Thursday, March 18, 2010

Race to 2010 (100th anniversary geocaching game)

Saturday, March 6th, marked the start of Race to 2010, part of our Get in the Game! 100th Anniversary geocaching program. Pinewood derby cars representing councils, districts, and units across the country will race through this high-tech treasure hunting game. As the cars move from cache to cache, Scouts and Scouters can track their cars' progress online as they head toward the finish line, a cache located near the 2010 National Scout Jamboree in Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Prizes - including memorabilia signed by NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon - will be given out in a variety of categories.

Anyone can be part of the race and win fantastic prizes from the BSA and even a new GPS unit for your patrol, Den, Troop, or Pack. All you need is a Pinewood Derby car and a Travel Bug®. If you don't have one, you can purchase a Travel Bug for just $4.25. Essentially, a Travel Bug is a dog tag with a unique tracking number. Each is associated with its own page on Geocaching.com where people can track its progress as it passes from person to person or cache to cache. The Travel Bug can be put into an existing cache (large enough to hold the derby car), or you can create an entirely new cache to start it off.

In addition to the online posting, you can attach a laminated card to your car that talks more about Scouting in your community and what your goals are with this Travel Bug. We've provided an example is below, but feel free to customize it to make it your own. All of this information is also found in our Race to 2010 overview.

Online Posting

Name: Be sure to include the words "Race to 2010" somewhere in the name of your Travel Bug name, so we can track its progress. For example: "BSA Race to 2010: Balboa Oaks District, Western Los Angeles County Council" or "WLACC Race to 2010, Boy Scouts of America"

Goal: Travel to meet as many Scouts and non-Scouts as possible. We'll update this listing with "finish line" coordinates at a later date.

About this Item: This Travel Bug is attached to a Pinewood Derby car that was made by Scouts from [COUNCIL/DISTRICT/UNIT]. It is traveling across America! Please move it along, and log your Scouting memories.

Laminated Card (Could also be Geocaching.com Travel Bug Mission)

Help Scouts from [COUNCIL/DISTRICT/UNIT] in [CITY, STATE] move this Pinewood Derby Travel Bug® across the nation and into as many Scout and non-Scout hands as possible. This is the first ever nationwide pinewood derby race, and we want to cross the finish line! Prizes will be awarded for cars that travel the farthest, pass through the most hands, and have the most creative route, among others. Help us speed along by moving this Travel Bug. And be sure to visit our online log to tell us about your Scouting memories. [COUNCIL/DISTRICT/UNIT] provides [NUMBER] youth from the [REGION/STATE] area with a strong foundation of leadership, service, and community. Find out how to get involved with Scouting where you live! Visit www.Scouting.org

Any unit from the Western Los Angeles County Council can participate in the race. In addition to the prizes earned at the national level, there will also be prizes awarded for the most successful traveling cars from the WLACC, including a new GPS unit. To enter, please send your name and unit information, along with the serial number on your Travel Bug tag, to Shawn Halbert at laslow3@yahoo.com.

We sincerely hope that you'll grab a derby car and join us for Race to 2010. This program provides us with an incredible opportunity to get Scouting out in front of thousands of people, and we'll have a lot of fun while we're at it.

Together, launching our next century of service!

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