Thank you to everyone who made it out. We had a lot of fun remembering David, treasure hunting in the dark and sharing stories. See you next year!

Thank you to everyone who made it out to the beautiful Beaumont Scout Reservation for the annual Orienteering Festival. It was a beautiful day with Scouts and non-scouts alike enjoying some treasure hunting in the woods. A special thanks to David Fisher for designing the course and to all the volunteers who helped make this big event possible. Here are the results, with the club results listed first and the scout results listed at the bottom of the page. Whether you placed well or not, our only concern is that you had fun.

CLUB RESULTS:

SCOUT RESULTS:

A beautiful early winter day in the woods for the 2023 Turkey-O at Cuivre River State Park.  Lots of participants and lots of punching (electronically that is).  On average there were 14 CP’s visited per participant!  Nice to see plenty of beginners and first-timers.  And always fun to catch up with everyone that has been doing this for a long time.  For the advanced, the course was “almost cleared” (getting all but one CP).  Thanks to Anne Schrupp for handling the registration table, Jeff Sona for doing beginners briefings and control pickup, and also Matt Scherrer for control pickup.

A special thanks to Mark Geldmeier and all helpers for directing an awesome event. Congrats to Brian Rodenbeck for being the fastest Turkey with the best plan out in the woods!

3-Hour Course

Individual Points Time Found Penalty
1 Brian Rodenbeck 280 p. 2:35:01 280
2 The Ukranian 270 p. 2:55:27 270
3 Josh Borgmeyer (self-timed) 260 p. 2:50:08 260
4 Jeff Sona 220 p. 2:38:33 220
5 Joseph Marincel 200 p. 2:48:32 200
6 Ken DeBeer 200 p. 2:54:32 200
7 Shane Sparkman 200 p. 2:55:23 200
8 Colin Campbell 200 p. 2:55:25 200
9 David McWilliams 200 p. 2:55:26 200
10 Nathan Graves 200 p. 3:03:30 230 -30
11 Alan Kuehnle 180 p. 2:03:22 180
12 Chris Heupel 180 p. 2:54:01 180
13 Jessica Heupel 160 p. 2:21:26 160
14 Michael Rhodes 160 p. 2:47:42 160
15 Michael Knapp 150 p. 2:25:25 150
16 Zach Althaus 150 p. 2:58:56 150
17 Clifton Wise 140 p. 2:10:26 140
18 Steve Kuster 140 p. 2:45:21 140
19 Rachel Furman 140 p. 2:48:50 140
20 Ilker Tunay 140 p. 2:58:15 140
21 Brian Hey 120 p. 3:02:18 140 -20
22 Anne Schrupp 110 p. 1:36:27 110
23 Diana Gores 110 p. 2:11:57 110
24 Chuck Bailey 110 p. 3:00:30 110
25 David Bruns 40 p. 3:05:40 90 -50
26 Josiah Bailey 0 p. 3:15:20 150 -150
27 Tim Johanns 0 p. 3:37:00 140 -370
28 Kate Ryder & Josh Hafner 0 p. Lost eStick

Group – Adults Points Time Found Penalty
1 Jeff & Angie Ryan 200 p. 1:44:39 200
2 David & Stacey Hagen 200 p. 2:48:16 200
3 Cynthia & Steven Truemper 180 p. 2:43:02 180
4 David Karsten Abby Karsten 170 p. 2:38:54 170
5 Jeff & Becky Adams 150 p. 2:03:49 150
6 Jari Finneman & Lola Walman 150 p. 2:12:29 150
7 Mitchell Haskin & Justin Freihaut 150 p. 2:46:58 150
8 Clarkston Family 150 p. 2:52:35 150
9 Laura Houseman & Tonya McMillen 150 p. 2:59:00 150
10 Nathan & Mandy Goff 140 p. 2:26:29 140
11 Carrie & Emma & Ellie Sona 120 p. 2:14:19 120
12 Jim & Claire Huss 120 p. 3:03:36 150 -30

