Community
From the November 2014 issue

Maple Grove Geocaching Event Wraps Up

Found It! The Maple Grove geocaching event reveals the treasure in our city.
ACharlie, Marie and Henry Chouinard enjoyed discovering the treasures of Maple Grove.
Photo by: 
Photo courtesy of Amy Chouinard

The Great Maple Grove Geocaching Adventure drew hundreds of geocachers into the great outdoors this spring, despite excessive spring rains. The city-wide event involved 36 geocaches hidden within the city limits. Nestled in iconic places including the water tower and the Great River Energy wind turbine, and in historical locations—such as the area’s original schoolhouses and the first town hall site—each cache hid a big surprise. Tenacious hunters braved thorn bushes, rushing streams, mud and steep inclines, reaching into an underwater hideaway and going way out onto more than one limb to retrieve the treasures.

A geocache is a small box that can be found via GPS coordinates, which are provided along with clues to the cache’s locale. Each cache has a logbook in which successful hunters write their names. Inside the box, hunters also find trinkets for exchange. Additionally, the Maple Grove event caches contained insider info about the location of the cache (for example, pictures of the site as it looked 100 years ago or fun facts about the hiding place).

Cachers learned amazing new things about their own city. Many of them, often those who were first to find a particular cache, also discovered hundreds of dollars’ worth of gift cards and certificates for area shops and restaurants. Not a bad haul for venturing out in pursuit of a little fun!

The cachers who returned a completed event passport, with all clues answered correctly, received additional prizes and a commemorative event medallion.

Whaddya know ?

Can you solve these clues from the Geocaching Adventure?

Do you know…

  • The four corner locations of MG’s city limits?
  • The first one-room schoolhouse in Maple Grove?
  • The number of daily riders on Maple Grove’s transit system?
  • The completion date for Hwy 610?
  • The names of Maple Grove’s first mayor and its present mayor?
  • The littlest library in town?
  • The date the first book was checked out from the Maple Grove Library?
  • Some exciting features of our soon-to-be-complete Central Park?
  • Which lake was completely drained in the mid-20th century?
  • The oldest person buried in the Maplle Knoll Cemetery?
  • The location of Winnebago Native American burial mounds preserved as sacred space?
  • The Maple Grove designated forests?
  • The # of gallons of water held in the city water tower?
  • The highest elevation in the city (and in Hennepin County)?
  • The kinds of fish in Eagle Lake?

Prizes

Event prizes provided by: Let’s Dish, Chick-fil-A, The Shoppes at Arbor Lakes, Claire’s, J Jill, Mainstream Boutique, Good Things, Lookout Bar and Grill, Nadia Cakes, The Joint, REI, Granite City, Trader Joe’s, Yankee Candle Company, Potbelly’s, Pottery Barn

Teamwork

Nine teams, each with one to five members, successfully completed their Maple Grove Geocache Adventure passport. Congrats to Team Shischkabob, S. Young Team, S. Pearson, K. Kokkila, Team terriethegirl, Team Wart-Hog, Chouinard Team, Meier Team and Vetter Team. //

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Thanks to our major sponsors:

  • The MG Arts Center
  • The Daily Dose Whirlyball & REI

Thanks also to people who made the event possible:

  • The MG Historical Preservation Society,
  • City of Maple Grove,
  • Lorrie Link, Jennifer Zafft, Debbie Coss of MG Parks and Rec, Katie Hazen, Brian Wiedeke and Teri Anderson of the MN Geocaching Association ands
  • Jennifer Zafft of the Shoppes at Arbor Lakes