Maryland Geocaching Society (MGS) Special Event

[+BJ&Snurt101]

Everyone is invited to join us for a special Meet & Greet on Saturday, November 1, at the House of the Temple in Washington, D.C.

 

Several months ago, the Maryland Geocaching Society (MGS) was invited to do a geocaching presentation to the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. They were interested in learning more about caching. As a result of our meetings, the Masons have welcomed geocaching! We assisted them with developing guidelines and have been working with them on a Nationwide geocaching program. The goal is for this program to go Worldwide within the year! As we have learned, the Masons own hundreds of beautiful locations that are rich in history. It is great that we will be able to bring caching to these facilities.

 

On the day of the event, The House of the Temple will be open for special guided tours at 10:30, 11:30 and 12:30. At 11:00 Dr. Brent Morris, renowned author and expert will lecture on Masonic History, Codes and Ciphers. Some of you may have seen Dr. Morris on the History & Discovery Channel specials. His knowledge of codes and ciphers should thrill our puzzle cachers At 1:00, we will have a special door prize drawings. Last month, we toured the Temple and the architecture and history of the building is remarkable! Parking in the area of the Temple is limited so please plan to car pool or use Metro.

 

Two weeks ago, the first of the series of Masonic caches were published in Maryland and Washington, D.C. In the following months, States around the U.S. will also launch caches.

 

We hope that many will be able to join us! Several caching-related vendors have signed on to be present. Please RSVP on the event page. - GC1GC7G

 

Best Regards,

 

CalvertCachers (MGS President)

BJ&Snurt101 (MGS Vice-President)

2008core@mdgps.org

Edited October 10, 2008 by BJ&Snurt101

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Everyone is invited to join us for a special Meet & Greet on Saturday, November 1, at the House of the Temple in Washington, D.C.

 

Several months ago, the Maryland Geocaching Society (MGS) was invited to do a geocaching presentation to the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. They were interested in learning more about caching. As a result of our meetings, the Masons have welcomed geocaching! We assisted them with developing guidelines and have been working with them on a Nationwide geocaching program. The goal is for this program to go Worldwide within the year! As we have learned, the Masons own hundreds of beautiful locations that are rich in history. It is great that we will be able to bring caching to these facilities.

 

On the day of the event, The House of the Temple will be open for special guided tours at 10:30, 11:30 and 12:30. At 11:00 Dr. Brent Morris, renowned author and expert will lecture on Masonic History, Codes and Ciphers. Some of you may have seen Dr. Morris on the History & Discovery Channel specials. His knowledge of codes and ciphers should thrill our puzzle cachers At 1:00, we will have a special door prize drawings. Last month, we toured the Temple and the architecture and history of the building is remarkable! Parking in the area of the Temple is limited so please plan to car pool or use Metro.

 

Two weeks ago, the first of the series of Masonic caches were published in Maryland and Washington, D.C. In the following months, States around the U.S. will also launch caches.

 

We hope that many will be able to join us! Several caching-related vendors have signed on to be present. Please RSVP on the event page. - GC1GC7G

 

Best Regards,

 

CalvertCachers (MGS President)

BJ&Snurt101 (MGS Vice-President)

2008core@mdgps.org

Why do I smell a conspiracy here? In fact, why do I smell a BIG TIME conspiracy here?

 

Are you aware that if you do a search on Google for the terms [Freemason Illuminati] you get over 639,000 hits, that is, over 639,000 websites talking about the Freemasons and their alliance with the dreaded Bavarian Illuminati!

 

And, are you aware that the highest degree of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, the 33rd degree, is known is their tradition as the Meritorious Degree, aka the Degree of the Illuminati?

 

I am scared. Very scared.

 

And I am worried. Very worried. I suspect that the end is near. I suspect that this November geo event at the Masonic House of the Temple is a Sign of the Beginning of the End of Days. And now I am sad, for our world will shortly be overrun by the Six Horsemen of the Apocalypse. sad... very sad...

 

 

 

[+BJ&Snurt101]

639,000 hits Vinny? Oh wow man! That's more hits than I took in twelve years as a hippie.

