When the announcement was made, at the closing of 2022 MOGA, that this year's event would be held in Flint, Michigan, many folks thought that it would be way to cold, and rightly so. Temperatures during mid April in Flint average 29* to 54*F and rarely above 69*F with frequent rain and snow. But as geocachers rolled into town for this year's 20th Anniversary event, they were met with four gorgeous days of sunshine and temperatures in the 80*s, with a high on competition day reaching 89*F. Ironically, the day after the main event, Flint temperature dropped to 31*F and it snowed. It's obvious the MOGA 'Gods' were smiling on this 2023 MEGA Event.
Despite the driving distance and what could have been cold weather, there were 24 SLAGA members (plus one 4-legged caching buddy) that participated in this year's MOGA. All those who competed also placed and earned medals, which is an awesome accomplishment and a wonderful representation of SLAGA at the event. Strider and Bluebeadman were honored for having participated in every MOGA since it's inception. Strider won 1st place individual competition in his age/gender group. Crowesfeat30 took 3rd place individual competition in her age/gender group. The team of Jerry2554 and ZLA placed 2nd in the puzzle solving competition. Geokid12 competed twice and won 1st place individual and 3rd place in the 2-person team competitions in his age/gender groups. And the 4-person MonkEBarrz team of Monk-e-Arms, barrz duo, and Paulgracie took 1st place in their age/gender group. Way to go SLAGA Competitors! The rest of us absolutely enjoyed finding local Adventure Labs, geocaching around the state grabbing webcams and ECs, visiting Canada, and participating in the numerous activities arranged by the MOGA Team.
Inspired by the participation of Brawny Bear (Mike) and BruceS at a 2003 Texas state event, the first Midwest Invitational Geocaching Competition (MIGA) took place on March 19, 2004 at Hawn State Park in Missouri. The name changed to Midwest Open Geocaching Adventure (MOGA) and has been ongoing for 20 years. This event is so much more than an 'Event' cache! It's a wide-area festival of activities lasting several days. It draws more than 500 households every year. This year MOGA 2023 Cars Coneys and Caches was hosted and run by the team from ACC, MiGO, Explore Flint & Genesee, and AFK Geocaching. It was the farthest north of any MOGA to date. The entire event was well organized, and the Michigan, team, as well as the city of Flint, took great pride in hosting the hundreds of geocachers that flocked to their town, including us from SLAGA territory. Event Central was held at a nice University campus venue and featured numerous activities spread throughout the city and the long weekend, including:
Photo Contest
Preservers GeoTour
Event Adventure Labs
Brewery Social
MOGA Cache Trail
GPS Maze
GeoArt (Car)
Kick-Off Event
Poker Run
Event Mystery Challenge
Orienteering/Geocaching Competitions
Puzzle Solve Competition
MEGA Event Awards/Raffle/Closing
Pancake Breakfast Send-Off
If you're tired from reading the list, imagine participating in many of the activites. Those of us from SLAGA-Land certainly tried :).
Kudos to everyone who worked so hard to make this event such a huge success, to all those geocachers who competed, to the SLAGA members who participated, and to the MOGA 'Gods' for the spectacular weather during this 20th Anniversary Mega MOGA Event! Consider joining the fun next April when MOGA 2024 lands in Columbus, Ohio.
