Geocaching to return to Rome

The mega-event, with a “Spy Games” theme, is expected to draw more than 1,200 players.

After a year’s hiatus, Going Caching will return to Rome this fall, with five days of “Spy Games” expected to draw more than 1,200 geocachers from around the world.

Players use GPS navigation tools to find hidden treasures, win prizes and party with others who enjoy outdoor puzzle-solving with fantasy themes. The mega-event is one of just 12 in the United States, and the only one in the southeast sanctioned by Geocaching.com.

“This is a big deal in the geocaching world,” said Jim Willamson who, with fellow Rome resident Andi Beyer, organizes the annual event.

It’s also a big deal for local economic activity, according to Ann Hortman of the Greater Rome Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Beyer and Williamson — in their eighth year of designing and hosting mega-events — held a toga-themed gathering in Rome in 2014 and a Roman Renaissance in 2015. Hortman said tourism spending topped $400,000 each year.

“It’s No. 8 of our top economic impact events. … It’s free, and the publicity it gets us worldwide is unbelievable,” she said.

The Going Caching 2017 activities run from Oct. 4-8, with the Spy Games mega-event set for Oct. 7. A block party is scheduled to cap off the evening.

“It’s kind of James Bond meets Austin Powers meets Get Smart,” Beyer said with a laugh.

Most of the games will be in the downtown area and the main event will be in Ridge Ferry Park. The block party location is the last to be nailed down.

Hortman came with the organizers to the Rome Public Works Committee, asking for permission to close the Fifth Avenue bridge for the party. The Rome Area Council for the Arts held its Fire Fly Fling fundraiser on the bridge in 2016, but Public Utilities Manager Kirk Milam said he’d prefer not to repeat that.

“Getting across our rivers is limited to our bridges,”

he said. “For law enforcement and emergency responses, I have real reservations about closing them at any time.”

Committee members expressed strong support for the event, but asked Hortman to help them find another venue. Beyer and Williamson are due back before the committee July 12 with an alternative choice.

The two held their first geocaching events in Savannah and built up a following that followed them to Rome. Beyer said it’s “a laid-back crowd” with lots of retirees and families who posted complimentary comments about their experiences.

“We were just about to bust with pride,” she said. “A lot of people were jealous about how well geocaching was received in Rome, and how welcoming everyone was.”

It’s a challenge to plan fresh events each year, Beyer said, but she and Williamson want to keep the event in Rome from now on.