Edited October 11, 2008 by BJ&Snurt101

[+KJcachers]

33rd Degree? SO that's what the 33 on the Rolling Rock bottle means! Thanks for clearing that up!

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

33rd Degree? SO that's what the 33 on the Rolling Rock bottle means! Thanks for clearing that up!

Actually, and I speak here as somewhat of an amateur authority of the matter, because I spent six years in graduate school on a campus (IUP) located not far from Latrobe, PA, the home of Rolling Rock beer, the 33 on the label does NOT refer to the 33rd degree of Freemasonry. Nor, surprisingly, does it refer to the old "33" which many editors and reporters used to indicate the end of their story in the early and mid 20th century. Nor does it refer to 1933, the year in which Prohibition was repealed. In fact, no one knows for sure how or why the "33" came bo be on the bottle -- and it has been there since 1939, but the theory that I -- and most of the locals around Latrobe, PA back in the early 1990s, seemed to like the most is the one which is recounted in the article on the Rolling Rock "33" at Snopes.com. Briefly, this theory postulates that the 33 ended up on the label entirely by accident, due to a stray "33" that someone at the brewery had accidentally scribbled on a graphic design sheet which was sent to the printer. Of course, as the article concludes, no one REALLY knows for sure how the 33 got there!

[+BJ&Snurt101]

Well, I don't care much for Rolling Rock, though swilling RR ponies was a fad at point. Hey Vinny, my sister attended IUP for a spell, but I don't think she was into partying or RR or the #33.

 

Maybe a new brew is in order - bottled in Mason jars. Anyone for a Blue Lodge Lager, perhaps a York Rites Pilsner? Don't care for Ale so I won't suggest a Scottish Rites Pale Ale.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Well, I don't care much for Rolling Rock, though swilling RR ponies was a fad at point. Hey Vinny, my sister attended IUP for a spell, but I don't think she was into partying or RR or the #33.

 

Maybe a new brew is in order - bottled in Mason jars. Anyone for a Blue Lodge Lager, perhaps a York Rites Pilsner? Don't care for Ale so I won't suggest a Scottish Rites Pale Ale.

Snurt, by the time I was attending grad school at IUP -- from 1987 through 1992, I was well into adulthood, I guess in my early forties (which, I think, makes me the oldest person on the Groundspeak forum by far...), and I had not partied in over twenty years! However, in those IUP days, I did enjoy an occasional bottle of Rolling Rock, and best of all, while at IUP I discovered and fell in love with a little-known regional micro-brew called Straub Beer, made in tiny town in northern PA called St Mary's, Pennsylvania. (Incidentally, some residents and officials of the town, at a much later date, when they learned of my love for Straub's beer, hand-delivered a case of Straub's beer to me at my then-residence halfway across the state as a gift sent as a token of appreciation for something that I had done for their town, but that is another tale, for another time and another venue....)

 

And the reason that I knew so much about Rolling Rock is that a good friend of mine who was at IUP at the time had grown up in Latrobe -- her parents operated a dairy farm there -- and many of her relatives had worked at the Rolling Rock plant at one time or another, and so she knew all the local gossip about the beer!

 

And, for a closing note, one really neat thing about both Straub Beer and Rolling Rock beer at the time (although it may no longer be true for Rolling Rock, since they are now owned by Anheuser-Busch and procedures may have since changed) is that at the time I was attending grad school in western PA in the late 80s and early 90s, both breweries were using as their only source of brewing water pristine spring water from mountain springs located near each of their plants.

Edited October 14, 2008 by Vinny & Sue Team

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Okay, there seem to be a few things that need attention here, as follows:

 

First, why is it widely-rumored that some very strange, bizarre, astounding and heretofore top-secret information will be revealed at this event? Why is it widely-rumored the Groundspeak bigwigs will be present at this event?

 

Next, why is it that the House of the Temple and the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry are suddenly being referenced in other threads in other sections of this forum? And, on a closely-related note, why is it rumored that there is, hidden in the innermost adytum of the innermost chapel inside the House of the Temple (and accessible only by a select few of the 33rd degree members of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry), a signage stage for the most complex and challenging 5/5 multi-stage/mystery geocache in the world?

