North Quabbin Woods Clippings

September 14, 2005-- 150 Participate in First Geocaching Tournament

The first Annual Great Northern Tier Geocaching Tournament brought 150 people from the North Quabbin, across southern New England and as far away as Philadelphia and Alabama to the North Quabbin Region for two days of high-tech treasure hunting, providing a boost to regional promotion efforts.

Starting at the Trustees of Reservations’ North Common Meadow in Petersham, the 59 registered teams used handheld GPS units to search for the over 60 "caches" hidden throughout the region’s forests, farms, and town centers. These caches highlighted natural areas, historical and cultural locations, and local businesses. Participants received points by answering a question at the cache or by stamping a scorecard.

Tournament t-shirts from Ames Trophy were signed by all participants and were awarded to individual and group teams that collected the greatest number of points and caches. In the individual category Glen Alt "Scout98" found 38 caches while "Blitzkrieg" received 730 points. In the team category, "Ben King" found 60 caches and team "Jode" had the most points with 1305. Scout98 also was first to find the most caches of any team.

Over 30 business and organizations supported the event with time, financial contributions, and an array of prizes including weekend bed and breakfast getaways, kayak rentals and farm gift baskets.

According to team surveys, participants were impressed by the region’s beauty and how much history there is to learn here. At least 11 teams spent a night in a local bed and breakfast, motel or campground, and participants spent over $1,200 on food and shopping. Almost every team noted that they hoped to come back to the region for geocaching or for other activities.

The event was organized by Congressman John Olver’s Office, the Trustees of Reservations, Franklin Regional Council of Governments, MassCountryRoads.com, MA Dept. of Agricultural Resources, MA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, New England Forestry Foundation, New England Naturalist Training Center, North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce, and North Quabbin Woods.

Major support for the event came from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, Winterwood at Petersham, Steven’s Farm Bed and Breakfast, and 97.3FM WJDF.

While organizers are planning to make this an annual event in the North Quabbin Region, preparations are being made to host other Geocaching events across the Northern Tier over the coming year. For more information about local caches visit www.geocaching.com and visit www.northquabbinwoods.org for information about other regional events.