Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization

As we are working our way into June, we are in need of volunteers to hold Geocaching 101 classes and walk around assisting while the students test their new skills.  In addition to class help, NoVAGO needs all kinds of volunteers to support our ongoing community efforts and quarterly events.  Are you good at Organizing?  Speaking?  Heavy Labor? Finding Caches?   We can use each and every one of you and your talents.

To this end, we have scheduled NoVAGO’s Spring Volunteer Fair on Sunday May 19th. We will be demonstrating how easy it is to give the Geocaching 101 class (you know how to cache so you know all of this stuff already).  We will be looking for some much needed help and will be talking about opportunities to assist making caching more fun for everyone.

Come by the Reston Library (11925 Bowman Towne Drive) on Sunday afternoon between 3:30-5:00 to learn more and pick up a smilie!  See http://coord.info/GC4BDDA for more information.  No worries, you will not be pressured to volunteer but you may just hear about something you are interested in doing.

The classes are really a lot of fun to do and provide a chance to give something back to the community and the sport we all love .  We will have a list of classes and locations available and hope to fill some spots during the afternoon.

Please mark your calendar and try to attend Sunday afternoon and help us to help you and the community.

Looking forward to seeing a lot of folks …

PS … These classes also provide an opportunity for volunteer hours that may be required by school, scouts, or other organizations …

Spring is here … weather is warming up and the various critters that have been sleeping are now stirring and becoming more active ..

Was on the Eastern Shore this weekend and moved a rock to find a little snake … BE CAREFUL … we have had a couple of poisonous snake bites in the last couple years and surely do not need any more …

Along those lines, the poison ivy is starting up its activity … if you don’t know what it looks like google it and read up … Spring is a time when tender leaves and stalks are tender and if you break one you may well be affected …

And of course … several ticks were spotted this weekend … be aware of them and make sure you do thorough tick checks when you return from a caching trip … those itsy bitsy ones are especially hard to spot …

Enjoy the weather and get out before it gets too hot
But be aware and be careful …

It is that time again … time to voice your preferences for the best NoVAGO caches of the year.
After receiving and sorting through uncounted emails, we have accumulated a list of the top nominations.

I hold in my hand the envelopes. As a child of four can plainly see, these envelopes have been hermetically sealed. They’ve been kept in a #2 mayonnaise jar on Funk and Wagnall’s porch since noon today. No one knows the contents of these envelopes.  It is now time to reveal the contents of the envelopes and begin the voting process.

The voting will be tabulated through surveymonkey.
The link to the ballot is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QJ8YSWP

PLEASE take the time to vote and let your voices be heard.

There were a lot of great caches placed last year and they all deserve recognition,
but only the few will be named best in category based on your votes.

Winners will be announced at the Spring Event on April 20th.

Good luck to all the nominees … and may the best caches win …

And that means loads of events and chances to get out and meet and socialize with other cachers.

There are so many things are happening in the next few weeks …

We have another CITO event scheduled this month in Sugarland Run. CITO’s are a great opportunity to show our appreciation for the parks and those who allow us to place caches in them. Please come out and lend a hand, it is really is a good time and a lot of fun wandering the woods with a bunch of other cachers.  Ask those who volunteered their time at Beaverdam Reservoir last weekend ..

Events for March include:

3/13 2012 NoVAGO Award Nominations – Tortillas & Talk by NoVAGO | GC46PM0 | Virginia
3/13 Are you Soup-erstitous? by hokiecachers and ItMustBeJames | GC4629Z | Virginia
3/14 Pizza 3.14159 in NoVA by rufnredy | GC46NY6 | Virginia
3/15 The Ides of March by WVKiwi | GC46WT1 | Virginia
3/21 NoVAGO Puzzle Cache Workshop by two000miler | GC43RGP | Virginia
3/23 Sugarland Run CITO 2013 by Agazo | GC46Y8Z | Virginia
3/30 Meet & Greet @ Tuscarora Park!! by talkingtothewolves | GC45AE3 | Virginia

and all the regularly scheduled local events
Please check the calendar to see everything in the area. There is a LOT going on …

And a SNEAK PREVIEW to get you thinking about it …

Coming in April ….

CITO Day Cleanup and the NoVAGO Spring Event and Pot Luck …
Mark your Calendars …

4/20 2013 NoVAGO … Celebrate Spring at Claude Moore by NoVAGO | GC45VT8 | Virginia
4/20 NoVAGO 2013 CITO at Claude Moore by NoVAGO and Friends | GC45MBZ | Virginia

Finally …

We are still looking for a few volunteers to help out at the Gulf Branch Nature Center Class on April 13th.  If you can give a couple hours to help lead some new cachers around, please let us know.

Well, January has come and gone and we welcomed in February with an awesome event.
Lots of folks braved the cold and attended NoVAGO’s Winter Event Groundhog Day at Glen Carlyn.
Big Thanks to Nemo Consequentia and In2Mud for placing caches and to Schwandt and DerekTiffany for bringing in the donuts and drinks.

The new caches include a must do multi Nemo created in under a week. Loved the hike, stages, and little twists and turns along the way. It has been NoVAGO member recommended and is on the bookmark list already ..

VOLUNTEERS

All, we need help .. We are looking for people willing to take a couple hours out of a weekend day to teach or assist at a geocaching 101 class. Currently NoVAGO has been asked to support a dozen classes this spring and summer and we need to start planning staff involvement.

These classes are a great way to give back to the community that has allowed our caches to be placed and given us so many hours of enjoyment out on the trails.

Another benefit is if you have High School age kids who are in need of volunteer hours, this is a great chance to participate and log hours. NoVAGO is a non-profit and the classes we are supporting are local nature center and library sponsored events. The hours given can help on that college application or scouting rank you may be working for …

PLEASE PLEASE consider helping out … and let one of the officers know if you can even for only one class …

For the Presenters, powerpoint presentations will be available so there is very little prep work other than looking it over before the class … if you like speaking in front of people or wished you had a chance to improve your communications skills here it is

If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions … please contact myself or one of the officers …

dave