After finding our initial box in June 2002, we have since found letterboxes in 18 states and placed them in 13 states; 4 countries: Aruba, Bermuda, The Netherlands, Great Britain; and on a cruise ship! Thanks for stopping by our website and we appreciate your continued support.
"Have fun and just get out there & box!!!"
Email us: mjpepe1@comcast.net (Mark) or suepepe1@comcast.net (Sue)
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Press Release
Luvvy and Percival, the Flamingo, shown here in happier times
Eccentric Leominster, Massachusetts millionairess, Luvvy Huffington, has reported the theft of her beloved pink flamingo, Percival. Although the flamingo was made out of plastic, Luvvy claimed that it had all the charm and devotion of a live pet and she was never seen without it.
In an attempt to recover the missing bird, Ms. Huffington has put out a call to many of the world’s most distinguished and prominent detectives.“Percival was a gift from my late daddy, The Daddy Huffington, and the only thing that truly mattered to me. I will spare no expense to ensure his safe and speedy recovery.”
The detectives are expected to gather in Leominster on Saturday October 1st and work together to solve this crime. Any other interested parties are invited to join them. Luvvy requests that all gather at the National Plastics Center on 210 Lancaster Street between 9:30 and 10:00 to receive instructions as to how to go about contacting and aiding the detectives. Meanwhile Ms. Huffington is in seclusion and asks that all inquiries be directed to her secretary, Ms. Deanne Bellefeuille-Besnia at deebes@net1plus.com.
Sue & I are packed and ready for our cruise to Bermuda tomorrow. We're traveling on the Norwegian Crown from NYC to Bermuda and back - right in time to experience a hurricane! Good thing letterboxers are so tough!
There will be 16 of us ranging from ages 5 to 75, which makes this a real family trip. Since there are no boxes on the island, we plan to leave 3. Watch for clues on our return and have a great week!
Sue & I, along with our 2 sons and Sue's 2 sisters and their familes [remember the Davidow's?] and her mother are leaving Sunday for a cruise to Bermuda. There will be 16 of us - ranging from 5 to 75 years of age! While looking on the letterboxing.org website for boxes located there, we were quite disappointed that no one has planted there.
Last night, Sue & I joined Alafair, TeamGreenDragon, Silent Doug and Jennifer in Old Saybrook to meet and dine with Choi and his family as they were passing through the area. It was a nice evening filled with logbook talk, special boxes and the like. It still amazes me how far letterboxers will go out of their way for a member of the community. TGD travelled almost 3 hours one way to attend! Choi is a great person, who dragged his non-boxing wife and 2 children along! They seemed to enjoy themselves as well. Maybe a few more converts?
The Whale Trail is a public art event with shoreline participants from Old Lyme, CT to Westerly, RI. These fiberglass, uniquely decorated whales are of two varieties: sperm and beluga, and reflect CT's designated state animal and an important link in the state's history. Like the turtles on Mackinaw Island, the on-going MooseFest in Bennington, VT and the international CowParade, these whimsical pieces of art entertain thousands, as well as serve as a major fundraiser for their sponsors.
Jay Drew, in all of his letterboxing wisdom, decided to plant a letterbox, Free Welly, near one of the whales in East Lyme, near Flanders Fish Market Restaurant. Likewise, Wanda & Pete have also followed in kind, with clues to be posted early next week. Might there be more CT and RI-based letterboxers who will join in the whale parade of letterboxes to allow us to not only appreciate the art of fiberglass mammals - but the art of hand-carved stamps as well?
If there are enough letterboxers that continue to plant boxes associated with the whales along the trail, we'll open up a page on this website to list and link to clues. Now - your challenge is to get out there and plant and box!!!
The Domedreamers of CT are offering a limited Wizarding Hour letterbox, between the hours of 9pm and midnight at a mystery location on July 15, 2005. Click the tome above for the clue . . . and don't forget your mandrake root!
Many of you know of our affection for that wonderful Hog from the left coast. It seems we are not alone! Thanks to Don & Gwen from CA, who have pulled off a wonderful Hogmania of letterboxing Spamps! Contributions from all over the country, many former Pinecone creators, have joined forces to carve and send a stamp of their favorite piggy to Don & Gwen who just returned from hiding this series of 15 in CA.
If you don't mind a spoiler, the stamp images and their contributors are here.
A quick related story. Funhog stayed with Sue & I on a recent trip East. The spare room where the Hog resided temporarily had our carved contribution in the dresser drawer of the room that the Hog used! We forgot about it until after Funhog departed. Guess the Hog's snout wasn't working too well - otherwise a true letterboxing pig would have sniffed that spamp out in minute!
Hog - you are the best! Thanks for all of your numerous contributions to this game!
