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Geocaching event slated for Sunday at DPU Nature Park

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

A geocaching treasure hunt is scheduled for Sunday, May 19 at the DePauw University Nature Park.

Sponsored by the Greencastle Parks and Recreation Department, the event is set for 6:30-8 p.m.

Registration deadline is Thursday, May 16. Pre-registration is required. Entry fee is $10 per person.

What is geocaching? The word geocache is a combination of geo, which means earth, and cache, which means a hiding place.

Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. A Global Positioning System (GPS) unit is an electronic tool that shows where to go based on information it gets from satellites in space. Geocaching describes a hiding place on planet Earth -- a hiding place that can be found.

During the park program, participants will learn to navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.

The program will meet some of the requirements of the Boy Scouts' Geocache Merit Badge.

Registration forms for this and other Parks and Recreation Department programs can be picked up at City Hall, the Putnam County Public Library, the Putnam County Museum or printed online by going to cityofgreencastle.com and clicking the Parks and Recreation link.

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  • I started Geocaching years ago when a friend gave me his old GPS unit when he bought a new one. You can find numerous sites on the web where you can get coordinates for free and information relating to level of difficulty, requirements to participate (such as leaving a token or if the cache needs replenished) and what ever else you may need to know.

    I've become increasingly frustrated living in the greencastle area because there is very little in the way of activities to do and invariably there is some type of fee or cost that sometimes seem excessive. Considering the rate of unemployment in the area and increase in juvenile crime we really need to have activities and events that impoverished people can attend. $10.00 may not be much to college students or some of the town's residents but to people on fixed incomes or unemployment it can be the difference between having basic food items or not that given month.

    Another example was a Brochure I picked up recently that had a number of one time courses where you could get an introduction to something new. Most of these courses involved showing up somewhere and took maybe three hours. One involved something regarding photographing sunsets. It charged a fee of $20.00 to take my own camera, show up to the location, photos of the sunset. This is something I can do for free, my interest in the course was to have an opportunity to meet other people and a chance to socially network on intellectual or hobby related interests.

    There are no real options as far as I can find for impoverished people to meet in safe settings and make new friends. Those of us who are disabled, elderly, or simply new to the area are very isolated because of this. When I inquire of people what there is to do in town the only answer I seem to get is " go hang out at Wal-Mart". This is a really sad state of being for greencastle in terms of culture and sound safe social structure. It negatively impacts the poor, the disabled, the elderly, and youth at risk.

    -- Posted by Heron on Wed, May 15, 2013, at 1:37 PM
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