Historical Society Board member wins funding to do official geo-cache sites

What do the Chisago County Historical Society and the Royal Bank of Canada have in common? Well; Darcy Pinotti for one thing, and a mutual admiration for volunteerism for another. Pinotti is employed by RBC Wealth Management as a Technical Systems Analyst, and it was her application that qualified the Historical Society for a $500 employee volunteer grant.

The grant in 2012 and another Pinotti got for 2013 are being put to good use by the society. RBC’s staff and retired staff members, who give at least 40 hours a year to a local cause, can apply for annual grants. Since 1999 RBC has announced over 22,000 grants for $11 million-and counting. In 2012 Pinotti, of Harris, got $500 to distribute geocaches at sites maintained by the Historical Society and she listed them on-line. She purchased materials to create the caches. The geocache idea was perfect for Pinotti, who works in Information-Technology and was taking GIS (geographic information systems) classes.

Computer mapping and Internet skills allow her professional interests to overlap with her hobby promoting and preserving local history. Pinotti has been on the Historical Society board for three years and knows that geocaching is a great way to get young people involved in learning about local history and getting them out to visit places of historic significance in this county. As a kind of a treasure hunt the search for the geocaches is fun for both the young and young-at-heart. Using a Smart Phone or handheld GPS (global positioning device) searchers use coordinates they have gotten from the Internet, and clues to locate hidden caches.

Five caches are overseen by the Historical Society right now: Cheewin, CCHS, Gustaf, Moody and Sunrise. More caches could be added this year. When you locate the hidden cache you record your arrival in the cache logbook and also on-line, and can take one of the small objects in the cache. Sherry Stirling, Executive Director for the Historical Society, said all the token objects in the geocaches were bought with the grant money and are related to their sites. Geo-cachers also leave a tiny item to show they have been successful in finding the cache.

Some people leave stickers, marbles, little plastic figures, it varies. Go to www.chisagocounty history.org and click on the box for geocaching to get started. Pinotti is using her 2013 RBC $500 grant to develop a website for the North Chisago County Historical Society branch and it is featuring information just for their activities.