This year’s fourth annual geocaching event put on by the Gold Country Communities Society (GCCS) was “great”, says Terri Hadwin, chief operating officer of the society.
“We had just under 400 people; a really great attendance despite the weather not being all that good for a lot of it.” This year’s event, called “Time to Explore”, took place in Lillooet, Loon Lake, Clinton, and Cache Creek over the Labour Day long weekend.
Hadwin says that 80 per cent of the participants came from outside the Gold Country region, and 90 per cent came from outside the communities where events were held. “We’ve had really positive feedback,” she notes, adding that this is a huge encouragement. One participant wrote “We had so much fun during this event that the end seemed to come way too fast (as like the last three events)… . I have gone to two Mega [geocache] events and I’ve always enjoyed these Gold Country events the most. It’s the fourth one in a row we’ve done and we hope it continues every year.”
Another participant wrote “We really enjoyed our first Gold Country experience this year, and plan to return in future years. All the hard work and organizing made it a great success.”
Participants in this year's geocache event were encouraged to sign the banner displayed above. Photo by Terri Hadwin.
When asked about a fifth event next year, Hadwin admits she hasn’t really had a chance to breathe since wrapping up this year’s. This is due in part to the fact that GCCS is in the final stages of planning a big celebration taking place in Merritt on October 23–24 to mark the 25th year of the society’s incorporation.
“We’ll be providing free workshops and a tourism trade show on October 24,” she says, adding that communities are invited to set up tables. “And specific businesses could come to promote their business.” Any business in Gold Country can sign up for the workshops, and while full details are not yet available on the GCCS website, Hadwin says anyone interested can e-mail goldcountry@telus.net for information. The trade show is open to members of the public.
Back on the subject of geocaching, Hadwin says the society would like to plan another event. “I think we will do a fifth geocache event in 2017. All things point to us having another one.”