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January 12, 2010 • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Geocachers Plan First Ever CITO Event in Hudson for Hot Air Affair
Hudson’s parks and public areas will be the big winners when geocachers come to Hudson Hot Air Affair weekend. Local geocaching enthusiasts are planning a CITO event—Cache In Trash Out for Saturday, February 6. CITO is a worldwide environmental clean-up effort supported by the geocaching community. Since 2002, geocachers have been dedicated to cleaning up parks and other cache-friendly places around the world.
According to event organizers Gary Glancy and Chris Wengelski, geocachers can pick up their CITO bags at E.P. Rock School cafeteria between 8 and 11 Saturday morning, Feb. 6. Each person will have their geocaching name put on the bag and then it’s off to cache away and collect whatever trash they find along the way. All cachers should return their bags to the school by 2 pm and collect their CITO smiley.
“There’s never been a CITO event in Hudson before” said Glancy. “We thought it would be a nice addition to the Hot Air Affair event, plus geocachers are always mindful of the environment” he added. Glancy said that he’s see online postings from geocachers from all over Wisconsin and Minnesota saying they’re coming to Hudson for the CITO event.
Experienced hobbyists are invited to a geocaching meet and greet the same morning from 9:30 till 11:30 am at J.W. Kaladi’s, 3250 Heiser Street. The invitation on geocaching.com says to bring your geocoins and travel bugs. New winter friendly geocaches have been hidden in the Hudson area and include traditional, multi, puzzle, letterbox, event and earth caches.
Individuals and families interested in learning about the geocaching hobby are invited to a beginner’s session at the E.P. Rock school cafeteria at 10 am on Feb. 6, sponsored by the Pioneer Press/TwinCities.com. Local geocachers will share the fun, family adventure and show equipment and containers. According to the event flyer, “geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices”. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Anyone can use coordinates found on geocaching.com to locate geocaches. According to Hot Air Affair CITO event organizers, hundreds of caches are hidden in the immediate Hudson area for year-round caching.
January 12, 2010 • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hot Air Balloons Return to Hudson Winter Event
Two popular hot air balloons will return to the Hudson Hot Air Affair Feb. 5, 6 & 7—The RE/MAX balloon and the M&I Bank balloon.
Steve Sinnen will again pilot the RE/MAX aerostat. He’s a 26-year pilot from Shakopee, MN and has been coming to Hudson for RE/MAX Associates Plus for more than 15 years. He holds a commercial license and has flown as pilot in command for more than 1600 hours in hot air balloons. He flies for RE/MAX North Central, making special appearances on behalf of the real estate offices throughout the region.
Sinnen’s currently organizing a hot air balloon moon glow and flights in conjunction with the upcoming St. Paul Winter Carnival. While in Hudson, he helps with media flights and participates in the Friday night Torchlight Parade, addition to the launches on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Dale Dommer will be traveling from Ottumwa, Iowa for his fifth appearance at Hot Air Affair. He’s flying his Hocus Pocus multi-colored balloon with an envelope banner for M&I Bank, Hudson. Dommer is a 17 year pilot with more than 500 hours in the sky.
His AX-7 balloon will be crewed by staff members from M&I Bank, according to manager Lee Anderson. “We’ve been a balloon sponsor since opening our Hudson office”, explained Anderson. “Our staff members look forward to helping launch the balloon, plus we’re all out to help meet the visitors at the Saturday night moon glow”, she added. Anderson is joined by M&I personal banker Molly Johnson on the Hot Air Affair committee, helping with pilot coordination and event Kick Off at Dick’s Bar and Grill. Other staffers help with brochure mailings and this year’s first ever Up, Up and Away 5K Fun Run.
