In which we periodically examine how art imitates life and life imitates orienteering.

by Peter Amram

NEOCer Barbara Lamay has suggested that the travails of a resourceful, if imaginary, lad navigating a perplexing maze might interest orienteers. I was hesitant to engage, because mostly all that I knew about the Harry Potter phenomenon was that Emma Watson went to Brown University. (Go, Bruno!) Nevertheless, from the local public library I extracted The Goblet of Fire, a tome of some 734 pages (thus only slightly longer than the NEOC meet director’s packet in the mid-1980s).

Following Barbara’s guidance, I turned to Chapter 31 (“The Third Task”). Soon I was looking up so many definitions and references that I was reminded of the joke among classicists that a person can read either all extant Latin and Greek literature or all that 19th century German scholars wrote about Latin and Greek literature, but no-one can possibly do both. Similarly, it seems possible to absorb the entire Potter canon but not also the immense supporting material provided by Wikipedia and assorted fandom sites. Below, therefore, are the impressions of a reader who frequently did not understand what the hex going on.

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• Sunday Oct. 23: We will be on the new map at Pearl Hill in Ashby, MA this weekend. Volunteer to help out with registration, control pick-up, or a turn at the computer. It should be a beautiful fall day in the woods.
  Pearl Hill is the 4th event in the NEOC Fall Point Series so there will be a full range of courses - something for everyone. For the series, participants need to run the same color course for at least 3 of the 5 events listed below. No special registration required.
  • • Sept. 25: Rocky Woods (Medfield, MA)
  • • Oct. 8: Bigelow Hollow Saturday (Union, CT)
  • • Oct. 9: Bigelow Hollow Sunday (Union, CT)
  • • Oct. 24: DCR Pearl Hill (Ashby, MA)
  • • Nov. 20: Hale Education (Westwood, MA)
  Check out the update on current standings with 3 races done, and 2 more to go.
• NEOC GEAR: Get a sneak peak on the NEW club gear on the NEOC website. Orders will open next week and close on Dec 9.
• The annual Vampire-O at Danehy Park, Cambridge is on for Oct. 27!

If you have a fantastic photo from Rocky Woods or Bigelow Hollow, or can snap a beautiful scene at Pearl Hill this Sunday, contact the fall point series coordinator, Kristin Hall to arrange submission.

We are looking for an autumn scene featuring a control and some fall colors for the Point Series prizes.  If you submit the winning photo, you'll get one of the prizes, too!  Here's the image from last year, to give you an idea.  Photos with humans will be accepted if the human has given permission for their image to be used.

3 races done, but still 2 more to go in the NEOC Fall Point Series. Remember, you only need three events to get a score, so there is still time. The final two events are Pearl Hill this coming Sunday, and Hale Reservation on November 20.

While Isla Finlayson-Johnecheck has an unbeatable perfect score of 3 on White (cross country scoring - lowest score wins), the race for second place is wide open. Paul and Maddie Williams have a great family contest going on Yellow, with Penelope Kibbe and Peter Campbell not far behind.

Orange and Green feature the young vs. the old ... with the outcomes decidedly uncertain. Will the teenagers triumph? Lukas Webb, Tor Webb, Conlan Doran, and Mori Finlayson-Johnecheck are looking strong. But don't rule out the role of experience, as veterans Channon Ames, Wendy Johnecheck, Andy Hall, and Michael Hughes are still in the running. Bridget Hall could still achieve a perfect score on Green, if she has time between classes to get to one more event.

On Brown the "northerners" Ernst Linder and Tim Parson (New Hampshire and Maine) have a slight advantage over "local" Jeff Saeger and "westerner" (Western Mass.) Peter Gagarin. Will the chance of victory be enough to inspire them to get back out in the lovely Eastern Mass. forests one more time (or two)?

The women are leading the way on Red, with Ali Crocker and Isabel Bryant out in front. Ian Finlayson and J-J Cote are still in the running (for second, at least). Finally, Danny Riley and Keegan Harkavy are assured first and second in the 'purple' category (red + blue), but who will snag the win?

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• Come try out the Bring-your-own-Map event in Stow, MA running now until Oct. 17. It will be a fantastic weekend to get into the woods.
• We had a fantastic time at the OUSA Masters Championship, Oct. 8-9, hosted by NEOC at Bigelow Hollow State Park, Union, CT. Check out the NEOC results page and the OUSA event re-cap. A big thank you to all who helped pull off this event!
• The NEOC 50th celebration was a blast. Check out the quiz and photos. A big thanks to Judy Karpinski for leading the effort; and to Jeff Saeger, Roger Underwood, Kristin Hall, Jim Paschetto, Joanne Sankus, and Jim Crawford for making the event special for all who could attend!
• The annual Vampire-O at Danehy Park, Cambridge is on for Oct. 27!