 

Any reasonable observer might ask:

What the heck is going on here?

How much of a hand does the ancient and shadowy Bavarian Illuminati have in all of this?

[+BJ&Snurt101]

I just don't know Vinny! Several possibilities - you are back into the Rolling Rock, the last batch of microbes was tainted with Owlsley Lysergic, or you were ignominously sucked through a portal prematurely with your proverbial pants down.

 

Know there is always a kernel of validity at the core of a rumor onion. I prefer Walla Walla Sweets.

[+wimseyguy]

I always believed the simple explanation that there are 33 words painted onto the bottles.

 

Looking forward to returning to DC and meeting some of the locals there.... and maybe even Vinny too.

[+PeachyPA]

33rd Degree? SO that's what the 33 on the Rolling Rock bottle means! Thanks for clearing that up!

Actually, and I speak here as somewhat of an amateur authority of the matter, because I spent six years in graduate school on a campus (IUP) located not far from Latrobe, PA, the home of Rolling Rock beer, the 33 on the label does NOT refer to the 33rd degree of Freemasonry. Nor, surprisingly, does it refer to the old "33" which many editors and reporters used to indicate the end of their story in the early and mid 20th century. Nor does it refer to 1933, the year in which Prohibition was repealed. In fact, no one knows for sure how or why the "33" came bo be on the bottle -- and it has been there since 1939, but the theory that I -- and most of the locals around Latrobe, PA back in the early 1990s, seemed to like the most is the one which is recounted in the article on the Rolling Rock "33" at Snopes.com. Briefly, this theory postulates that the 33 ended up on the label entirely by accident, due to a stray "33" that someone at the brewery had accidentally scribbled on a graphic design sheet which was sent to the printer. Of course, as the article concludes, no one REALLY knows for sure how the 33 got there!

My son currently attends IUP; my second daughter graduated from there in 2007. One version that I heard that the 33 refers to the 33-word legend on the back of the bottle. But others say what you said, they really don't know. And our current favorite brew comes from Straub. We have yet to visit inside the Straub brewery, but we did find the cache that used to be outside.

 

Wish I could get to the event. That place must be fascinating!

Edited October 22, 2008 by PeachyPA

[+BJ&Snurt101]

Bump, bumping again. The excitement builds for a truly unique experience.

 

* Dr. Brent Morris' lecture on cipher, codes and Freemasonry will be video-taped and made available via the Masonic Geocaching Society.

 

* See the cache page (GC1GC7G) for bookmark listings for a Virtual Cache tour of the Mall. Two (2) Wherigo caches are in place, one starting at the House of the Temple.

 

* Hummm...A BIG movie studio has donated some special door prizes for this Event. Geezz.... I wonder what this could mean??? Some kind of special treasure... We will need all of our puzzle cachers to help solve the mystery!

 

* Ah Yes, m'friends. This just in from my studio friend down south, Apodemus Sylvaticus. Said arrival of the goods is imminent. He was busy with a parade or somesuch. I wonder, given his newly acquired IT skills, whether he uses a tracball or a standard mouse. Heh. Squeak!

 

Here are the Masonic Geocaches that are currently available in Maryland and DC:

 

GC1GM25 - Masonic - Brotherhood Throughout The Years

GC1GKRJ - Masonic - Thomas's Double-Headed Eagle

GC1GCGM - Masonic - The Freemason (Pigpen) Cypher

GC1G8XH - Masonic - Masonic Creed - Looking Forward

GC1G7Y7 - Masonic - Masonic - The Eye of Providence

GC1GBC9 - Masonic - Masonic - Beyond The Third Degree

GC1HAHK - Masonic - Scottish Rite Temple (Wherigo Cache)

GC1GXVM - Masonic - House of the Temple

 

ps. The Masonic Geocaching Society will have available their very first trackable geocoin. Some may be offered as door prizes.

 

Snurt,

MGS VP

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Just bumping the thread... And, while Sue has been planning all along to attend this event, it now looks like I will be present at the event as well, for at least the first hour or so (10 AM onward.)

 

Have fun!

