What Happened at the last meeting

November 26, 2007

There were 14 people at the grotto meeting Monday: John Harman, Dave Riggs, Brian Masney, Doug Bell, Jodanna Humphrey, Alan Carpenter, Don Humphrey, John Tudek, Lorin Long, Jesse Fout, Robin Cross, John Minig, Rocky Parsons and Doug McCarty.

Items discussed were:

1. The Grotto Christmas party:  will be held on Sunday, December 16th at the home of Bob Griffith and Mary Davis. It will start at 4pm. The grotto will provide a meat and cheese plate, and everyone else bring a food item and your own beverages. There will be a Chinese gift exchange. If you choose to participate, a caving-related gift costing no more than $15. The more people who participate, the more fun it is. Directions will be sent out to the list serve.

2. Post Christmas Cave Trip: In conjunction with GROSS Grotto, we will go to Norman Cave (led by John Tudek) in Greenbrier County on Saturday, December 29th. We will meet at Lewisburg at Shoney's (just off the interstate) and leave promptly at 10am. Arrive at Shoney's at 9am if you plan to eat. This is a relatively easy, very decorated, cave--but you will get wet, so bring a complete change of clothes.

3.  Officer Nominations: There was only one nomination per office, but a ballot will be sent out in case there are write in votes. The nominees are:

Chairman: Dave Riggs

Vice Chairman: Brian Masney

Secretary/Treasurer: Bob Griffith

Board Member Doug McCarty

Trip Reports:

(a)  Doug McCarty gave a report on the Adopt-A-Highway/Harr #2 trip on November 11th.  Alan Carpenter, Bob Griffith, Mary Davis, John Barth, Dave Riggs, Abby Hohn, Kevin Keplinger, Justin Keplinger, Andy Goss and Doug  participated. Everyone but Alan went to Harr #2 after the litter pick up

(b) Brian Masney gave a report on Windy Slope Cave. On November 24, Brian, Dave Riggs, John Harman and Doug McCarty surveyed more than 465 feet in Windy Slope Cave--most of it big (for the Cheat Canyon) walking passage

(c) Dave Riggs cave a trip report on a Cheat Canyon ridgewalk done by he, Brian Masney and John Harman on November 17. They found two new caves: Quarterback Cave and Football FRO. They also checked on Spring Falls Cave, which has never been pushed or mapped. It moves a great deal of both air and water and is right across the river from Windy Slope Cave.

(d) Lorin Long gave a report on the My Cave trip of November 18. Llew Williams, Justin Williams, John Barth, Julie
Brefczynski-Lewis, Jim Lewis and Lorin went to the Dry Branch entrance of My Cave and had an enjoyable trip. Lorin said the water was extremely high, so they didn't go back to the waterfall.

(e) Brian gave a trip report for a Shovel Eater trip.

(f.) John Harman gave a trip report for a Memorial Day Cave trip he, Bob Griffith and Cullen Hencke did on November 10th.

(g) Brian and John gave  trip report on an Elkhorn Mountain/Via Ferrata trip the WVUSG did

(h) John Tudek gave a report on doing trips to Rockland Indian Cave and Culverson Creek

(i) Brian Masney told us of the plans for a trip to Mexico after Christmas to do Sotano de las Golindrinas--a 1000+ foot pit. He, Mary Schmidt and Dave Riggs will be going. They will be dropping other pits in Mexico during the trip, and will stop in TAG on the way back.

There were17 people at the grotto meeting: John Barth, Dave Riggs, Brian Masney, Jesse Miller, Doug Bell, Mary Davis, Bob Griffith, Alan Carpenter, Jeff Lydic, Don Humphrey, John Tudek, Janelle Humphrey-Rowan, Jeremy Rowan and Doug McCarty. We also had three new attendees from Fairmont: Bill Vollmer, Brian Paul and Landon Paul

Topics discussed were:

1. Re-reminder that dues was due at OTR and a check to see if everyone is getting the WV Caver.

2. Re-reminder that WVUSG meets on Wednesday evenings in room 125 in Brooks Hall. They usually have a good program.

3. Several of Brian Masney's pictures were featured in Graffiti, a regional entertainment newspaper.

4. Library: Doug Mc recently came into possession of bound copies of the NSS Bulletin from 1942-1965 and the NSS News from the late forties to the mid-sixties. These formerly belonged to Paul Price--an early NSS member and a member of the old Morgantown Grotto. Doug is retaining ownership of the books, but is permanently loaning them to the grotto library. People can check them out. (And indeed, John Tudek became the first borrower, taking two of the books)

Also we will look into getting a copy of the DVD of all the WV Cavers

5. Adopt-A-Highway/Harr #2 trip:  On November 11, we will meet at the parking area of Bowden Cave at 10am. We will do our normal highway litter pickup. That will be followed by a trip to Harr #2 Cave--a nicely decorated, mostly walking passage, beginner cave that takes about 1 and a half to 2 hours to do. If you are new to the grotto, please check our FAQ section on the website for an equipment list. We can provide helmets if you need them.