13 Tommy & Madison Ryan 70 p. 1:35:34 70
14 Steve & Mike Brennan 70 p. 1:38:44 70
Group with Children Points Time Found Penalty
1 Paul Paxton & Brittany Paxton & Layla Paxton 150 p. 2:46:49 150
2
Heidi Abbott & Joy Garcia & Murllin
& Jared Bender & Braulio Villarreal 120 p. 2:13:22 120
3 Steven Smith & Graham Smith & Ivy Smith 70 p. 1:49:13 70
4 Chase & Jennifer Sickbert 60 p. 1:40:05 60
5 Kelly Bailey Group 0 p. 3:15:05 130 -150
1-Hour Course

Individual Points Time Found Penalty
1 Perry Gabbard 80 p. 0:59:57 80
2 Douglas Sickbert 0 p. 1:10:27 70 -100
Group – Adults Points Time Found Penalty
1 Alan & Kalley Richardson 70 p. 0:56:17 70
Group with Children Points Time Found Penalty
1 Ben Jung & Hunter Anth 20 p. 1:00:18 20
2 Tyler Tennille & Owen Tennille 0 p. 1:04:58 50 -40

Great job everyone! Thank you for remembering our friend and mentor, David Frei.

Thanks to everyone who was able to come out and enjoy beautiful Beaumont and have some fun with fellow map and compass enthusiasts. Special thanks to David Fisher and his team (Beth Skelton, Ed Schaefer, Bill Croker, and more) for designing and setting great courses. Also, thank you to Nathan Graves and Kevin Minton for helping with registration/education at the Club table.

The club results are posted at the top of the page and the Scout results are posted at the bottom. Our next orienteering meet will be at Queeny Park on Saturday, 4/22. Mark your calendars. Jeff Ryan, director, has some fun in store for us. Details will be coming soon on the webpage.

Dear Fellow Scouters:

On behalf of the St. Louis Orienteering Club and the Greater St. Louis Area Council I would like to thank you for attending the 19^th John Smerek Scout Orienteering Festival.  The weather was a little chilly, but that did not dampen the spirit.  The rain held off until after the event so all the scouts and scouters had a great time.  The festival attendance went up from 2022. This year we had 23 units with 130 participants.

Attached are the results from the 2023 Scout Orienteering Festival Score-O competition based on the punch cards received at the finish.  The festival is designed to test a scout’s (buddy pair or three) map reading and strategic planning skills.  The awards for the top finishers are embroidered neckerchief slides.  The scores were very good this year.  

Inside this package you will find the results and awards (neckerchief slides and I Did It ribbons) for the scouts from your unit.  Please distribute these awards to the deserving individuals.  The results will also be posted on the St. Louis Orienteering Club’s website http://stlouisorienteering.org.   I had trouble reading the names on a few cards, so I apologize for any names that are miss spelled.

We are hard at work designing next years course.  If you have any ideas on how to improve the festival or you would like to help please let me know.  Please talk up the festival at your district’s roundtable and encourage all your neighboring units to attend next year.  

Next year’s 20^th John Smerek Memorial Scout Orienteer Festival is tentatively scheduled for March 9, 2024.  I hope to see everyone back again next year.  We are planning on putting on a “First Class Orienteering” course in October.  Check the council schedule for the date. 

If your scouts would like to do some additional orienteering the St. Louis Orienteering club puts on a local event each month, with courses for beginner to advanced orienteers.  For more information visit the club’s website at http://www.stlouisorienteering.org.  

The GSLAC Map and Compass Committee conducts adult leader training sessions for adults each year.  Please check the Council Calendar for the date for the next session.

Yours in Scouting,

David Fisher                          

Big thanks to Eric Buckley for putting on a great meet in an awesome park. Here’s Eric’s summary below:

This fall’s (winter’s?) event at Hawn was my first event directing in quite some time, and it showed. Included in my gaffes was leaving the results in the equipment bin which is why these are being posted two weeks after the fact. Thanks for all your patience!

That said, it was a great day to be in the woods. Most felt that the unexpected snow enhanced the experience. The courses were a bit longer than intended. I could chalk that up to the snow, but one of our fastest navigators, Nathan Graves ran it in 1:40:25 the following week in perfect conditions, so I think the vegetation at Hawn has just thickened up a bit since the days when we used see the top folks running 8-9 minutes/K.

