like to adopt. There is still time for us to get involved this year. Yes, I see the DOT as another group that the BoD will need to work with and I see Adopt a Highway as a nice place to start in creating a positive relationship with them.

[Team Deejay]

I would be in favor of this.

[NSLP1]

I’m all in favor of it. It doesn’t have to be just one section, it could easily be regional. I don’t even care if it isn’t done as a CITO event, though I know that could raise participation.

I’ve been part of my workplace adopt a highway clean up before. While they put a cap on the number they want being part of the cleanup, there isn’t a lower limit. I’ve seen the adopters being only a couple people doing the clean up.

[AuntieNae]

CITO events are POSITIVE way to give back to the public areas we geocache in. With the recent negative publicity regarding a geocache container being suspected as a bomb, it would be great to see some positive press regarding geocachers performing public service through CITO.

The Tapps & I had never attended a CITO event but wanted a positive way to give back to the Waukesha Parks for their support of geocaching. We held our 1st CITO event last year and did what we “envisioned” such an event should be like. We asked geocachers to start at different parks and to really focus their efforts on their first park. In the end, we all met up at the larger park that required all our efforts to clean.

It would be a great thing to have CITO events state wide. Just think of the parks and public areas we could make a difference in! Just think of the positive press such activities could generate.

I can see the WGA working to promote state wide CITO events. The Tapps & I just selected the National CITO date again this year because of the lack of CITO events overall.

AuntieNae
Renee

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