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

For those who may not yet have seen it, the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry distributed a press release on October 25, which was posted on several online press release websites and which may also be found on Google News. The press release was titled Caches, Cornerstones, and Codes: Scottish Rite Masons Launch Geocaching Group at Public Event

Washington, D.C. The Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1733 16th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20009) will hold a public event Nov. 1st from 10a.m. to 1p.m. to launch The Masonic Geocaching Society, a group of Masons dedicated to the sport of geocaching. and a copy of the full body of the press release may be found at http://www.prlog.org/10132989-caches-corne...blic-event.html

 

See you there!

[+BJ&Snurt101]

For those who may not yet have seen it, the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry distributed a press release on October 25, which was posted on several online press release websites and which may also be found on Google News. The press release was titled Caches, Cornerstones, and Codes: Scottish Rite Masons Launch Geocaching Group at Public Event

Washington, D.C. The Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1733 16th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20009) will hold a public event Nov. 1st from 10a.m. to 1p.m. to launch The Masonic Geocaching Society, a group of Masons dedicated to the sport of geocaching. and a copy of the full body of the press release may be found at http://www.prlog.org/10132989-caches-corne...blic-event.html

 

See you there!

 

Thanks Vinny. It was a pleasure visit with You & Sue yesterday. Thanks for the lotions, potions and warm associations.

 

Two quick sharings here. The Masonic Geocaching Society (sorry, I can't seem to create a link to their facebook page. Will work on that) is seeking Masonic cachers nationwide to participate in placing caches at historic and significant Temples and Lodges. In collaboration with the Maryland Geocaching Society (MGS), guidelines and documentation forms have been developed for interactions with the local sites.

 

Secondly, the Masonic Geocaching Society proudly announces the minting of their very first trackable Masonic geocoin. This nicely struck piece will be availabe at the Temple Event on Saturday in Washington, DC. More incentive!

Edited October 29, 2008 by BJ&Snurt101

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Just a quick bump for a very deserving thread. The following items bear mentioning, if they have not been mentioned before:

• it has been announced by the organizers there will be several geocaching-related vendors present at the event
  
• one or more representatives from Groundspeak HQ will be present at the event
  
• several Groundspeak reviewers from nearby states will be present at the event
  
• there will be unique door prizes contributed by a major Hollywood studio
  
• at least two national TV networks will have video news crews present at the event
  
• there will be a lecture on Freemasonry, secrets, puzzles and cryptography by a famed ex-government cryptographer
  
• there will be some rather interesting public announcements made for the first time at the event regarding Freemasonry, geocaching and certain other matters; one of the announcements may well be considered to be of historical significance and of import to many geocachers
  
• my adorable hottie wife Sue, the geocaching Puzzle Queen, will be present at the event, for the entire duration of the event
  
• I will be in attendance for a short while at the start of the event, after which I will be escorted from the event by a hottie exotic government agent
  
• oops... just realized that my attendance (listed above) is, for most people, a very good reason NOT to attend!)
  

Hope to see you there!

 

Have fun!

Edited October 30, 2008 by Vinny & Sue Team

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Much as I had threatened to do earlier in the week via the local MGS forum, I attended this fun event for about the first seventy minutes, accompanied by an exotic government agent whose job it was to manage my behavior and to help me to find and assess the fabled time-space portal (aka interdimensional portal), a purported gift to the Society from the Ancient Ones, long rumored to exist within the House of the Temple of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.

 

It was fun getting to see a bunch of familiar faces from MD/VA/DC/DE/PA at the event, and to speak with all those folks, as well as with some geocachers whom I had not previously met, and who will, unfortunately, never be the same after having lived through the bizarre experience of speaking with me.

 

Thanks to everyone, particularly CalvertCachers-Sue and Snurt (the president and VP, respectively, of Maryland Geocaching Society), and to the folks at the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, for all the work and for helping to make this happen! It was great!

 

Interestingly, much as I enjoy Groundspeak, the geocaching.com website and the Groundspeak forum, I most note that I was not the only person present at the event who noticed that the particular representative whom Groundspeak sent from Seattle did NOT seem to enjoy being there, that is, she did NOT seem to have her heart in the job [see footnote #1] of meeting local cachers and having her photo taken with them. If Groundspeak is gonna send a representative to a regional event in the future, they may wish to send someone who enjoys meet-and-greet type things and enjoys meeting people, and who can put a bit of heart into their work; in some circles, this is known as having "fire in the belly".

