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MI Fall Mystery Gathering...  Finally I have gotten around to writing a brief recap of the MI Fall Mystery Gathering. For those of you wondering why it was referred to as a "mystery gathering," it was because the exact date and location were not spelled out, rather they were to be deduced using clues and pieces of information disseminated over the course of a couple of months preceeding the gathering. The initial gathering information gave clues to the date and a general area so that people coming from afar could plan and make the necessary arrangements. As the time of the gathering drew nearer, the clues became more specific. The final clues, which provided the exact location within the park were not given until the morning of the gathering. Three letterboxes were planted each containing 1/3 of a puzzle. When pieced together, these puzzle pieces formed a map indicating the precise park and shelter location at Fort Custer State Park in Battle Creek.

The theme of the gathering was the Cereal City Circus, which for those of you not familiar with Battle Creek, was taken from the fact that it is known as the Cereal City and the headquarters of Kellogg's Cereal City USA is located here. There were 15 letterboxes that had been planted specifically for the gathering, each depicting a different cereal mascot, including Cornelius the Corn Flake Rooster, Toucan Sam, Lucky the Leprechaun, Count Chocula and many others. The logbooks were covered with an image of the corresponding cereal box. Letterbox contributors included Cereal City boxers, Grandvilla, Mobius Klein, Azobox and yours truly. In addition to these boxes, there was a 3-box series -- Snap! Crackle! Pop! previously at the park.

The weather started out a bit cold and gray with a fine, misty drizzle, but improved as the day went on. We even saw the sun for a little while in the afternoon. The MI Fall Gathering is very informal and laid back, focusing on spending time with other boxers and of course, letterboxing. There were about 24 people there, a nice mix of new boxers and those we have seen at past gatherings. I don't think anyone managed to log all of the boxes on the day of the event, but several people got an impressive start.

The boxes will remain in place as permanent letterboxes, although clues will only be available at the Great Lakes Yahoo! group.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LbGLK/

Thanks to Azobox for all of his assistance in organizing and hosting the event, to OldShoe for keeping us supplied with perfectly grilled hotdogs and to everyone who attended and helped to make this year's event a success!