Three courses were offered. A traditional Yellow, and a long and medium Pink. The long Pink included a couple legs that wouldn’t be completely out of place on an advanced course, though they had catching features to keep intermediates from getting too off course.

Due to the cold, the ball point pens weren’t working particularly well. Apologies to anyone whose name is misspelled below.

Pink Long:

Jack Boubonnais  1:49:14

Vladimir Yurkuns  2:05:25

Mark Geldmeier  2:08:03

Brian Rodenbeck  2:08:44

Brian Niehaus  2:15:42

Ken DeBeer  2:28:34

Paul Yemm  2:23:00 (12 controls)

Jeff Juell & Tom Evans 2:28:16 (12 controls)

Pink Medium:

Derek Hebda 1:39:14

Toni & Jeff Ryan 1:50:29

Robert Bart  2:21:01

Abby Wilde  2:33:11 (9 controls)

Harry, Mandy, & Nathan 1:54:00 (8 controls)

Patrick Kalgren  2:19:10 (8 controls)

Rob Whirting, Nathan Booker & Kristy Schwarzkoff 2:32:44 (8 controls)

Michael Knapp  2:11:14 (7 controls)

Alice Chloe, Brenna & Gannon 1:29:12 (5 controls)

Regin Payne  1:20:00 (4 controls)

Nat Woling  1:45:00 (3 controls)

Jen Doias  DNF (lost card)

Kevin Minton  DNF (lost card)

Ted & Sandy Weiss  OT

Alan & Kalley Richardson  OT

Colin, Craig, Joen Campbell  OT

Yellow:

Heidi Abott & Dan Ingram  35:55

Steven & Cynthia Truemper  36:45

Justin & Aiden  37:11

Clair & Jim Huss  50:13

Bryan, Henry, Paul, Kyle & Kaden  52:00

Steve & Tim Brennan  55:00

Dennis Yurkuns  1:02:32

Roasted Bears 1:30:10

Greg Tate 2:19:00

Deanne Row  2:19:51

Jasen & Michael Snyder  0:55:00 (6 controls)

What a night! We laughed, some cried, but we all had fun celebrating the legendary David Frei. After spying the international space station orbiting overhead, David gave a very heartwarming speech that was very moving. To top off the evening we got to treasure hunt in an awesome park, then spin the wheel of fortune for some tasty and not-so-tasty treats from David’s favorite’s list. Thank you to everyone who came out and special thank you to the following people who helped make it an amazing evening: Jeff and Carrie Sona, Ken and Kathie DeBeer, Jeff Ryan, Kevin Minton, Mark Geldmeier, Robert Bart, Thomas Ryan, and Bryan Niehaus just to name a few.

Thanks to everyone that made the drive to beautiful Broemmelsiek Park. It was a bit hot, but the shady sections on both courses made it bearable. A big thank you to Yvonne Deyo for setting a fun course. Also, special thanks to Mark Geldmeier and Jeff Ryan for helping with event prep!

Sprint – Individual
Eric Buckley 25:48
Brian Rodenbeck 30:05
Mark Geldmeier 32:16
Jerry Young 36:16
Andrea Kapan 52:22
Neil Bockwoldt 30:37 Mispunch

Sprint – Group
Nathan and Mandy Goff 36:44
Misha Goldman and Heidi Abbott 48:40
Renee and John Clarkston 48:57
Matt and Paige Helbig 34:02 Mispunch

Beginner
Borgmeyer family 35:07
Kelley family 45:25

Thank you to everyone who made it out to the Carondelet O-Meet to celebrate the start of the Summer Series! Everyone seemed to have a great time and no one got run over by a bicycle during the Bike Crits so all was good. Also, a big thank you to Kevin Minton for designing the course, Mark Geldmeier for directing, and Bryan Niehaus for assisting. It takes a village to run a meet and we appreciate all the help. For those interested, the “sequence” event (French town names) was created to be similar in distance but exact distance was not the same for all sequences. Part of the fun was the luck of the draw!