[Team Honeybunnies]

Borrowing an idea from the Montana DeLorme Challenge: They only require that you find all the pages that actually have a cache. Right now they have two pages out of 75 that don’t. This way you could get the challenge up and running rather than losing steam before 37 new ECs could be published. It can be tweaked, but still somewhere to start.

[Team Honeybunnies]

@seldom|seen wrote:

I’ll agree that there was sufficient time to dig through the logo threads and discussions about the logos submitted to find the similarity issue raised about 4 pages into the thread. And I’ll agree that many of us were aware of the similarity issue as we followed the discussion.

I don’t agree that “We all had ample time to peruse the information” because the other group who weren’t following the discussion closely, were simply not aware nor presented with, on the referendum page, the information that one logo had a similarity issue with another state.

(128 in round 1, 168 in round 2) I do not think that all 128 or 168 voters, depending on when you voted, were aware of the issue when they voted and I’d venture to guess that as much as 50% of the voting public was not. That’s a significant number and certainly would have made a difference in the tally.

I think we would run into that in just about any election, including that of our nation’s president. Some people will be huge issues folks, some will try to stay abreast of the situation, some will skim and make their choice and some will come to the booth with no knowledge other than that they don’t like candidate B because they’re (choose your knee-jerk failing).

But, they all voted. We have the logo that was voted for. If we want to change it now, we’re going to have a hard time convincing the majority who thought it was just fine and voted as such, well-reasoned or not.

I’m not sure how the process to choose a new logo began, but if you can convince enough people, perhaps they’ll re-open it. Believe me, I respect your opinion, copyright issues and all, and I have already stated it wasn’t my logo of choice (so much for the anonymous ballot), but we have what was voted for. If the process can be continued so be it, but if not, I can live with what we have, and I’ll bet most of the others whose choice didn’t win would say the same.

The current board will have to answer some of your other questions.

[Team Honeybunnies]

@-cheeto- wrote:

Yikes!

I wasn’t intending to open another debate amongst the masses…

…but I guess it’s that kind of topic (one that I think many WGA members want to hear input from the candidates on). Hence why I added the thread.

Carry on…

No problem -cheeto-, if I want to wear the badge I might have to expect some gunplay. Maybe you could toss a softball for the next question though, like “What color are hugs?” :wink:.

[Team Honeybunnies]

In response to seldom’s and Cheezehead’s posts, I’m just going to have to respectfully disagree. Not on the matter of the merits of the logo, but purely by virtue of the fact that the logos were put to a vote of the membership. I voted, my favorite lost. I don’t think any of us want a board that makes decisions that are “in our best interests” and simply does what it wants. It’s the reason it was put to a vote. Arguing that our members were uninformed isn’t correct, because the “Washington issue” was discussed at that time. We all had ample time to peruse the information and make our decisions before voting.

[Team Honeybunnies]

1. If my choices were solely the new logo or our original, yes I like the new logo.

2. Our original logo needed at least a face-lift, and the choice to go with something completely different was fine by me. I will have to admit that I liked the lower-case “g” logo the best, and thought it had possibilities. More importantly though, whether I like it or not, we had a vote and we as a membership spoke. I would like a little more color, but we seem to have chosen greens for our palette. I did not see the problem with similarities to the Washington logo. I think I’ve only been on the Washington site once, and I’ve looked at most everyone’s site at some point or another. Except for someone pointing it out, I’m not sure we would ever have known there was a similarity. It’s a solid, more modern logo.

3. Yes, see above.

[Team Honeybunnies]

Good straight-up question. Zuma hit the nail hard, so I’ll take my own tack.

What the board did well…

This may sound like setting the bar low, but in my mind the WGA did an excellent job of staying the course. As an organization we have lots of balls in the air, between official events, adopt-a-highway, coin activities, maintaining a presence with government, logo revision, Lonely Cache Game, etc. I think we have one of the most ambitious state organizations in the country, and between board and membership I don’t see that flagging in the future.

As an organization, we seem to lack the discord or apathy of other states’ organizations. Check some of the surrounding states’ forums and you’ll sometimes find no new posts on a given day, or longer. We’ve managed to keep it civil when we do disagree, and I do feel that some of that comes from the top down.

What the board did poorly…

The logo issue will be an easy one to flog this year. There didn’t seem to be a good sense of direction there. And the passion of the membership on the subject was probably a bit surprising to some, myself included. But again, that’s the easy answer.

I feel that the worst sin is one of omission, namely the far-flung provinces of Wisconsin that feel they’re not getting any love here. The far northeast and the far northwest especially. I can understand the need to hold our flagship events in places where the majority of the membership will feel that they can attend, but I think there need to be more, lesser events with the WGA stamp of approval to spread it around a little. I believe there have been feelers put out, but that’s one thing that needs to be acted on. If we are concerned about bringing people from these areas into the fold it might not hurt to plant the flag on their home turf.

[Team Honeybunnies]

Like everyone else has said, excellent topic!

Well, 2008 for us was dominated by the anticipation and arrival of our son Noah. He’s our biggest milestone this year, period. When we haven’t been feeding and diapering he’s been joining us on the trails for some great experiences, and seeing the world reflected in his eyes, and seeing the little gears turn in there are going to trump just about anything else we could possibly have accomplished.

