Wednesday, September 28, 2005

The List of Finders

Trail names found in MidMissouri letterboxes
Contact C2B2 to add a name
ABS Family
Ahistory
AJMonkeyman
Bean-Lover
Bender
Buggy-mom
Bumblebee
BzeeBbbs
C2B2
Calicamo Susan
Craw & Joey
Dee Dee
DragAlongForFun
E-volution
Fairy Princess Fiona
FoxFyr
Grace to You
Grass in Moonlight
Heartlover
Here & There
Hoof'n It
Illia
Jays
J-Corn
JennyJ
Jessie
Jessiemiaud
Jim & Sharon
Kingfisher
Lady in Red
Leapin'Lizzards
LndCrzr
Love
Megbrad
McMonkey Mom
Mamaroots
Mammakopp
Momame
Nugglebugs
Oldeprospector
Onemeangreenbean
Outdoor Girls
Perdu
PoisonIvy
Queenbusick
Rachel
Rozebud
Sam
SB Princess Aurora
Scooby
Sparky
Sun Eagle
SurlyMama
Tennessee Traveler
The Amazing Kid Who
The B Hunters
The Byrds
The Fire Dog
The Five B's
The Gardener
The Martins
The McMonkeys
The Scorp
Touchtrek
Webfoot
Woodstock
Wyld Blueberries

Monday, September 19, 2005

Coming this fall: The Gathering, a Sequel

Remember when spring was in the air, cartoon-themed boxes sprouted in Rock Bridge State Park and Lnd-Crzr beamed that impish grin? What a gathering. What a crowd.

It's time again. Lnd-Crzr has rung the cyber bell to gather the Mid Missouri Letterboxers clan again. As fitting for Fall, this gathering will be a bit less wild and wooly. The group will meet at Cherry Street Artisan in Columbia at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Don't know the place? Check here. Great coffee, music and high-speed Internet.

There are a number of boxes nearby: Architects Series No. 1, Buried Jewells and one I haven't had time to name or post yet. But Lnd-Crzr has even more up his sleeve. He is placing small (Altoid-size) tins in his memorable Exchange Box. You can pick up a tin and use it to design a micro box for a contest similar to the one we so much enjoyed in the first gathering.

By the way, the (ahem) winning entry from that gathering is now the Fallen Leaf box. Find it if you can. Dare you.

Ron is looking for more ideas for the gathering. If you have ideas or need directions to his exchange box, contact him through the LbNA Web site. Look for the list of placers. Use the link to send him a message.

Or -- just a thought -- post your ideas here.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Dog days and letterboxing in Marshall


I love history. I hate boring history books.

For me, history lived in the quirky stories in the margins of texts or ramblings of old folk. Maybe that's why I became a journalist instead of a historian.

Jim the Wonderdog is one of those quirky stories and it just begged for a letterbox.

Last winter, Cecile and I agreed to meet our Kansas City friends, Jim and Sarah Byrd, somewhere between our two homes. Marshall, MO, was a likely prospect on our map. The deal was set when we looked up Marshall on the Internet and found the Jim the Wonderdog site.

Jim was one of those folk heros that don't seem to come along much any more. A whole town got together to build a park for him when he died. How can you not like a dog like that?

Anyway, we froze our bottoms off that winter day, but vowed to return. And return we did this September. The four of us -- plus our two dogs -- had a great picnic in Jim's park and placed a special box. The Byrds also placed a fun box (the stamp for which was carved on the spot) in nearby Waverly to mark the annual Apple Festival.