[chevyole]

Hi Ralph!   I think this is an awesome idea.   Speaking for myself,  I would be happy to help organize and support it in any way possible.   It would be really cool for the history and for our state . As for WGA ownership,  this will be something that we can discuss at our next board meeting in June.   I know as a group we have a couple of big projects ongoing and it may not be the best time to add another right now.

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

🙁

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

FTP! I’m up early on a Saturday for work.

 

Happy 💝 Valentines Day weekend

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

I accepted my nomination after being nominated the last few years because I knew I could dedicate the time needed to volunteer this year and beyond.   In years past, my kids needed me.   They are all old enough now to go camping and I won’t have to feel guilty leaving my wife alone with three infants and toddlers.

I think I have ideas that will advance the WGA.  I think I can be a good advocate for cachers and the board.  I’m happy to listen but I also am happy to help lead the WGA board.

As I’ve stated before,  I think the current board has done a good job.   If elected,  Id rely on their experiences.  I’d also push to do more.   I’m willing to put the time in.   I think it’s safe to return to events with disclaimers.

I think we grow with exposure.  With putting the time and effort in to get the word out the board is there to support the membership.   With adding member at large committees to help with expanding games within games like the State Park series.   Also we rely on our membership in various parts of the state to place and maintain caches for the board.   I think I have the personality and enthusiasm to reach out and ask for help.

In any case,  regardless if I’m elected this go around or not,  I plan on attending more WGA events this year and getting to know more cachers.

Looking forward to a fun filled year.   Cheers!

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

Will add my first first to post!  12221!  Up early!   Work and then Janboree caching starts at 6pm.  Adventure labs will be turned on earlier in afternoon.

 

Sorry to hear about your wrist Trekkin & Birdin.  Hope it heals up quick.

 

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

I’ve been to 15 of the 87 WGA events,  my first being in 2014.  In the last couple of years I’ve been able to attend more farther away with and without the kids.

The farthest away to date was the 2019 spring campout at Gov Thompson.   202 miles.

I look forward to attending more WGA events.

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

As I’ve said, social media is one of our best tools at this time to get out the word about the wga board.   Granted there are some that don’t have social media. I’m not sure what we have currently set up besides the website. I’m not sure how often that is frequented by the average geocacher in our state.  Next is word-of-mouth, which is a powerful platform.   This is irregardless of whether we’re in a pandemic or not.   Most of us were told of geocaching by another person.   We could ask our membership to be ambassadors and ask current “muggles” to join us caching. We could have a geocaching 101 events and invite people via flyers at local parks.

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

I guess the first thing I would do is assess the situation.   Id want to do is talk to both parties and try to get a story.  I’m not sure if the logs ridiculing the other Wisconsin cacher are sarcastic or not. It’s hard to determine intent from a written message.  Maybe it’s an inside joke between the 2 cachers?       If it is mean spirited I’d ask the person that posted the log to revise it.  If they did not, I would consider bringing it up the chain with ultimate deletion of the log.

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

It’s a sensitive topic because everyone individually has to weigh their own and their families’ risks of getting COVID vs the benefits of human interaction,  school,  work etc.

The hospital I work at is not accepting any visitors.   My family has made the decision to send my kids to school because, in our opinion, the benefits outweigh the risks in that setting.

Covid is still a moving target.  The good news is there is hope on the horizon.   Tens of thousands in our state have people have already received the Covid vaccine with millions more planned.

I personally have no concerns about outdoor events.   I’ve hosted one and been to multiple since the pandemic started. When the virus first started,  there was a lot of unknowns.  One of them was how long the virus lived on plastic or metal.   I think it’s safe to find event caches with proper hygiene and hand washing.

Last week,  I co-hosted an indoor event that followed CDC guidelines for social distancing,  food preparation and mask wearing.   I think if you ask anyone,  it was a success and a ton of fun to see friends again.

If elected,  I would be interested in getting together in person with non-ill board members who also feel comfortable doing the same.   Others on the board, where the risks outweigh the benefits,  could easily meet up virtually that day.

