What Happened at the last meeting
(November 24, 2003)
| There were 12 people at the Monongahela Grotto meeting: Alan Carpenter, Chris Carpenter, John Barth, Doug McCarty, Bob Griffith, Doug Moore, Don Humphrey, Ben Mirable, Rich Finley, Jill Pyle, Jason Thomas and Brian Masney |
| Adopt-a-Highway and Bowden--We will meet at the Bowden Cave parking lot at 9:30 on Saturday morning, November 29. After the highway clean up we will go in the 3rd Entrance of Bowden and go to the collapse area to install the warning sign the USFS has made. When this is done, the Forest Service will be notified, they will presumably announce that the Back Entrances are open. Until they make the announcement, however, the back entrances are still to be considered closed. Some folks--myself included--plan to camp at Bear Heaven Campground the night before--Friday the 28th. Maybe get breakfast at Alpine Lodge the next morning. Some of us may camp at Oil Drum Falls Saturday night and do My Cave on Sunday. |
| Tucker County Weekend--Our focus is shifting to Limestone Mountain. We tentatively will camp at Horseshoe Run Campground the weekend of December 19-21. Our hopes to survey Waybright Cave were dashed when Alan Carpenter reported that the cave had been bulldozed shut in the sixties after a caver broke his arm and had to be rescued. However, we still have lots of hope for the western side of the mountain. |
| Nominations--There was only one nomination for each office, so the election will be anticlimactic. The nominees were Doug McCarty-Chairman, Jason Thomas-Vice Chairman, Secretary/Treasurer-Bob Griffith, Board Member-Chris Carpenter. |
| Christmas Party--The Christmas party will be held at Don Humphrey's new house at 5pm on Saturday, Dec. 27th. Directions will be forthcoming. There will be a the normal gift exchange of a caving-related item that costs no more than $10. Everybody bring aa dish--and let's not go so heavy on the desserts this year. The grotto will buy a sandwich meat tray |
| Post Christmas Cave Trip--Will be the day after Christmas (and the day before the grotto party), Friday Dec. 26. We will go to McClungs Cave. Meet at Shoneys in Lewisburg to leave at 9:30am. Arrive earlier if you want breakfast. |
| VAR--We discussed the VAR stuff percolating in the wake of there being no quorum at the last business meeting--that is, if you miss a certain number of business meetings you are demoted to "non-voting" status and if you miss six you are no longer in VAR. I will go to the next VAR business meeting to express Monongahela Grotto's view that the proposed action discriminates against member organizations with smaller memberships and that are located farther from the area where most VARs are held. |
| Bob White Management--As managers of Bob White Cave, we lacked a coherent management plan. We worked on that. |
| Web Site Report/Upcoming Cave Trip--We have been getting many hits. I have been corresponding with one person who has visited the site and contacted me. This fellow and I are going caving at Sharps on Saturday the 12th. |
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40th Anniversary of Mon Grotto--Next October (2004) is the 40th anniversary of the grotto. Doug Moore and I had a simultaneous thought--that the grotto should throw an anniversary party in the context of hosting a VAR on the weekend of October 8-10 2004 (in partnership with WVUSG). We will contact and invite all current and former members. All thought this was a good idea. I will contact VAR |
| Because of the Christmas party there will be no meeting in December. The Next meeting will be on January 26, 2004. |
(October 27, 2003)
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There were only six adults at the meeting this month: Bob Griffith, Don Humphrey, Carl Werntz, Jason Thomas, John Barth and Doug McCarty |
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Bowden Barricade--We discussed my home repair disaster and how it prevented me from going to Bowden that weekend. |
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Getting Some New Blood into the Grotto--We discussed ways of attracting unaffiliated local cavers and spelunkers to the grotto. We will start announcing our grotto meetings in the local papers and be a part of the Festival of the Outdoors at Coopers Rock next Spring. We need also to get active with the Tucker County Survey. Project caving will keep the grotto healthy (the gospel according to me). |
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We had trip reports on: |
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Tucker County Survey--The next Tucker County Weekend is Nov. 14-16 (for over-nighters). Day surveyers we will meet at Tucker County Inn at 9:00am. Doug seems to have a lot of options planned for the weekend. |
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Adopt-a-Highway--We put off the Bowden adopt a highway until the next meeting. It was not a matter of laziness but necessity. |
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Friday after Thanksgiving Caving--We discussed a Friday after Thanksgiving cave trip but set no destination. Perhaps we can set something up at the next meeting on the 24th which is the Monday before Thanksgiving. Suggestions: Scott Hollow? Organ? Sinnett -Thorn? Bone Norman? Billy Clay Pit? A My Cave through trip? Got a better idea? GREAT! Use the list serve to suggest it. |
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The next meeting will be on Monday, November 24th--the Monday before Thanksgiving |
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(September 29, 2003)
| There were 18 people at the meeting on September 29. We had some guests from the WVU Student Grotto and we were especially pleased to see grotto members John Barth and Kenny Pearson, both of whom have been unable to attend meetings in recent months. |
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Bowden Barricade--We discussed the Bowden
Barricade Project. Following my suggestion at the last meeting that the
grotto volunteer to handle the local press and curious passers by, Bob