Last summer, Sue & I noticed that our logbooks for our VT boxes were filled quicker than usual. It seems the local park & recs department ran a summer camp and somehow discovered letterboxing and in turn, our Wilmington and West Dover, VT boxes.
Well, this year there's a new twist - they've planted a series of their own and have just entered it on the letterboxing.org website. It's a series of 4 boxes called, simply enough, Wilmington Summer Recreation Camp Boxes. All of the stamps are carved by the kids of the camp. I still remember some of their excited entries in our logbooks and encourage you to hunt these boxes that are located on a 1 mile easy walk around the picturesque town of Wilmington.
Our Box of the Week is gramatrick's Letterboxing Kids Never Eat Soggy Waffles. Don't you just love the name? Wait until you read what it is - very clever. I can hear boxing grandparents around the country teaching their grandkids about this one!
UPDATE: I was enlightened by a certain curly-tailed friend of ours that the original Never Eat Soggy Waffles box was from the left coast by one of our pinecone-makers, 4DToes. Thanks, John, for an innovative box and one of many that we hope to hunt when we make our OR trip in June.
Our Poll of the Week is concerned with your opinion of leaving a letterbox while on vacation - even if it's hundreds of miles away from home. Do you have issues with worrying about maintenance or is it more important to you to leave a little piece of these precious times behind?
Sue & I headed out to Mansfield Dam today to keep cool and finally take our canoe out. What a stupendous day. If you've never visited the Dam with a small watercraft, you really should. The water is very clean, great wildlife and lots of little islands for exploring. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed it on one of the islands with a commanding view of the dam, in the breezy shade of some ancient pine trees. Very cool.
Oh - did I mention that there are some letterboxes there that are accessible only by water? :-)
A new series, Wood & Water, planted by Funhog in Silverton, OR at Silver Falls State Park. A series of 3's: 3 mile loop with 3 boxes and 3 waterfalls! Gotta love it!
I just ran across the following message from Jay on his great website - words that all letterboxers should heed! Reprinted here with his permission:
"That thing about re-hiding again: after years of letterboxing we are convinced that most boxes that go missing are ones that aren't hidden well by finders. Sorry to sound harsh, but we're sure of it. So please take a moment to re-hide these little treasures.
Start with repacking them: our boxes have two heavy duty freezer bags, and the logbook and stamp both go inside them so that they are double-bagged. Take the first baggie and seal in the log and stamp, then close that whole package inside the second bag. Next, throw them into the outer tupperware and clinch it tightly shut. Finish by re-hiding the letterbox so that not a speck of plastic shows anywhere.
It should be completely invisible from all angles. Scatter a few leaves or twigs on top to naturalize the spot and then it will have a good chance of lasting until the next boxer comes looking for it. Thank you!"
Click the box to see this new, exciting security product!
Sick of having your letterboxes stolen, not hidden correctly and just plain tampered with? Well, leave it to that inventive couple from ME, Phyto & Isoceles, to come up with a solution.
Their new product, Box MinderTM will solve all of your problems. This is a new, high tech system that monitors your box's location 24 hours a day. You can even customize it with specialized voice patterns but we don't see our favorite choice on the list . . .
We just heard, via email, from a letterboxer who went out to find a letterbox and ran into what turned out to be an accused sexual offender! This letterboxer kept their wits about them and would not play the role of victim. The police feel that this attitude kept the boxer from harm. Please do not go out letterboxing alone - all of you female teachers out there off for the summer! This was in an urban area - not deep into the woods - almost a drive-by location.
Sue & I implore you to start boxing in pairs. We can't stress this enough! Not only to prevent a reoccurance of this above episode but even a twisted ankle might prove tricky if you are out boxing alone. Use safe letterboxing habits and . . .
Thanks to Catbead, who has done a wonderful job as Moderator on our Newboxers Talk List. She has decided to go on to other endeavors and will still be an active member of that list. We wish you the best, Libby, and thanks for helping to make the Newboxers Talk List the second largest letterboxing talk list - second only to the big list - LBNA!
We welcome our 2 new Newboxers' Moderators - MayEve and Uneksia! We appreciate their taking on this new task. They are already respected members of this community and the transition should be seamless.
Congratulations to Leapin' Lizards from WI as they announced their engagement this past weekend. We were pleased to meet both John & Sara at the Mo' Boxin' at Motown gathering several weeks ago. Our best to you both! Will your wedding have an event stamp???
We've just received this email from Enigma. For those of you that may not remember, he's the gumshoe in charge of The Case of the Vanished Lover.
Mr. Pepe,
I wanted to send you a note to thank you and your people for the encouragement and support that I have recieved to date in my work on the Case of the Vanished Lover. Unfortunately I believe the trail has run cold for me of late. Other obligations to my agency and my creditors have forced me to postpone my investigations for a season. I expect that I should be able to continue the pursuit of this mystery when the weather turns worse. October looks promising for a continuance be it far off from this perspective. When conditions deteriorate to the point that I may continue I will be sure to keep you abreast.