6. We discussed our annual post-Christmas trip, and are looking tentatively at Norman Cave. John Tudek (who is doing his thesis on that area) also suggested Rockland Indian Cave.

7. The grotto Christmas party will be held on Sunday, December 16th at Bob and Mary's house. Keep that afternoon/evening open. Details will be planned at the December meeting.

8. We discussed a challenge issued by another grotto to give a fire rescue group a donation for cave rescue equipment. There was much discussion, and for various good reasons it was decided not to contribute. Individuals who wish to contribute, however, may do so.

9. On November 17th, TCSS will be going back into our main project cave to survey. This is an advanced caving trip and requires surveying experience. You will get wet, and it takes a minimum of 2 hours (traveling fast) to get to our last survey point. Brian Masney, Dave Riggs, Jesse Miller, Doug Bell, Terry McLanathan, Bob Griffith and Doug McCarty all plan on being there, so we will be able to field 2 survey teams

10. Llew Williams will be leading a trip to My Cave on November 18th. Rendezvous times are yet to be worked out. The Dry Branch entrance of My Cave is an advanced beginner cave.

11. The next Druid/Windy Slope survey will be after Thanksgiving. That survey is only open to people who have previously worked in the canyon.

12. Rich Finley is setting up a "Vertical Rodeo" rather like the NSS convention vertical workshops to help new folks learn about vertical. Several Mon Grotto folks volunteered to participate.

Trip reports were given for:

1. Cave Resurvey Project: So far, Kevin keplinger, Justin Keplinger, Brian Masney, Bob Griffith, Susan Posey and Doug McCarty have participated. Justin found a new cave called with 64 feet of passage. They have also surveyed a cave that was found by Doug back in May. It has 91 feet of passage.

2. Mystic Cave: Dave gave a report of the WVUSG Mystic Trip. Some new Mon Grotto members were supposed to have gone on that, but didn't for some reason I didn't quite get.

3. Fall VAR. Jesse Miller, Doug Bell, Mary Davis, Bob Griffith and John Harman attended VAR. Jesse, Doug, Bob and Mary went to Elkhorn Mountain. John and Cullen Henke did Cass Cave. Bob and Mary did the via ferrata at Nelson's Rocks on Sunday

4.Brian Masney reported on a Shovel Eater trip (on VAR weekend) that he and Jason Thomas were on.

5. Bridge Day: Brian reported that all went well. On their team they had Brian, Dave Riggs, Mary Schmidt, Mary Davis, Bob Griffith, John Harman, Garth Dixon, Gordon Burkhimer, Kurt Waldron and Terry McLanathan. Brian and Terry did a tandem ascent up a rope from the tracks to the bridge in 45 minutes

6. CRF 50th Birthday Bash at Mammoth Cave was reported on by John Tudek. He reports that it was great fun and that he spent 3 days caving, in various caves

7. Dave Riggs reported on a cave he found in Mon County he calls One Room Wonder Cave. It has 65 feet of passage and 27 feet of depth. He brought a sketch of the cave and maps.

8. Jeff Lydic reported on a cave trip to Central Tennessee.

9. Dave Riggs gave a report of the OCR class at Laurel Caverns on 9/29. The mock rescue was done at Barton Cave and it took them 5 hours to get the patient out of the cave.

There were 16 people at the grotto meeting: John Barth, Dave Riggs, John Harman, Jesse Miller, Doug Bell, Mary Davis, Bob Griffith, Alan Carpenter, Jim Kershner and Doug McCarty. We had several people in attendance for the first time: Bill Burns, Jesse Fout, Robin Cross (all of whom were on the recent trip to Sharps Cave), Lorin Long (who was at a grotto vertical practice a while back), Killiam McCarthy and Russell Bowie (cavers from Frostburg).

Topics discussed were:

1. OTR: We discussed OTR. The new "arrival at noon" rule went better than expected. The only hassle was the fact that the web site and the guidebook says you can "reserve a reasonable amount of space", but when that reserved space was violated, OTR staff said "You can't reserve space"--a clear contradiction. Caves visited during OTR included Fanslers Pit, Dreen, Bobcat Blowhole, Sinks of Gandy, Jumble Sinks and Windy Slope Cave. George Dasher was presented with a plaque and a DVD containing all the WV Cavers ever published to commemorate his 25 years as editor.

2. Grotto dues was due at OTR. Anybody who hasn't paid needs to do so.

3. The trip to Sharps Cave on September 15^th went well. Bob Griffith and Doug Bell were the co-leaders, taking 9 people relatively new to caving. Most of them enjoyed it, but a couple of them probably won't go caving again. It's not for everybody.

