Dry and Cool to Start
Waterfall Glen Southwest, June 8, 2003

Despite gloomy weather reports, the Waterfall Glen (WFG) Southwest meet on June 8th started dry and mercifully cool. Similar to early birds catching worms, early starters finished dry. With a spring of glorious orienteering meets behind them, many cut short their courses when the skies opened up around 12:30 pm.

Due to permit restrictions imposed by the Forest Preserve, requiring that we keep controls out of ecologically sensitive areas, including the prairie near the Model Airfield and the two large, open forest areas south of that, we placed the start, finish, and registration about 1 kilometer east of the airfield along the bike path. In consideration of this extra walking, the white and yellow courses were both at the short end of the range, and many beginners completed both courses. Between the time we designed and scouted the courses and meet day, the brush, brambles, poison ivy, and mosquitoes grew and grew and grew, making portions of the orange, green, and red courses rather scratchy (either in real time or a few days later). We hope the ~220 participants had a great time, and look forward to Night-O in August.

Our thanks go to the WFG meet volunteers...

• Kyle Ryberg for help hanging controls and setting up
• Kyle McNerney and Bob Schenk for help with payment collection at traffic management at the gate
• Lynne Soderholm, Bruce Biwer, & Lisa McNerney for running the registration table
• Tom Braid for helping with start & finish
• John & Garrett Hyzer for directing parking and favorably impressing the ranger with how orderly the vehicles were arrayed along Bluff Road
• Jim Marshall for running beginners' clinics
• Michael Collins for results tabulation and logging geocaching coordinates
• Gayle Teschendorf, Charlie Shabazian, and John Sumner for helping with control retrieval.

Bev and Fred Hartline
Course Setter and Meet Director