Geocachers find their way to Bell Buckle

The crowd listening to 'Uncle Tom's Band' at the main stage in Bell Buckle was only a small fraction of the number who showed up Saturday for GeoWoodstock VII, an international convention for geocaching. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Most people, when wandering around a strange town -- even one as small as Bell Buckle -- will look at maps to figure out where they're going.

Not Saturday.

The treasure-hunting geocachers wandered around town peering into their handheld GPS devices, trying to find the fire hall, the banquet hall, Capt. Rodney's Stage, and, of course, the portable bathrooms.

"They didn't give us directions," said Brenda Bain of Clarksville, Ark. "They give us coordinates."

Crowd arrives

Bain was one of an estimated 5,000 geocachers to show up in Bell Buckle for GeoWoodstock VII, the international convention and mega geocaching event. White, black, Asian, Hispanic, old, young, marathon runners and senior citizens with artificial hips -- there was hardly a demographic not represented at the gathering. The parking lots were filled to maximum capacity with Harley Davidsons, VWs, BMWs, Priuses, Metros and ancient Ford pickups.

"These are the nicest bunch of people," said Ronnie Lokey, the town's volunteer fire chief.

Bell Buckle hosted the main convention, with vendor booths, GPS seminars, a live band, and even a petting zoo. But the cachers were all over Middle Tennessee Thursday, Friday and Saturday, finding the caches hidden around the area.

"I met some who came last week and are staying until next week," said Rodney Simmons, who was helping with the event. "My grandkids got to meet some from China."

"I've been wanting to come for a long time," said Bain. "We stopped at a lot of places along the way and we'll cache this afternoon."

Seeking 'things'

The cachers have their own sense of humor, too. The caches are often hidden in plastic containers to protect the contents from the weather, and one booth offered T-shirts that said "Tupperware can run, but it can't hide."

But it was a sign in the GeoWoodstock "Museum," a quote from the author Blaise Pascal, that summed up the attitude of the participants.

"We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things."

Despite the sudden population increase -- from around 400 to 5,000 -- things appeared to be going smoothly Saturday morning.

"It's been madness, but it's been going great," said Simmons. "We had people lined up like it was the Webb craft show. It's been so great, it's kind of scary. There haven't been any hang-ups at all."

Town benefits

Custom buttons, tags and other specialty items were offered by vendors at GeoWoodstock. The cachers save, trade, and have been known to play poker with the GeoCoins they collect. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The natives may grumble about the traffic a bit, but the overall benefit for the town will be good, he said. Every store had shoppers, and few left without making some sort of purchase. Little Joe Sheetz, the award-winning, adolescent barrista at the coffee shop, worked to a standing-room-only crowd.

"I had to give one guy a ride back to his car, he had so many bags," said Simmons.

GeoWoodstock was held in Sacramento, Calif., last year -- a far cry from the setting it had this year. Some cachers were concerned.

"I was worried," said Aaron Lohrbach of North Carolina. "It's such a little town, I thought the geocachers would just tear it apart. But it's been amazing."

It was Aaron's first GeoWoodstock, but his opinion was echoed by Darrell Peace -- who helped organize the very first one in Louisville and hasn't missed one since.

"I think it's wonderful. Of course they're all unique, and I'll always swear the first one was the best," he joked.

Peace agreed with one of this year's even coordinators, Brad Simmons, about one thing.

"This is, without a doubt, the biggest one," he said.