Soooo…

Numbers, numbers, numbers: Yep there have been a lot of them. There’ll be more. Watching that number go up is far less interesting than what we’ve seen while getting there. I’ve even mulled removing our stats from our profile page and replacing it with something about what the caching experience has meant to us.

Our spring vacation was wrapped up in completing the MO DeLorme for the first half, and then the second half took us to the Civil War battlefields at Pea Ridge, AR, Shiloh, TN and Corinth,MS. After those we visited Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Marie did well on the cave tour at seven months pregnant. We also got to stop at Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque in Kansas City. Mmm… burnt ends.

We completed the second half of our trip to trace the path of Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery. This year we picked up at Pompey’s Pillar in eastern Montana and followed the Yellowstone, Missouri, Lochsa and Columbia Rivers to the ocean. Noah got his feet wet in the Pacific for the first time, but was unimpressed. He just turned his head into my chest and fell back asleep. We also got to see Fort Clatsop where the Corps wintered, Cape Disappointment, Haystack Rock, Multnomah Falls. Some oysters were consumed, and washed down with local craft brew.

We did some DeLormes… Missouri, Illinois and Minnesota. I’ll continue to maintain that this is the way to really, really see a state. That’s not just the talk of a deep-ender either. I don’t imagine those will be our last ones either 😉 . Highlights of all those runs include the Superior North Shore, done as a couples weekend with Zuma and WI_Robin, visiting the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, a million little towns along the Mississippi with all their history, the source of the Mississippi, the Ely, MN area, and surviving rain, sleet and snow in pursuit of mad dreams. Zuma and Marc will recall the ice storm we travelled in. Big fun, and it was all gone the next morning.

And on to the resolutions.

We’ve both discussed wanting to try to make more events this year. There are too many friends in the game we just don’t get to see enough, and so many new faces we haven’t met at all.

I’d like to complete our last three slots in the Well-Rounded Cacher. One’s five terrain, two are five difficulty. Piece of cake right…?

Work on some DeLormes… Check.

Welcome Zuma and WI_Robin’s little one into the world. It’s so nice of them to get us a playmate for Noah.

If everything works well, I’d like to blog our vacations here like Trudy and the Beast did with their run down the Mother Road. That was one of the coolest things to pop up on these forums all year and we checked the entries daily. I’ve always liked vacations that follow a theme and this really appealed to me. Maybe some day we’ll be getting our own kicks on Route 66.

Lastly and most importantly, I’d like to continue to show Noah the natural world that keeps us energized. He’ll be his own person some day, but hopefully we’ll give him the right direction.

I hope that more people will post here and share what made the year in caching special for them.

[Team Honeybunnies]

@Team Hemisphere Dancer wrote:

@gotta run wrote:

@Team Hemisphere Dancer wrote:

Because Wis-Kid is really a Sith Apprentice

“You know you can’t resist the power of the…150-foot railroad rule?”

I will never give in to the rule! I Know there is still good in you.

“This isn’t the geocache you’re looking for…”

[Team Honeybunnies]

9Key is indeed from Texas. I think that membership in the WGA includes your name popping up on the recent logs, I believe if you’ve linked your membership to your gc.com profile it includes out of state finds. Jeremy could probably answer that more clearly.

Anyway, 9Key has family in central Wisconsin and has visited, I believe I even made an offer to cache some time, and have one of his geocoins.

You’ll see a lot of cross-border logs from the Illinoisans and Minnesotans, and the AlabamaRambler has logs on our site from time to time as well. Just part of the extended WGA family 😀 .

[Team Honeybunnies]

Thanks!

I think I’ve said this every time now, but the DeLorme is absolutely the best way to see a state. We’ve been gifted with the time to be able to do these Challenges, and even more gifted by friends who notice, friends who share the same commitment, and friends who’ve shared the car while we wander aimlessly in the beauty of the world 😉 .

Thank you again everyone, and let’s go caching some time 😀 .

[Team Honeybunnies]

@labrat_wr wrote:

Congrats on the accomplishment !!

(my best bet to complete even one DeLorme would be Rhode Island)

Labrat, if you’d like to work on Wisconsin, just drop a line. The remote parts of Wisconsin are the best parts, and we’re virtually country neighbors. I’ve mentioned the same offer to K-Spud as well. Especially once the weather gets nicer again, I’d rather be in the countryside.

[Team Honeybunnies]

@zuma wrote:

Congrats to THB on their 6th DeLorme, and Gwyn is right in her guess that Michigan is next on the hit parade.

I was emailed this link today, which may be of interest:

http://brassyblue.com/DeLormeChallenges/@DeLormeChampionsByFinds.html

It is a link of those who have completed the most DeLormes. With 6 DeLormes, THB is now tied for 4th in the world with most DeLorme completions. I am down the list a ways, with 4 DeLormes finished. Anyway, it is an interesting list.

zuma

Wow, that’s an interesting link. I’ve never seen it before. I always thought that there were more east-coasters tearing it up while we languished in the bigger states of the Midwest.

[Team Honeybunnies]

Congratulations Ralph, these DeLormes are twice as fun with you along, and we’re looking forward to the next 8) .

[Team Honeybunnies]

Mmmm… Yum… Delicious. I think I’m going to need a bigger spoon for all this tastiness.

[Team Honeybunnies]

Congrats Mike! You’re club key will be available at the front desk 😉 .

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