Salem Observer : community

Geocaching catching on across nation

Salem Editor — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:22:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Armed with little more than a couple of coordinates and a GPS device, Melanie Murray hits the trail with her miniature pinscher, Peanut Butter, every spare chance she gets, searching across New England for packages known as “geocaches.”

What began around 2000 as a hobby for GPS enthusiasts who hid and hunted for a handful of caches across the country has now grown into an online community with more than 800,000 active geocaches hidden world wide, according to Murray. The rules are simple: pull the coordinates off of the official geocaching Web site, locate the cache – which is a hidden item that can be as small as a fingernail or as large as an old army ammo box – record the find on a logbook kept inside the cache as well as online, and then move on to the next one.

Though they range in theme, content, location and ease of finding, Murray said tracking down the geocaches is all about the thrill of the hunt. To date, she has found more than 2,000 of them and spent countless hours over the past three years slogging through snow, wading through streams and crawling over boulders in the Northeast.

“You find all kinds of interesting things and meet different people. The only investment you have to make is buying a GPS,” said Murray. “(After you find a geocache) you go online and log the find and see what other people have written about it. I’m totally addicted. Anytime my husband is working or going fishing, I’m out geocaching, even in the rain, sleet and snow.”

Murray, who works in Salem’s finance department, first learned about geocaching from Fire Chief Kevin Breen in the fall of 2006. Breen, who has around 500 finds to his name, stumbled across the activity after he accidentally found a geocache while vacationing on Cape Cod. A few months later he convinced Murray to go along with him and try to find a geocache hidden at the town’s old fire station and hose house on Bridge Street.

“It takes a couple of times to catch on and comprehend it,” Murray said, recalling that she did not even have a GPS unit with her that first time. “It’s just something that you can do by yourself. You can do it anytime, day or night, and it’s good exercise.”

Geocaching has also helped Murray find public conservation land and hiking or walking trails close to home that she would have otherwise never known about, like the rail trail in nearby Windham or a wooded spot with a great view overlooking Moeckel Pond.

The online community that has built up around the activity – Murray described it as similar to Myspace or Facebook – has also kept her entertained.

Murray said the other geocaching enthusiasts who follow her trips know her for the wacky adventures she has while on the hunt – like the time she passed a naked man who had very clearly been skinny dipping in the abandoned quarry in the park she was hiking through.

“We’ve gotten some friends from geocaching. You’ll run into them on the trail and they’ll say, ‘Finally, I can put that profile name to a face,’” Murray said.

Murray and Breen have also put geocaching to work for the town. This past spring, recreation director Chris Dillon used geocaching to sponsor a cleanup event for the town’s Hedgehog Park. According to Breen, the geocachers who attended received credit for taking a couple of hours and clearing brush from the front of Hedgehog Pond.

“It’s a group of people who like the outdoors and who are into trail hiking and climbing. So one of the other things they promote is keeping the woods clean,” he said. “One of the things that interested me in geocaching is it doesn’t cost anything. If I go geocaching, I can preplan where I go. It’s getting out in the woods and seeing the sights. They’re located everywhere.”

For Murray, it’s all about that feeling she gets when she reaches up inside an oak tree and pulls out a hidden film canister or spots a camouflaged box sitting in the middle of an isolated stone wall.

“I’ve scraped a leg and been stung by bees. I was never used to that before,” she said. “It’s a challenge. I guess that’s what it is. It’s the challenge of finding them. I’m mostly interested in seeing how people hide them. I never tire of it.”

Community garden takes root in Salem

Salem Editor — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:53:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

With community garden plots now ready and waiting for local families, Conservation Commission Chairman Bill Carter’s vision for Hawkins Farm has grown to fruition.

“We grew up in the city. I lived up on the hill and it was a paved hill,” said Carter. “If (other residents) grew up in the city, like I did, then before they migrated into the suburbs they didn’t have the opportunity to have this. A lot of these cities are starting to do this now, offering community gardens. When we bought the property, we had a long-term vision, and this is one of the four parts.”

Carter believes that the 30 individual plots that make up the town’s new community garden at Hawkins Farm will give residents the chance to spend some time outdoors and experience the joy of gardening all while saving some money at the supermarket.

According to Carter, the idea of carving up a portion of the 15-acre farm the town purchased last fall for community garden arose as the commission began discussing how to use the land.

Up until that point, there was not a parcel of townowned land large enough to support viable community gardening, Carter said.