4. Orientation to Cave Rescue Class at Laurel Caverns on September 29th There will be a general call down on Sunday like a real one. We will use it to try out the call down list. Several people indicated that they will participate if called.

5. Reminder: Fall VAR October 12-14 at Dailey (OTR site) 

6. Shavers Mountain Survey: will be moved to VAR weekend, so if you planned to come to SMS on the first weekend of October--don't. Go to VAR instead.

7. Tucker County Survey: Because of the Cave Hollow/Arbogast Survey, TCSS will be cancelled in October and November. Weather permitting, we will resume in December. The survey of Bennett Cave is done!

8. Hellhole: Dave Riggs gave a Hellhole wrap-up report. The cave now has more than 28 miles of passage.

9. Friars Hole: Dave also gave out information on the ongoing Friars Hole survey.

10. Membership Issues. We discussed the fact that the membership rules in the bylaws are not being followed, but we discussed the reasons why.

Upcoming Events:

1. WVUSG Meeting : At 8pm on October 3^rd, Dave Riggs will give a presentation on cave surveying. It will be in Room 125 in Brooks Hall. Anyone who is interested can attend. John Harman invited to Mon Grotto people to all of the WVUSG meetings. They are at 8pm every Wednesday evening. From now on, the WVUSG meetings will be posted on the calendar on the web

2. Mystic Cave . On Sunday, October 7 the WVUSG is doing a Mystic trip. John will send me rendezvous info which I will post to the list serve.

3. Trout Rock Caves : On October 20-21Alan Carpenter will be leading a group of boy scouts to the Trout Rock Caves . If you would like to go, contact Alan. A rendezvous plan will be posted to the list serve.

4. Elkhorn Mountain : WVUSG is also planning an Elkhorn Mountain Trip on November 3^rd. Details will be posted to the list serve. (This is a vertical trip--not for beginners).

There were 22 adults at the grotto meeting tonight: Don Humphrey, Jodanna Humphrey,  Janelle Humphrey-Rowan, Brian Masney, John Barth, Dave Riggs, John Harman, Josh Flaugher, Jesse Miller, Doug Bell, Mary Davis, Bob Griffith, Kevin Keplinger, Justin Keplinger, Carl Werntz,, Jason Thomas, Melissa Parker, Alan Carpenter and Doug McCarty. We had three guests: Jim Kershner and Tom Simon from Wheeling and Carl's friend, Theo (whose last name I did not get).

Topics discussed were:

1. OTR: Alan Carpenter is going to take the tarp on Thursday. Bob Griffith and Ralph Hubbard will meet him. They are going to go a little late to avoid the mess TRA is creating by changing the entrance policies for noon on Thursday. There are no pre-planned cave trips. People who have been involved in the Hellhole Survey were told that there will be a get-together Sunday evening at the GVKS camp site at 6pm. (There was also some sub-conversation about starting an alternative OTR at Alpine Shores without all the anal crap and bs that seems to keep recurring and getting deeper at the current site)

2. Grotto dues is due at OTR  Anybody who has paid their dues or is a life member and is not getting the West Virginia Caver needs to let Bob Griffith know.

3. There will be a trip to Sharps Cave on September 15th. We will meet at the Ski Barn at the base of Snowshoe Mountain at 10 am.

4. Because the Sharps trip will take place on the 3rd Saturday, Tucker County Survey will be moved up to September 8th. We will meet at the usual time, but the PLACE will be changed again. The restaurant right behind Sheetz in Parsons that used to be called Mom's Kitchen, then City Cafe, has re-opened as Trish's Family Restaurant. We will meet there at 8:30 to 9am (depending on if you plan to eat). We will (hopefully) finish the Bennett Cave Survey.

5. WV Cavers have all been scanned!!. A DVD with all issues will presented by Aaron Bird to George Dasher at the WV Caver meeting at OTR. We will also give George a plaque to commemorate his 25th year as editor of the WV Caver

6. Orientation to Cave Rescue Class at Laurel Caverns on September 29th and last all weekend. Details are on the er-ncrc web site. There will be a general call down on Sunday like a real one. We will use it to try out the call down list.

7. T-Shirts have been in limbo because the motherboard on my computer blew.

8. Reminder: Fall VAR October 12-14 at Dailey (OTR site) 

Trip Reports were given for:

1. The grotto vertical practice/training/picnic that was held on August 19 at Coopers Rock. John Barth, Mary Davis and Doug Mc were there..

2. Adopt-a-Highway was on August 12. Alan Carpenter, Doug Bell and Doug McCarty were there. The got 10 bags of garbage

3 Bradshaw Run Cave: Llew Williams, Justin Williams, Bob Griffith and Dave Riggs did a trip to Bradshaw Run on August 19.

