Last year by this time there was no time for geocaching; there was only time to do what needed to be done: plywood to be nailed to windows and doors, jugs of tap water to be frozen, bathtubs to be filled. By the night before Hurricane Charley hit, everyone who was planning on leaving town had already left. The storm was headed toward Tampa, but all of Florida was watching its course. A couple of degrees change en route while out in the Gulf pushed the Category 4 hurricane onto land in Punta Gorda, Florida, 100 miles south of its intended target. The winds peeled roofs off buildings, tangled pool cages, razed communities and demolished nearly everything in its path.

Last year, geocaching was the last thing on anyone’s minds. Caches were washed away along with so much else that made Punta Gorda the beautiful coastal town that it was. Exactly one year later, geocaching is the one thing on everyone’s minds. The Survivor’s One Year Anniversary Event, hosted by GoofyButterfly, showed the geocaching community that Punta Gorda has bounced back better than ever.

Friday night was time for the Southwest Florida Cachers Meet and Greet, hosted by Doc-Dean at the local Golden Corral, the unofficial eating – and meeting – ground for cachers the night before major GeoEvents. Food was had and commemorative caches were logged while meeting new friends and greeting old ones. The weather obliged the attendees by reminding cachers of last year. Remarked Lost (of Blind & Lost) after coming in from the storm, “I think it’s raining sideways.”

Blind replied, “It’s alright if the power goes out; I’ve already eaten.”

Doc-Dean handed out the itinerary for the GeoCaravaning caching adventures scheduled for the night and, when the rain subsided to all but a drizzle, a double-digit line of vehicles moved across the street (although a few people decided to jaywalk and were promptly stopped by the local forces) for the first of many caches found and logged. A quick stop at the Monarch Butterfly hotel (home of GoofyButterfly), where at least 14 people stayed that night, yielded fewer vehicles in the GeoCaravan but an equal amount of cachers heading into the night for more smiles and smilies.

Saturday, the day of the main event, was hot and sunny and beautiful. GoofyButterfly had food, games, headgear and prizes planned for the day. The 89 attendees were divided into five teams named by hurricanes: green, Charley; brown, Jeanne; gold, Francis; blue, Ivan; and purple, Dennis (which was the kids).The first Survivor challenge of getting to know your fellow cacher (and newbie) was followed by a second Survivor challenge of slingshotting water balloons into a bucket 50 feet away held by another team member. The kids were the big winners for the second challenge and were handed water guns to cool them off in the 90-degree heat (although this writer went into the crowd of children to retrieve a cell phone and “Kids against adults!” was called, although I was the only adult and entirely without a water gun.). No one was voted off the island, though the Blue Team was disqualified for tossing their balloons to the bucket instead of negotiating the slingshot.

Food was served promptly and plentifully to the crowd – a plethora of hotdogs and hamburgers prepared by master griller Burgi Dad as assisted by Kipkay (of Kipkay and Mindles), veggies and chips. Cachers mingled with other cachers over barbeque chicken and the biggest cake most of us had ever seen – they definitely didn’t get that on the island.

After lunch there were speakers, like Yuzawa Kat and Burgi Dad to explain the importance of a well-written log and how it can help or hinder cache owners and other cachers. IceCreamMan enlightened cachers on the value of cache placement (who knew that not everyone’s favorite cache was that micro in the WalMart parking lot?) and T of TDJVolks demonstrated how to camo with those supplies you picked up at WalMart while searching for the micro in the parking lot. Kipkay held a short tutorial on paperless caching complete with demo CDs and handouts – printed on paper, of course. Every presenter was well prepared, informative and interesting. Of course, I still don’t know how to do paperless caching, but that’s my own idiocy.

And the prizes! Tickets were sold to raise money for the Red Cross at a dollar a pop, and gift certificates, Mr. Magnetos, geocaching stickers, Garmin gear, Terracaching gear, walking sticks, software and even a Palm 7X were raffled off at the end of the event. TDJVolks, winning two walking sticks, shirts, and stickers among other things, and enCompassbill, who won two Mr. Magnetos, a gift certificate for a spa and the grand prize Palm Pilot were the big raffle winners. But the Red Cross was a big winner, as more than $300 was raised by the attendees of this fabulous and fun event and everyone had a great time.

Last year four hurricanes ripped Florida apart. The anniversary of Hurricane Charley brought the geocaching community together and let the storms know who was boss. As Cixelsyd put in his “found” log, we can’t wait until the No. 2 anniversary comes along, and hopefully there won’t be any more No. 1 anniversaries in Florida anytime soon!