Until then, I again thank you and your people.
Enigma Stealthboxxer, Private Investigator
We will keep you informed if anything changes on this case and I know you join us in wishing Enigma the best for his somewhat murky future!
Thanks to Lock Wench of NY, who sent us an email with the link to this story of 2 newspaper reporters from the Finger Lakes Times who decided to try letterboxing! If all reporters box like they do, our special pastime is very safe! Click the image above to read this insightful report! Newbies - take heart!!!
Our good buddy, Jay Drew, has just published a new clue. This one is called Cheese Factory and is located in one of the most scenic and picturesque towns in Vermont - Grafton. He promises to hide more boxes along these trails as the summer and fall progress.The Schmoopies have hiked these great trails that double as cross country ski trails in the winter and really enjoy the area. The Village Overlook is special spot and I think there's a picture of it somewhere on this website.
When Sue & I were in Michigan, Azobox & SpringChick gave us a little preview of their new series, Around the World in 80 Days. This series of 15 letterboxes is available for the first time today, July 4th, and takes travelers around the world without ever leaving the beautiful state of Michigan!
If you complete your tour, you receive a special bonus stamp and another extra special stamp if you complete the series, as the title implies, within 80 days! Wish Sue & I were able to hunt for this series while we were in the Land of Motown several weeks ago. All of the images must be stamped into a special passport that you receive by emailing them and then you are off on your adventure!What a great collaboration by two of Michigan's most prolific and original letterboxers! To begin your travels, or just read a little more about this wonderful project, click the image above.
Sue & I wish you all a safe and wonderful holiday.
Remember the reason for America's birthday and all of those who have given bravely of themselves to ensure that we may all enjoy the freedoms that make this country the best place in the world to live.
Please vote in our special holiday Poll of the Week located in it's usual place.
And don't forget:Have fun and just get out there & box!!!
I was saddened to learn of the loss of one of our most favorite singers, Luther Vandross, who passed away today in the early morning hours today at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, NJ. He never seemed to recover after his stroke two years ago. His most recent CD, Dance with My Father, won him many awards and was that single was the biggest hit of his career.
The following message has been cross-posted to all of the major letterboxing talk lists by an new entity; a person named Matthem Halides. Several moderators on different talk lists thought it was spam and deleted it before it was published. Some moderators let it pass through their talk lists. It's listed here for those of you that might have missed it so that you may make up your own minds:
"It's value can only be guessed at. It turned up in the hands of a collector in Greece. I must not say anymore here. Contact me privately for more information.
matthem_halides @ yahoo . com"
What can be learned by emailing Matthem Halides? Is it truly spam or a clue? Should this cryptic reply just be ignored?
You must decide these answers for yourselves. We are just the purveyors of stories, news and gossip. Please be forewarned that Sue & I take no responsibility for anything that may result from this. Good luck!
A post to the big talk list yielded a very interesting, 45 minute radio play on Dartmoor letterboxing. Click the image above to go to the website. Please note that the play falls after another story and you may need Real Player software.
We've had the opportunity to listen to this delightful radio play and were enthralled by it! We highly recommend all of our readers and anyone interested in visiting or understanding more about this hobby of ours to listen. It captures the essence of Dartmoor letterboxing. What a kick we got out of listening to our friend, God, play himself in this play. Imagine listening to him regale stories of Dartmoor in the Railway Pub [also mentioned in the play] in that lilting, British diction? Pure magic!
After the radio play, you may want to read our Dartmoor journalthat we kept while visiting the moor back in September with the Baker's Dozen. Also, we have an excerpt from Anne Swinscow's book about Dartmoor History. Enjoy!
Letterboxing enthusiasts hide and hunt weatherproof containers in remote or scenic places. Each container holds a logbook, a rubber stamp and stamp pad. The planter of the letterbox distributes clues to it's location via the internet, Word of Mouth, on websites or via other means. Clues can be easy to difficult. Finding a letterbox may require a combination of skills such as mapreading, orienteering, and puzzle-solving.
Letterboxers carry their own logbook and personal stamp when hunting for hidden boxes. Upon finding a letterbox, they will imprint their own logbook using the found stamp, and leave their own stamping or personalization in the letterbox's logbook. Some artistic letterboxers carve and even design their own stamps and logbooks. Letterboxes are hidden in various locations throughout the world.
Letterboxing has its beginnings in Dartmoor National Park in England, where the first letterbox at Cranmere Pool was placed in 1854 by a Dartmoor guide named James Perrott, who left his calling card in a container there while guiding tourists through Dartmoor.
bravenet.com