I don’t know about the liability of events as a board.   The decision to attend an event is a personal one for each geocacher and that can be put as a disclaimer on an event page,  if need be.   I think as long as we follow CDC guidelines and instruct others to do so as well,  it is safe to move forward with WGA promoted and sponsored events.

 

 

 

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

What?!  I’m not going to be right all the time?   Well, my wife could’ve told you that I guess.

Seriously,  I value others’ differences of opinion.  I like to have an open mind and I would come into board  without any preconceived notions. I think I am good at stimulating conversation and finding compromises.  I often weigh the pros and cons of decisions, exploring multiple options before coming together to decide on the best.   I will try and be an advocate for WGA members and the growth of the WGA.

I was talking at lunch yesterday with a couple of others and how much this question amusingly reminds us of an job interview.   It got me thinking about my role as a pharmacist at a hospital.   One of the roles Ive had is a clinical coordinator for my old hospital.   The coordinators for the other hospitals in the system would all get together once a month to determine what medications should be added to formulary.   It was important to weigh the benefit of the medication against the risks of the medication against the costs.   Each meeting required preparation and good communication.  It also was full of mutual respect for other’s positions.

I think majority voting is important. I think it’s important to trust but evaluate those choices as a group.   Any decisions made can always be reevaluated at a later time if there is a concern or need.  If anyone would feel jaded or upset by a decision,  I would hope they would be comfortable communicating that to me and vice versa.

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

True confessions:   I’ve never had a Take 5.  I hope Bethany is going to introduce me sometime.   I think I’ll go sweet… Marie made me some caramels for Christmas that may have been the best caramels ever.   She’s sweet like that.   I also like coconut.  I hope no one is super offended by that.  🙂

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

Definitely!  I would like to see the current original State Park series continue and a new series of caches placed in state parks, forests, trails, other state owned lands where caches are allowed.  Like the original series, this will take a lot of help from membership across the state.  There may be a few original state park caches that need to be moved or replaced.  I would like to enlist board members and members-at-large to be part of a committee to work with the Wisconsin DNR and create a new expanded series.  If the funds are available, I would like to see the WGA supply ammo boxes with a WGA state park series logo sticker and logbook.  These could be used for the current and proposed new series.  I think it is doable to have this in place by 2022 if its agreed to early this year.  I’d be willing to lead this committee if elected.

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

I haven’t attended many WGA CITO events, perhaps the last one at High Cliff probably being my first.  Since, I’ve been to a few WGA sponsored CITO events and thought they were well run by membership.  It is my understanding, the WGA in past years  gave a stipend to members who applied and hosted a CITO event.   I see no reason why this shouldn’t continue.  I would like to see a CITO component to the WGA campout and/or picnic.  With the Geocaching.com rules against event stacking, the CITO event would either have to take place of the normal event or the normal event would just have a CITO component.  I think if the membership wants the WGA to bring back a stand-alone annual WGA hosted CITO event, that is something the board should look into.

 

 

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

 Overall,  I think the board has improved upon itself the last few years.   I think the promotion of the WGA to newer cachers is paramount to continue its growth.   In the last year,  with the pandemic,  there have been many new geocachers.  As I’ve alluded to in other posts,  I think one of the easiest ways to get the word out is through social media.  The WGA has some great games within games like the lonely cache game and photo of the month.   Both of which have been promoted to varying degrees in social media.   I would like to get back to promoting outdoor and covid following social distant events.  I would like to see a social media page for the Cache of the Month contest like we have for the lonely cache game.

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyole]

I like to hear different perspectives on situations and I feel like I do a good job weighing the pros and cons of decisions. I’m willing to put in the work.   I’m willing to help out and whatever way the membership or the Board needs me to.   I think I also can bring some levity, some fun,  some “let’s do this” attitude!  I’m looking to continue the successes of the current board and learn from any issues of the previous administrations.

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

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