Griffith contacted Bob Hoke, and volunteered us. As a result of that commitment, we will issue press
releases and will set up a tarp at the Bowden parking area in order to
deal with anybody who stops by with questions. |
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Tucker County Survey--It was suggested that the Tucker County Survey kicked into gear again. Western Tucker County and Limestone Mountain are two LARGE limestone areas that have never been ridgewalked. It is almost guaranteed that we will find new caves. The Tucker County Survey will once again be the third weekend of the month. We will meet at the Tucker County Inn in Parsons at 9:30am on Saturday, October 18th. If people are interested I would like to camp by the Dry Fork Friday night. |
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Blacksburg Trip--Elements of Mon Grotto and WVUSG will join the VPI Cave Club at the Bat Ranch in Blacksburg for the weekend of October 3rd. |
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Shavers Mountain Survey--Because I can't make it to Blacksburg, I am going to do the Shavers County Survey on the 3rd if anybody else wants to go along. |
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Great X--It was decided that the grotto will use its cave bucks to buy a vertical foot of Great Expectations Cave in Wyoming for $100. We will raffle off the free t-shirt and send the money to WVCC. |
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Vertical Practice--It was decided that we will have a vertical practice session with WVUSG at Coopers Rock on Sunday October 26. We will meet at the day use parking lot at noon and go to the Iron Furnace. I will look into getting the Valley Health Care Ropes Course for an evening vertical practice. Among other things we need to practice rescues, pick offs, etc. |
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VAR--We discussed the fact that there was not a quorum at the VAR business meeting and noted that we had been slacking in that area, and will try to have somebody there at the next VAR. |
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Caving--Since the Ocotber schedule is so full, we have no speific caving trips planned for this month. We will schedule a My Cave through trip and the next Adopt-a-Highway cleanup at the next meeting.
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The next meeting will be on October 27th |
Once again, here is the e-mail from Bob Hoke explaining the project that was on the
VAR List:
The Bowden Cave Barricade Project Needs YOU!
October 10-12, 2003
PROJECT OVERVIEW: The U. S. Forest Service is going to construct
two barricades near the dangerous 2002 ceiling collapse upstream
from the Water Course in Bowden Cave. Once the barricades are
completed the front part of the cave will be reopened to visitors.
The barricades will be a bat-friendly (BCI) design and it will be
designed and installed by a professional. However, this is a major
project that will require LOTS of caver assistance since the steel
and welding equipment for the barricades will need to be hauled
about 1,800 feet into the cave. The tentative schedule for the
weekend is below.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10: A material staging and work area will be set up
at the main cave entrance (on Old Route 33). Volunteers will set up
a wired telephone system between the entrance to the barricade site.
They will then carry welding equipment and other supplies to the
work site. Drilling and other preparation will be ongoing at the
work site during this time. As steel is ready volunteers will begin
hauling it to the site. Some of the pieces will be relatively large
and will require two or more carriers, probably using slings to make
carrying easier and safer. Others will be small enough for one
person to haul. Depending on equipment status and cave conditions
barricade fabrication may start, but will not be completed, on
Friday. Some volunteers will camp outside the entrance on Friday
night to provide security.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11: The primary volunteer activity this day will
be to haul fabricated steel to the barricade site and help with
construction if needed. Volunteers will again be needed to camp at
the entrance to provide security.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12: Hopefully there won't be too much work left by
Sunday. The main tasks should be to take the welding equipment back
to the entrance, remove the telephone line, and clean up the
entrance area.
SKILLS NEEDED: This project will be a lot like a cave rescue and a
great variety of skills will be needed. These include:
-- Folks willing to haul equipment and steel in the cave (both heavy
and relatively light loads)
-- Communications folks to install and maintain the telephone line
from the barricade site to the entrance
-- One or two experienced photographers to document everything (both
in and out of the cave)
-- Folks willing to handle the press and local folks who are certain
to wonder what is going on
-- Helpers to dispense food for the workers at the cave
-- Drivers to shuttle people from off-site parking and to drive to
Elkins for needed supplies
-- Anyone willing to do whatever is needed to help make the project
a success
-- Someone with expertise in underground air quality to monitor the
work site
CAMPING: Arrangements for nearby camping (with hot showers) are
still being worked out. We hope the camping will be free, but the
details have not been finalized yet. Once the details are fixed
the information will be distributed to anyone interested in helping
with the project.
CONTACT: A lot of workers will be needed to make this project a
success, but it is also important that we know who is coming and
what they want to do. If you are interested in helping with this
project please contact Bob Hoke to let him know when you will be
arriving and what you are interested in doing. You can call him at
(301)725-5877 during the day or in the evening, or you can e-mail
him at bob@hoke.net.
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