Event #2348

Box ON! 2012 - Mystery Markham

City of Markham firefighters memorial, 6041 Hwy 7, Markham, ON

Registered Boxes: All Traditional HH/Cootie/Flea Postal LTC Event Box Traveler Other

Starts	Sat September 29, 2012 9:00am
Ends	Sat September 29, 2012 8:00pm
Owner	Bumble
Admins	Bumble
Signups	45/∞
Location	City of Markham firefighters memorial, 6041 Hwy 7, Markham, ON View Map
Add to Calendar	Google calendar ICS file (e.g. Outlook, iCal, etc.)

Description

Come one, come all - Mystery Markham is exactly one month away and this is where all your event information can be found! Last time I posted here, Markham was a town -- we have been newly minted into a city -- has it been that long?

Sign ups

I would appreciate if anyone who is signed up who will not be able to attend, edit their sign up as soon as possible in order to have the right amount of supplies for the event. Also, if more people than you have signed up will be attending, please also edit your signup for the same reason. Much appreciated!

Location - The event is on, rain or shine!

Event park: Milne Dam Conservation Park -- map here: http://goo.gl/maps/TeVZb Please note that it is $5 to park within the park -- the entrance is on McCowan Road, between Hwy 407 and Hwy 7, but there is plenty of free parking in the residential side streets on the north perimeter of the park -- in particular: at Roy H. Crosby Public School (115 Drakefield Road - park in the school lot and access the park behind the school), the corner of Riverview Road and Milne Lane, the north end of Princess Street, the southern tip of Willowgate Drive, at the western end of Drakefield Road, the cul-de-sac at the end of Walkerton Drive. You will have to travel at least once by car in order to access different boxes. You will be able to find me in Milne Park at a picnic table close to the washroom block which is a hexagonal building at the south east corner of the main parking lot. You'll know me because I will be at a table (or perhaps blanket depending on the weather) with a helium balloon attached to it.

Event room: Updated August 31, 2012: Markham Village Community Centre (6041 Hwy 7, Markham, Ontario - at the corner of Hwy 7 and Hwy 48) -- there is plenty of parking, we are in the upstairs Lounge (the whole of the upstairs), the doors to the stairs are immediately on the right when you walk in the doors from the parking.

Event Schedule

9:00am

I will be in Milne Park available starting at this time with the clues, as well as either a cooler full of bottles of water or thermoses available with coffee and hot chocolate, depending on the weather. You will be able to find me in Milne Park at a picnic table close to the washroom block which is a hexagonal building at the south east corner of the main parking lot. You'll know me because I will be at a table (or perhaps blanket depending on the weather) with a helium balloon attached to it. Please come pick your clue package up any time in the morning -- do not feel you need to start at any particular time and feel free to stop in during the day if you have any troubles with the clues or boxes, if you want to have lunch with me (I will be picnicking on the spot), if you want to yell at me for writing such crummy clues or if you want to discuss great literature. I will also have the event stamp with me if you would like to stamp in early. I will be leaving my post at 3:30 to go to the event room.

4:00pm

Room will be open for people to start arriving.Other than dinner and the raffle, I have no specific activities planned to this time period. My hope is that people can use it to meet, greet, and share their letterboxing stories (as well as do plenty of exchanges and stamp sharing, and seek out the event stamp and personal travelers). Please do not feel you must stay the entire time, nor show up exactly at 4pm -- or at 5pm for dinner. Please just ensure that if you have a potluck item, that you provide it to me in advance.

5:00pm

Dinner will be served buffet-style

7:00pmish

Raffle time!

8:00pm

We will be kicked out of the event room at this time and it will be locked up. However, for anyone interested in an adult beverage before you depart, drinks across the street. Before you leave town, a short night box series will be available.

Clues and Letterboxes

There are some amazing carves that have come across my mailbox recently and I think everyone is in for a treat! All of the boxes that I have received from others will be permanently planted.

I will have clues for the event with me. You will be able to find me in Milne Park at a picnic table close to the washroom block which is a hexagonal building at the south east corner of the main parking lot. You'll know me because I will be at a table (or perhaps blanket depending on the weather) with a helium balloon attached to it. There will be in the neighbourhood of 40 boxes planted for the event. Please do not feel that you must find all of them on event day! There will be a total of 4 or 5 series that will be planted on a spectrum of clue difficulty. All but the most basic series are permanently planted and will be available any time.

