Steve's Blog

I try to use this blog to record something about my life everyday.

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Name: Steve Brown
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

On December 31, 2007 I left my job with Sprint/Embarq where I worked as a Software Engineer for 15 years at the Sprint Campus in Kansas City. In January 2008 Mary and I started Steve Brown Ministries and started traveling the United States broadcasting "Live Video" of Revivals, Bible Conferences, Mission Conferences, and other Special Services. Mary and I enjoy serving the Lord Jesus Christ and traveling to churches as we minister through SteveBrownMinistries.com. We are very pleased that our ministry is endorsed and we are sent out of our home church at Heritage Baptist Temple in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Prairie Center Geocaching & Orienteering Event

I got up this morning at 5:30 a.m. to start getting ready for the Prairie Center Event today. Following is my offical meet report:

The weather today could not have been nicer. The skies were clear with temperatures in the 70’s. We had a great turn out. There were about 70 folks participating in the Geocaching 3-Hour Score O event and about 50 participants in the regular Orienteering courses. We had folks from St. Louis, MO, Manhattan, KS and Nebraska as well as lots of folks from the metropolitan Kansas City area attend this event.

In January I came up with the idea of making this a high tech event for GPS users in addition to the normal orienteering courses. I decided that by using all the control flags for the orienteering courses plus some extra containers and punches, we could have an extra Geocaching Score O course. It seems that since January this event has occupied most of my thoughts. I have plotted and planned and re-plotted and planned day and night for many weeks. This has been a lot of work, but a very fun learning experience.

I could not believe how many folks volunteered to help with this event. I really hate to name them for fear of missing someone, but I will try. First is Brian & Carlin Yonke (byonke) and Jim Shilt (webscouter). They have spent many, many hours vetting, helping me set the courses, printing maps, working registration, start/finish and you name it. They have been there to help and then there was the wonderful lunch Carlin prepared for the workers. It was outstanding. Thank you Carlin.

Jim Shilt said the worst part of being the start/finish manager was the loneliness. This is typical for the job of start/finish manager. I know the times that Mary and I have served as start/finish manager we felt separated from the action of the meet. Never-the-less Jim and Reta Roe stayed with the stuff and did an outstanding job running the start/finish line. Thank you Jim and Reta for your many hours of service down at the start finish line.

Then there was Reta Roe. She has given and given and given this season to help in every way she could to make the events more enjoyable. This meet was no exception. She served as assistant course setter using her GPS to layout her courses and hang the flags. She did the White and Yellow courses. She brought refreshments. She worked the Finish line chute to collect punch cards and help calculate the scores. She and her husband Bob furnished a Honda Generator and laptop computer that really contributed to the success of this meet. Thank you Reta for all that you did. We really appreciate it.

Nick Hockman has helped in every way possible this season. He has gone out of his way to make sure there were road signs placed to the meet location and provide the refreshments. He has used his own camp stove to provide the hot water for drinks. Nick has really done a bang up job making sure we had great refreshments at the meet. Thank you Nick.

Oh yes, there’s Dick & Nancy Neuburger. They work untold hours making every meet a success. They were out this morning at 6:30 a.m. running the courses and making sure everything was A-OK for the meet. Dick and Nancy serve in so many ways it’s impossible to name everything they do to promote orienteering in the Kansas City area. Thank you Dick and Nancy for everything you do. I for one really appreciate it.

I truly don’t want to forget those wonderful folks who picked up the controls after everyone had gone home. I would sure hate to forget someone here. Dick Luckerman, Tom Hanley, Cindy Kuenzi, Brian Yonke, Jim Shilt and Dan Welch all helped to collect the controls for the meet. This is always such a relief to the course setters who have spent weeks planning and placing the controls. Thank you guys for volunteering for this very important job. I appreciate it so very much.

I should also remember my two sons, Scott and Robby, and 4 grandkids, Bradley, Ashley, Preston, and Drew (ages 6-9) who all walked nearly 6km helping me put out the geocaches a week before the event.

One of the harder jobs to get a volunteer for is Photographer. Mark Roodhouse volunteered again to take pictures of the meet. He always does a very good job taking digital pictures and posting them to the PTOC Photo Gallery. If you have not viewed them yet please take a look at http://ptoc.org/gallery/index.php Thank you Mark.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen as many people hang around after they finished their course as today. It was great to see people visiting and just enjoying themselves. There was quite a crowd still on hand a couple hours after they had finished their courses. When the awards were given out we had a very nice crowd available to share the moment. Dick Neuburger did his usual terrific job giving out the awards to the Score O winners.

Speaking of Awards:
Geocaching Group:
• First Place Sumpter Etc.
• Second Place Sniffy & Friends
• Third Place Delta Kiowa

Geocaching Individual:
• First Place Eddie McLiney (ajayhawkfan)
• Second Place Wendell Smith (WSmith)
• Third Place Karl Knapp

Prairie Center holds a special place in my heart. I have learned so much about orienteering from this park. I have participated in the events at this park for the past four years. I have worked with Lou Betros, Kevin Shipley and Dick Neuburger field checking, course setting and learning OCAD. They have all been so helpful in my learning so many aspects of orienteering.

Steve Brown
Course Setter

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
6127 Steps Today – 2.90 miles.
0 Aerobic Steps.
246 Calories Burned.

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