Capstone+Article+Diane+Kledzik

Capstone Article Diane Kledzik Diocese of St. Petersburg 6363 9th Ave. N. St. Petersburg, FL 33710 727-341-6839 dmk@dosp.org

By Diane Kledzik
 * Seek and You Will Find: Evangelizing via Geocaching **

Geocachers from Pinellas County and beyond have a new series of treasures to find at local Catholic churches. These parishes are a sampling of the sites from the “Crimson Way” of the //Catholic Driving Pilgrimage// booklet, a resource of the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg that highlights areas of religious and historical significance throughout the five counties of the diocese. Now, seekers will land on these properties with the faith that they will find their cache at or near the coordinates they downloaded to their handheld GPS.

According to the website, www.geocaching.com, “Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game.” Those who play, “try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online.” Sometimes these containers are large, like the size of a shoe box. Others are micro, the size of the eraser end of a pencil. All caches include a log where finders record their name and date of find. There is joy in being the first to find (FTF) a new cache. Visit What is Geocaching for a 2-minute overview of geocaching.

As a Summer Institute for Technology in Ministry 2011 student, I garnered the permission of pastors and parish (plant) managers to allow the placement of caches on parish property. With the help of my sons, Luke and Andrew, and a co-worker, Debbie, we placed caches at each site. This project was planned to connect a favorite family pastime that I wanted to learn more about technologically with the evangelizing potential of the //Catholic Driving Pilgrimage//. I thought it would be great if people who have never known about these spiritually and historically significant locations would discover them while enjoying a great hobby. Rev. Joseph Pellegrino, pastor of St. Ignatius parish in Tarpon Springs revealed that although he was familiar with geocaching//,// he “never thought of the possibility as an evangelization tool." In discussing the project with Rev. Leonard Plazewski, coordinator of the //Catholic Driving Pilgrimage//, he mentioned that this project might also benefit local Boy Scouts in pursuing their Geocaching badge.

After the caches were planted, we recorded the coordinates of each site with a handheld GPS. We dialogued about helpful hints for each area, the degree of difficulty and the type of terrain. I also photographed the scenery, the people and the stashed caches to document the project in the “Catholic Geocaching Pilgrimage” glog. Later the coordinates and helpful information regarding each location were uploaded to the project listings (Geocaching Pilgrimage # 1-7) on www.geocaching.com, with descriptions of each location, inspired by the //Catholic Driving Pilgrimage// booklet. Follow these directions to find the listings:

> >  > > >  > > > > All Caches! J >
 * 1) Go to www.geocaching.com.
 * 2) **Sign in ** or **Register** (it’s free) on top right of page.
 * 3) Click on **Play** in the top menu ribbon and then click on **Hide & Seek a Cache** in the drop-down menu.
 * 1) Scroll down the left side under **Seek a Cache** to **Other Search Options.**
 * 1) In **Other Search Options**, next to **by Cache Name,** type in **Geocaching Pilgrimage** and then click **GO.**
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">You will see a listing of all the geocaches from the **Geocaching Pilgrimage**. You can also click here to go immediately to this list of
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">From here you can click into each cache’s description, view the map and clues, and download the coordinates to your GPS or web-enabled phone. You may also download immediately to your GPS by clicking the icon on the right of each cache on this list. According to www.geocaching.com, “The method of loading coordinates onto your GPS device varies depending on what type of device you have.” Therefore, be sure to follow your owner’s manual and the geocaching website for best results.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">When the coordinates are loaded, you are ready to hunt for the cache. It is helpful to take a pen or pencil, a little notebook of your own to jot down any notes and a little shovel or “digger” of some sort for these particular caches. Gardening gloves, a camera and a trash bag are always helpful. “Cache In Trash Out (CITO)” is a motto and practice of geocachers. Picking up a few pieces of trash on your hunt can make a huge difference!

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Before these caches went live on the geocaching website, a local reviewer approved each cache. This person offered assistance in shaping the entries per guidelines established on the geocaching website, such as ensuring that no geocache is ever placed on school grounds or within 1/10 of a mile of another cache and that the wording on each listing was free of propaganda. When the titles and descriptions were appropriate, the caches were posted and geocachers were immediately in pursuit. Soon after, I received notifications from the FTF (First To Find) and other locators. “Thanks for a nice hide in the peaceful garden,” wrote geocacher Clearwater Rob upon finding Geocaching Pilgrimage #5 (St. Cecelia). Furshore logged, “Nice hide. TFTC (Thanks for the cache).”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Along with St. Cecelia and St. Ignatius parishes, the Cathedral of St. Jude, St. Joseph, St. Paul, and Espiritu Santo parishes are part of the Geocaching Pilgrimage and each cache is best found in daylight. There is so much to discover at these locations and I hope that seekers will spend time in each area and will be open to finding treasures that may not be easily tracked or anticipated.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">To locate the caches at each parish on www.geocaching.com, click these links.
 * 1) **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, 1950 **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> – Visit Geocaching Pilgrimage #1 @http://coord.info/GC36X9T
 * 2) **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">St. Joseph, 1926 **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> – Visit Geocaching Pilgrimage #2 @http://coord.info/GC36XBP
 * 3) **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">St. Paul, 1925 **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> – Visit Geocaching Pilgrimage #3 @http://coord.info/GC36XD2
 * 4) **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">St. Raphael, 1960 **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">– This location is too close to existing geocaches in the area and therefore; a cache cannot be placed on the property.
 * 5) **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">St. Cecelia, 1924 **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> – Visit Geocaching Pilgrimage #5 @http://coord.info/GC36XFM
 * 6) **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Espiritu Santo, 1960 **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> – Visit Geocaching Pilgrimage #6 @http://coord.info/GC36XHF
 * 7) **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">St. Ignatius of Antioch, 1889 **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> – Visit Geocaching Pilgrimage #7 @http://coord.info/GC36XJX