 

BTW, I loved the library at the Masonic House of the Temple -- it was by far my favorite room -- and I am now trying to figure out a way to live there part-time -- I could put a small futon bed up on one of the balconies in the semi-circular section and spend my days settled in one of the chairs in the reading room.

 

And yes, I was able to successfully locate the time-space portal hidden in the adytum within the cella (main chapel or chamber) of the House of the Temple, and the sultry and highly capable government agent (aka Agent JellyBean) accompanying me was able to take the requisite photos and field measurements. I can say no more about the portal and related matters beyond this simple statement.

 

Footnote #1: This does not necessarily mean that the Groundspeak rep who attended the event is a hopeless introvert or hopelessly anti-social, and rather, it may well have been that she was just having a bad day, or having a migraine headache, or distracted by other issues (or maybe she is/was scared to death of Freemasons! ) And, my above note about her lack of enthusiasm should not be taken as a criticism of her as a person, but rather, as a comment about her suitability for this particular task of visiting regional events.

 

.

Edited November 4, 2008 by Vinny & Sue Team

[+rufnredy]

Interesting post Vinnie ... but I had a totally different impression of the Groundspeak representative.

 

I actually talked to Shauna for a good half hour or more when she arrived and again later in the day discussing topics ranging from general caching concerns to the NPS and the AT issues now in the forefront. I saw a genuine enthusiasm and complete dedication to caching and the cachers who chose to talk to her and provide feedback on how things are going.

 

Watching her move from small group to small group served to confirm this impression. As she said several times, the reason she was at the event was to get together with cachers and return home with feedback and suggestions. I don't think this was the right venue for a GC rep to stand up and take center stage. I do think that the low key way Shauna moved through the crowds was perfect for the event and by design did not cause a distraction.

 

Personally, I look forward to working with Shauna and the rest of the Groundspeak crew on the projects we discussed and look forward to great things in the future for geocachers and geocaching in general.

 

dave (rufnredy)

[+rufnredy]

oops ... timeout and double post ...

Edited November 4, 2008 by rufnredy

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Interesting post Vinnie ... but I had a totally different impression of the Groundspeak representative.

 

I actually talked to Shauna for a good half hour or more when she arrived and again later in the day discussing topics ranging from general caching concerns to the NPS and the AT issues now in the forefront. I saw a genuine enthusiasm and complete dedication to caching and the cachers who chose to talk to her and provide feedback on how things are going.

 

Watching her move from small group to small group served to confirm this impression. As she said several times, the reason she was at the event was to get together with cachers and return home with feedback and suggestions. I don't think this was the right venue for a GC rep to stand up and take center stage. I do think that the low key way Shauna moved through the crowds was perfect for the event and by design did not cause a distraction.

 

Personally, I look forward to working with Shauna and the rest of the Groundspeak crew on the projects we discussed and look forward to great things in the future for geocachers and geocaching in general.

 

dave (rufnredy)

Dave, thanks for sharing your experience. That is good to hear! My note about her was based upon just a few minutes accidental observation of her from a distance by myself and two other persons (no, not Sue; Sue does not pay attention to Groundspeak reps and probably did not even notice her!) at around 10:20 AM, and each of us felt/noticed that she seemed to look rather cold, stiff and out of place. So, it may well have been a short-term situational thing that we were each noticing and responding to. In fact, Shauna contacted me last nite about my brief forum note, and when I replied to her this morning, I shared with her to highly positive pieces of feedback about her presence at the event which were posted on the local Maryland Geocaching Society (MGS) forum by two other attendees.

 

Among the respondents on MGS, Donbadabon wrote:

I had a completely different experience with her. I found her very friendly and talkative. When I spoke with her, she was excited about the event, and also discussed some future events that GS was sending her to that she was looking forward to.

 

and Jeff/JPatton wrote, also on the MGS forum:

I think she was just nervous, because she had been warned you were going to be there. :wink: I had a nice time chatting and caching with her.