"Shawshank Redemption" LbNA #30689 (ARCHIVED)

Recent find: Monday, 25 April 2011

A pleasant 8-minute stroll along trails in Webster Community Park.

The Series

This is the fifth in a series of letterboxes which replicate the hides in
movies which won Academy Awards (or, as is the case here, at
least were nominated.) This letterbox is actually a geocache/letterbox
hybrid. They differ mainly in that the geocache description
includes the coordinates of the location rather than verbal directions. (So
if you have a GPS unit you can use it as a check. Also the geocache logs are more likely to give you a better indication of how recently it has been found.)

Synopsis

"Hope Springs Eternal" was an earlier title of Steven King's
novella upon which the 1994 movie "The Shawshank Redemption" was
based. Morgan Freeman, who plays 'Red", provides the narration
which preserves many of the beautiful passages from the book. The
story is set in the late 1940's in Shawshank prison where "Red",
Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), and "Brooksie" (James Whitmore) are
serving time. They try to cope in different ways. Brooksie does
well as the prison librarian but when released after 20 years can't
make it on the outside. Red abides his time and is eventually
paroled. Andy is a lifer though he's innocent. The evil warden
(Bob Gunton) suppresses access to evidence that would prove Andy's
innocence because Andy as a professional accountant is helping the
warden launder money received from brides and other grafts.

As a hobby, Andy sculpts small statues using a rock hammer by
day. By night, he slowly taps out a hole in the wall underneath a
poster of Rita Hayworth. He eventually escapes, cleans out all the
accounts where the warden's illicit gains have been deposited, and
heads to Mexico.

The Hide

While in prison, Andy had Red memorize where enough cash will be
hidden for Red to him join in Mexico. It went something like this: "There's a big ballfield up just west of Webster in the Community Park. Follow the asphalt trail north on the west side of the ballfield. It'll go north, then east and then north again and come to an end by a bench. Continue north on the grassy trail, past another bench (overlooking a pond), then over a very small bridge, until the trail terminates at another bench. It's like something out of a Robert Frost poem. It's where I asked my wife to
marry me. We went there for a picnic and I asked and she said yes.
Promise me, Red. If you ever get out, find that spot. Just about twenty paces northeast from that bench you'll find some rocks.I. You'll find a black rock that has no earthly business being there. There's something under it I want you to have."

Academy Awards 1995

• Seven nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor–Morgan Freeman,
  Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best
  Original Score, and Best Sound but no wins.


• The movie makes many lists of the top movies of all time.


• Morgan Freeman, after being nominated for his roles in this
  move, "Street Smart", and "Driving Miss Daisy", finally received
  one for "Million Dollar Baby" in 2004.


• This movie has inspired many
  geocaches around the world; however, this is the first
  letterbox or hybrid that we know of.