67 people braved the extreme cold (temps in the 20's) to participate in the Night-O and Search & Destroy-O at Cricket Holler, followed by the traditional potluck party.

The rules were simple: a mass start at 6pm, with 1 hour to punch as many controls (out of 20) as you cared to find. At 7pm, the air horn blasted again and the event turned into the Search & Destroy-O, where the object was to collect and bring back all the controls you could find. Each control returned was worth 1 point. 2 of the controls also used the white controls stands, and each stand was worth 1 point on Search & Destroy-O. One group pulled the control off the stand, leaving it behind for Steve Barnhart to find and get the point.

The course was designed by Ben Bond, who made it just as difficult this year. There were a few challenges - number 11 was in thick overgrowth on a fence, whose side trail is almost non-navigable, number 2 was in thick overgrowth deep in the woods, and the bridge on number 9 was taken out by a falling tree.

Due to the challenge of some of the controls, we suspended the "Matt Bond" rule, which would hold him back 1 minute to let other people compete fairly. But he still cleared all 20 controls. However, he eventually lost the event to Jim and Amanda Hayes, who brought back in 8 controls and thus beat him by 1 point. Sharon was confused and thought that when Amanda came back with 4 controls, and then later Jim came back and she overheard him say he brought back 4, that they were the same 4. But they really brought in 8.

So next year we are implementing a new rule for Search & Destroy. A team can split up, but only the first set of controls brought back will count. Teams might still split up, but they have to come back in together.

Also, we heard conflicting reports about violence during control pickup. People, please be civil and remember that if you can't get to a control because someone else just got to it 2 seconds before you, come back to the lodge. You'll get first shot at the food.