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John Graves Simcoe was more than just a colonial governor -- he abolished slavery, created Yonge Street, and even inspired the agricultural fair tradition that would give rise to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

In 1869 Toronto City Council came up with the idea for a summer "day of recreation." In 1875, it was settled: the first Monday in August would be the official Civic Holiday.

That name stuck as other cities followed Toronto's leisure-loving example and proclaimed this a municipal (rather than provincial) holiday. But in 1968 Toronto City Council again took the lead and renamed the day to recognize one of Ontario's earliest historical figures.

Simcoe was a British soldier who distinguished himself during the American Revolutionary War, earning an appointment in 1777 to lead the elite Queen's Rangers regiment. In 1781 he returned to England, where he was later elected to the House of Commons.

When the province of Upper Canada was created in 1791, Simcoe was named its first Lieutenant-Governor. He arrived in 1792 and established the provincial capital in Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake). But before long, the threat of invading Americans had him looking for a more secure capital, which he found in the harbour near the abandoned French fort of Toronto.

Simcoe himself sailed into Toronto harbour in May 1793, and immediately wrote of his intention to establish an arsenal and name the place York. (York became the official name several weeks later to mark the Duke of York's victory over the French at Flanders.)

The purpose of the venture is to go geocaching for 24 hours straight. Why? Just cause. Start time is Saturday June 25 at 8:00am.

Confirmed attending:

Vehicle One Keith Watson northernpenguin Empty (emergency use only) Empty (emergency use only)		Vehicle Two dr.clean fizbot jtee Bud_AV jeff-trex Empty Empty Empty Empty (emergency use only) Empty (emergency use only) Empty (emergency use only)		Vehicle Three TOMTEC SPike (un-confirmed) Empty (emergency use only) Empty (emergency use only)
Vehicle Four Jiminie Crickets (coming mid-day) Chris-Mouse Empty Empty Empty (emergency use only) Empty (emergency use only) Empty (emergency use only)		Un-confirmed Black Widow

• We will be leaving to find our first geocache at 8am sharp.
• The first geocache to find will be determined .
• Allow yourself plenty of driving time to get to the starting event , as there is always a strong chance that there will be traffic and it’s a long drive for most of us.
• We won’t be stopping for food breaks, but we will try to squeeze in some quick 5 minute stops at a Tim Horton’s (or other suitable location) every so often, just in case people need a quick food/liquid fix or a washroom break.
• Drivers should ensure that their vehicle is fully gassed at the start of the marathon, so we don’t run the risk of an empty tank.
• No driving alone. Make sure you team up with at least one other person in your vehicle. The last thing we want is for someone to fall asleep at the wheel. A good setup would be a driver, a navigator and an extra passenger or two.
• 24 hours+ is a long time to be awake. Make sure you get adequate sleep beforehand.
• Have your GPS, PDA, etc loaded with all the waypoints, parking coordinates and routes beforehand, so we don’t waste having to enter numbers. All of this will be available a few days prior to the event.
• When we find a cache, custom stickers will be stuck into the log book for the group and then we will all quickly sign it. no stories, unless it is really good.
• The person that finds the cache, should also be the one to return it to its hiding spot. That person may also want to dump out the contents of the cache in case someone wanted to do a quick trade while the log book is being signed.
• We are planning to do all caches on our route (whatever we get to in 24 hours). Caches will only be skipped, if we deem it to be unsafe or inappropriate to do at that specific time which we are in the area. So it will be a spur of the moment decision.
• This event is not about numbers. Numbers lead to rushing, rushing leads to mistales, mistakes lead to someone getting hurt.
• Lets make this a safe and fun event!