Though the garden is only one aspect of the commission’s plans for the Hawkins Farm property, Carter is hoping to stir up some interest in gardening in the town as well as giving members of the community an opportunity to come closer together.

“It’s just something we want to do to allow the community to interact with Hawkins Farm,” he said.

“This is to allow the residents who don’t have room or space to go out there and try their hand at farming ... What we’re offering here is a little opportunity to do some planting and families get out there on the weekends or during the week.”

Joan Blondin, who spent a morning under the sun showing her granddaughter and a niece and nephew how to plant and water seeds on her 15-by-15-foot garden plot, said it was a chance to pass along her green thumb to the next generation.

“I want to get them out there to teach them how to grow their own food,” said Blondin, a member of the Conservation Commission. “I’m trying to teach them about gardening. Hopefully, it’ll keep them out of trouble.”

Her son, Vinny Drago, also a member of the commission, spent three days designing the garden and measuring out the plots. He stops by daily to refill a barrel of water for the prospective gardeners.

“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” he said. “We’re trying to protect what we got and we hope (the community garden) takes off.”

Carter is optimistic that the garden will draw in plenty of residents this year and is expecting to have a large enough demand for plots next year that the commission will have to organize a lottery to assign space.

For the time being, residents interested in starting their own garden at Hawkins Farm can contact either the Planning Department at 890- 2080 or by e-mailing Carter at bill_cart61@comcast.net.

“This was the vision for (Hawkins Farm). We wanted to take this property and make some use out of it,” Carter said. “We have never done this in Salem. Maybe people will look at this and say it’s a great idea.”

Salem Christmas Fund brings hope to family who lost father

Salem Editor — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:27:00 GMT

By Pam Chaplowe-Ruth

The Salem Santa Fund provides more than just material delights of the holiday. The directors of this much-lauded program offer emotional strength and patient understanding to those in the community who suffer from grievous loss.

At this time of year everything is turbo charged – bright colors and excited children’s voices mingle with the scent of evergreen and baked goods. Sensory overload is part of the experience that personifies the month of December.

However, a face washed in sadness can abruptly shift the scenery.

Statistics verify that many grieve at this time of year. Those with children also feel the weight of providing their young ones with happy childhood memories while their own emotions feel unbearable. Such is the experience of Tina, a local resident who suddenly lost her husband a year ago, making her a widow with two young children to raise.

Initially their loss was buffered by support from friends and family.

“I had lots of help then, but a year later, it’s all disappeared,” Tina said, her voice catching as she spoke.

“People forget or expect us to have moved on. The Santa Fund is the only chance I have to give my children anything for Christmas at all,” Tina said.

Folks don’t mean to be unsupportive. Life moves on and other moments of great celebration and tragedy occur. Mourning, however, is an individual process that can’t be hurried or directed. Tina understands that others are ready for her to move on. She also understands through counseling that she must allow herself to grieve as necessary while still playing the maternal role in providing happy seasonal memories for her children.

“I was very close to my husband,” she said. “After his death I was in a fog, just going through the motions.”

Tina, who had a solid career in dance instruction until the household dynamic changed, has gone from a comfortable lifestyle to one where she worries about providing the basic necessities for her family. She took a much lower-paying job during the day to be home when her children return from school. In the past, her husband’s schedule allowed her to teach at night and they comfortably shared parenting duties.

As many people do when they are hurting, Tina moved her family back to her hometown to try and gather themselves together. What she discovered was that home truly is where the heart is.

“We came back to Salem because the town does so much for people” Tina said. “We got through the summer on vouchers until I could get a job.”

With assistance for school supplies and weekly contact with people who call to check on her needs, Tina finds that she and her children are moving on.

Her eldest loves school and has taken first-place honors in local academic competitions. The younger child appears to be adjusting well to the loss of a father and is beginning the school journey in first grade with excitement and confidence.

These small steps are profound for Tina. Through her children, she realizes that the future can hold as many wonderful memories as did her past. The progress is halting and slow at times, and this season of unbridled joy can be difficult to face when she compares seasons past with her present. It is movement though, and she is proud of the accomplishment.

It is the constant reminder that she is being thought of and supported that helps soften the hurt for Tina. “I know that some day I’ll be involved with the Santa Fund as someone who donates and supports other people who have suffered a loss,” she said with new resolve in her voice. “The Santa Fund brings so much more to families than presents. It brings hope.”