However, I will not be providing clues for other area boxes. There are some other great letterboxes in the greater Markham area that you may be interested in, some include:
Roxbury Valentine Hearts
In the Great Green Room
You've Been Gilmored
All Roads Lead To
The Crown of Markham
Fouga CM.170 Magister
Guarding
Rubber Duckie
The Year of the Dragon
Hic Sunt Dracones
I Knew Him Well
Korean Souviner
The Little Prince and His Fox
A Touch of Voodoo

Lunch

Milne Park is a fantastic park for picnicking. There are charcoal bbqs available, and plenty of picnic tables and mowed grass to eat. There's also a washroom block in the middle of the park beside the main parking areas for you to use. If you're interested in restaurant or fast food eating, or if rain prevents proper picnicking, there is a plethora of delicious fast and slow food options with spitting distance of Milne Park:

Congee Queen (delicious family-style Chinese food -- highly recommended!) - 5308 Hwy 7
Tim Hortons - 8310 McCowan Road
McDonalds -- southwest corner of McCowan and Hwy 7
Mall food court -- north west corner of McCowan and Hwy 7
Pickle Barrell - in Markville Mall - north west corner of McCowan and Hwy 7
Swiss Chalet - 5070 Hwy 7 (in mall parking lot)
East Side Mario's -- 5060 Hwy 7 (in mall parking lot)
Harvey's - 5300 Hwy 7
Starbucks -- north west corner of Markham Road and Hwy 7

Potluck

A few people have signed up to bring food for the event. Please note that I have signed away my first born child on a promise that we will not be using the kitchen to "cook" food -- only "reheat", so please keep that in mind when deciding on a food item to bring. Please also bring the serving dish and serving utensil for your food item. It's probably also a good idea to label your items with your name so that I can make sure they go home with the right person. There is a kitchen and they will be able to be cleaned up before you leave to go home.

Raffle

As in previous events, I will be holding a raffle to raise money to cover the costs of the venue and insurance. Please let me know if there is anything you'd like to contribute! We already have some great raffle items that have been mailed in from far flung places.

Packing list

Some things to remember to bring to the event:
Your usual letterboxing gear
Any personal travelers or event stamps
Solved clues for others' personal travellers
High powered flashlight for the night box series
Ability to solve a basic ciphers a plus
Food or money for lunch
A change of clothes in case of rain or mud incident
Your potluck item if you've signed up for one, with serving plate and utensil
Your raffle item if you've got one to give
Your sense of wonder and adventure

Waaaay Out of Towners

For anyone staying over night, please don't forget that the Markham Fair is held the weekend of Box ON!. Markham Fair is Canada's largest fair, and it has rides and midway, exhibitions, tractor pull, animals galore, performances, the Lincoln Leapers, etc -- and my favourite, the duck races! I highly recommend a visit if you're in town.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, riddles, or conundrums, please let me know and I'll do my best to help. See you in September!

Sep 28, 2012: Are you ready to Box ON!?
Hi everyone!

I'm very much looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow! Everything is ready to go, and the weather is mostly cooperating (as of right now, no rain).

There's lots of info up on the event page (here: http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gEventId=2348), but I just wanted to give you a quick summary:

Tomorrow morning, any time you're ready (but no earlier than 9 a.m.), come meet me in Milne Park. I will have a floating balloon and be at a picnic table between the washrooms and the shelter in the middle of the park beside the parking lot. Maps and parking info on the event page. I will give you the clues once you meet me.

You have the day to letterbox - I will stay at the picnic table all day, feel free to stop back for a visit, for questions, concerns, etc.

At 4 p.m., we have the upstairs room at the Markham Village Community Centre at the Hwy 7 and Main Street Markham. Just because I am at the room does not mean that you need to stop letterboxing! Dinner will be made and available at 5 p.m., but you can eat whenever you arrive. Lots of visiting and fun will be had by all. We have the room until 8 p.m. There is a quick nightbox series for when you leave, or if you're inclined, I'm always up for a drink at the pub once we're done ;)

There is a packing list on the event page as well.

If you need to touch base with me for any reason, I will have internet available to me during the event and will be checking email and AQ.

Looking forward to seeing everyone!
Cheers,
Jo

Sep 30, 2012: You came, you saw, you boxed on...
Hi everyone!

Thanks everyone for coming out and making Box ON! 2012 a success. The weather magically cooperated (I have an in somewhere...) and none of the boxes went missing before the event (my greatest fear).

It was fantastic seeing everyone - some for the first time and some delightfully again.

All of the boxes are now posted, so feel free to go and log your finds. The stamp crest series will be retired, but for those who may have missed some and want another crack at it, I will be leaving them out until after Thanksgiving long weekend.

Thanks to anyone and everyone who donated stamps, raffle items, brought food for the potluck and who bought raffle tickets! You folks are awesome and made the day!

Thanks again to everyone for coming out... I'm already looking forward to Box ON! 2013 ;)

Cheers,
Jo

Signups

Total signups:45