Post Gathering...Gathering

After the Gathering this Saturday at the library, a few of us will be heading downtown to Shakespeare’s for slices’ of Columbia’s best pizza pie and inevitably share stories of Letterboxing glory and adventure. Enjoy a good pie and endless yarns of snatching LnL from the mouth of dragons? Then come along and join us!

Lnd-Crzr

Bad news, good news

A nasty end to one our our favorite boxes came with a great lesson that all who merely observe letterboxing are not "muggles."

I received a message on this board as a comment from on a very old post:

"I found a destroyed letterbox at the end of Wilson Street near the University of Missouri campus and at the beginning of the Rock Hill Park trail.The letterbox was left by C2B2.If you would like this letterbox returned call Eric..."

If you have searched for the Rocking and Crocking series in Rockhill Park, you may be familiar with the substantial stone monument to Mayor Clyde Wilson at the end of Wilson Street. Last week a fellow in a chemically altered state of mind barreled down Wilson at a high rate of speed, smashed the stone monument and disappeared way down the hill. The driver was not injured (apparently he was already numb) but in the debris from the wreck in front of his house, Eric Fritz found the smashed pieces of the smallest crock in the series.

Eric said he has never letterboxed, but he knew what it is and found this blog on the Web. And the rest is good history.

A tip of my hat to Eric Fritz. I'll invite him to our gathering or at least quaff a mug of rootbeer in his honor.

C2B2

Jim is back

Jim the Wonderdog had a wonderful letterbox to match his memorial in Marshall, MO. But some curr napped it.

You can't keep a good dog down. A new stamp, a new box and ... well, just check the clues.

C2B2

Brrr...

Zowie! Are you as chilly as I am? I am not fond of the deep freeze that has grabbed us. I was wondering though, what is the MOST extreme weather that you have boxed in? I personally know three crazy boxers that went out today. Did I mention that the high temperature today was 18 degrees? (Ask them HOW cold the wind was!) I chose to snuggle up on the couch and ignore the logbooks that were waved under my nose upon arrival home. I WAS WARM! That was all that mattered.

I hope that you will all come out for the gathering on Feb 2nd. I will venture out then and look forward to seeing you then!

Winter Tea Time and Dumbledore's Army

It's finally time to break the winter cold spell with a little letterbox Gathering.

Saturday, February 2, 2008
Columbia Public Library, Conference Room B, 1st floor
1:30-5 p.m.

Schedule (see details below):
1:30 Dumbledore's Army Plotting Session
2:30 Break for Tea and Stamp Exchanges and Contest Voting
3-5 Arts and Craft Session

In the tradition of English Tea Time, we will have an afternoon Gathering at 2:30 p.m. and drink a little tea, eat a few snacks (kudos to anyone that actually bring crumpets) and do a little letterboxing arts and crafts show and tell. You will have the opportunity to demonstrate, teach or learn letterboxing-related crafts such as making aged paper, creative logbooks, intricate box containers, stamp carving, etc. This will also be the time for the traditional exchange signature stamp images and meeting new people.

Also, as promised, the winner of the Short Sweet and Sassy contest will be voted upon and a prize awarded. If you have not yet found the boxes related to this series, now is the time to go hunt for them so you can make an informed vote.

Prior to the 2:30 Gathering time, if you wish to help plan the annual Spring Gathering (and/or find out how you can volunteer to help), join us at 1:30 for a gathering of Dumbledore's Army (a fitting title considering the Harry Potter theme of the Spring Gathering). We will be planning and making preparations for the spring event which is traditional the largest Gathering event of the year. I expect we will draw up to 75 people this year and so some coordination, planning and volunteers will be a must for this event. If you have not yet marked your calendars for the Spring Gathering, it will be all day Saturday and Sunday May 3-4 at Binder Lake Park in Jefferson City.

If you have questions or need information, please reply in the comments section or contact me directly through www.letterboxing.org
--Fox-fyr

A question or two

Hello all! I'm Clyde and Cecile's daughter, Gillian. My husband and I have planted a few boxes around Columbia that you may have come across in the past and although we no longer live in Missouri (we're now in Charlottesville VA) I've been following along with your blog and with updates on your gatherings from my parents.

I'm working on an article about Letterboxing in Missouri and I wondered if anyone would be interested in giving me a mini interview. you can respond (comment, I guess is the official term) or email me directly at briton@grimm.com

So here are my questions, and please feel free to add anything else you think might be interesting!

1. First, I know there have been some articles about letterboxing that have been somewhat dissapointing, so tell me what you would like to see in an article about it. What have you felt was missing in the past?

2. Tell me about a place that you discovered because of letterboxing, somewhere you would otherwise have never known about and what your reaction to finding it was. (That's always been my favorite part!)

3. Tell me what your favorite part of letterboxing is, what drew you to it and what keeps you at it.


Thanks in advance for any and all help I get. Since it's not a commissioned article, I obviously don't know if or when it would be published but I'm hoping!

If you're ever out Virginia way give us a holler!

Thanks

Gillian

Letterboxing Green - 2008 Contest

Happy New Year everyone. I have been quiet of late because I am finishing my masters thesis and don't have much time to letterbox until summer. So in my absence I figured I would give you something to do. With the new year, it is time for a new challenge, so here you go.

This challenge is fairly straight forward. As more and more of America is starting to focus on going green (hopefully this is not just the latest fad), I thought it might be time to think about sustainable letterboxing. In that spirit, I would like to challenge everyone to think reduce, reuse, and recycle in future plantings. So here are the rules.

1) try to use nothing new - you do not have to use entirely recycled materials ( I understand that recycled glue can be hard to come by) but the more of your box that is recycled (i.e. logbooks, the box itself, even stamp materials) the more it will count toward the contest. Bonus points for people who use materials that have been recycled more than once. For, example I often use old MU stationary paper for logbook pages. This stationary from the early 90s was made from 100% recycled paper to begin with, hence when used for logbook pages it is kind of being double recycled (if there is such a thing). Anyway the more generations of recycling you can employ the better.

2) leave no trace - special emphasis should be focused on placement. Placement should consider detrimental effects to the location and be done in such a way to limit the environmental impact or footprint left behind by the finders. One easy way to meet this goal is to try and place the box in a place near paved trails or sidewalks/roads. Thus I encourage all boxes to be handicap accessible, though this is by no means a requirement. Another part of reducing impact is limiting the number of boxes in any one area, so I ask that all entries be placed in locations where there are no existing boxes within a close distance. Other tips might include requiring public or non-motorized transportation in the clue or anything that reduces the impact a letterboxer would have during a hunt.

3) environmental theme - I think everyone (myself included) could use a good dose of education on sustainability and other green practices, so I ask that the all entries have some sort of environmental theme. Extra points will be given for those who address topics with creativity, such as using Dr. Seuss's the Lorax to educate about global warming. The more creative the bigger the impression and the more longer lasting the lesson, so extra kudos for those who tackle environmental issues in new and fun ways.

That is pretty much the how of it. Boxes should be placed anytime in the first six months of the year (Jan. - July 2008) though there is some leeway for late entries. We will hold a judging at the fall or winter 08 gathering. The winner will receive an urban camouflaged box, similar in idea to Charlotte but of a different design. Boxes may be located anywhere in Mid-Missouri (I may even accept contest entries from outlying areas such as K.C. or St. Louis, so contact me if you aren't in Mid-MO for more details) Please let me know if you have any questions and good luck. I look forward to finding some super entires.

Happy planting,
ahistory