4. Tucker County Cave surveys: Dave Riggs, Brian Masney and John Harman surveyed at the top of  the waterfall. Josh Flaugher, Cullen Henke and Doug McCarty pushed a lead and got 237 feet of new passage--finding a new entrance and the top of the other waterfall in the Waterfall Room.

5. Shavers Mountain Survey: John Barth, Doug Mc., Ralph Hubbardalong with several other cavers dug at G1.

6. Brian Masney and Dave Riggs were part of a team that did a 24 hour (without sleep) sherpa trip to campers at Silent Stream in Hellhole

There were 10 people at the grotto meeting: Don Humphrey, John Tudek, Harry Marinakis, Josh Flaugher, Alan Carpenter, Dave Riggs, Brian Masney,  Mary Schmidt, John Harman, and Doug McCarty.

Items discussed were:

1. A grotto vertical practice/training/picnic will take place at noon on Sunday, August 19. We will gather at the rappel spot on Iron Furnace Road. Bring your own sandwich and beverage--and bring something to share.

2. Scanning WV Cavers: Alan and Don volunteered to let Aaron Bird find missing copies of the WV Caver from their complete collections.

3. Once again, Orientation to Cave Rescue Class--will occur at Laurel Caverns on September 29th and last all weekend. Sign up early.

4. The T-shirts are being actively worked on (Yeah, yeah, we've hear that before)

5. OTR: Bob Griffith will take the tarp and Ralph Hubbard will meet him and they will claim a spot. REMEMBER: Grotto dues is due at OTR

7. Adopt-a-Highway will be on Sunday, June 12th at 2pm. meet at Bowden cave. (Please try to be there if you can. It is a grotto task and the more people there, the easier it is.)

7. Cave Rescue Call Down List: Mary Schmidt is putting together a call down list. In the next few days, we will post a questionnaire here on the web site you can print out, fill out and get it to Mary. 

8. Tucker County Cave surveys: we discussed upcoming Tucker County cave surveys.

Trip reports:

1. Doug gave a trip report on The Second Annual Simmons Mingo Caveapaloosa--Simmons Mingo Cave, Dreen Cave and Justrite

2. Brian gave a trip report on the pre-convention TAG trip; and then he, Mary, Harry and John (Tudek) gave a convention trip report 

3. Doug gave trip reports on Tucker County Survey and. Shavers Mountain Survey. 

There were 13 people at the June grotto meeting: Don Humphrey, John Barth, Jesse Miller, Doug Bell, Dave Riggs, Brian Masney, Rocky Parsons, Sandy Parsons, John Harman, Katherine Gunther, Mary Davis, Bob Griffith and Doug McCarty.

Items discussed were:
1. The Second Annual Simmons Mingo Caveapaloosa will occur on July 13th and 14th--and maybe into the 15th. The 13th is a Friday. Llew Williams, Justin Williams and Doug Mc will rendezvous with whomever else might be coming at the grocery store/gas station/restaurant in Valley Head at 11 am on Friday. We will do Simmons Mingo. We will camp that night and rendezvous the next day (Saturday) once again at the grocery store/gas station/restaurant in Valley Head, at 10 am (Not 11 like we did Friday). We will go do Bradshaw Run and maybe Left Tit Pit and maybe something else. These are vertical caves. Saturday night and Sunday will be played by ear.

2. Once again, Orientation to Cave Rescue Class--will occur at Laurel Caverns on September 29th and last all weekend. Sign up early.

3. Grotto Picnic/Vertical training practice day: At this juncture we have just picked a date and a place--Coopers Rock on August 19th (a Sunday). Mark your calendar now. Specifics will be determined at the next grotto meeting.
 
4. The T-shirts are being actively worked on

5. Scanning WV Cavers: Aaron Bird is digitizing WV Cavers, but there are some he doesn't have. Brian Masney will check the Mon Grotto library for the missing issues and Dave Riggs will check the WVU Library to see if he can find the missing issues.

6. OTR: We need to make sure we will have people there at noon on Thursday to claim a campsite. Doug Mc cannot be there at noon this year, but Bob said he would be there. We'll check and see if Ralph will be there as well-and it would be nice to have a few more folks there to claim a good spot.

7. NSS convention and Paul Richtor's offer to share a room. We asked if there were any takers, but no one planned to spend the whole week at the convention.

8. Announcement: Tucker County Survey will now meet at Tucker Country Inn instead of City Café, because City café is now closed.

Trip reports:
1. Celebration of the Outdoors at Coopers Rock: Bob gave a trip report on our well received presentation and beginner caving trip.

2. Unnamed Pit/Nuttinbutawet Pit: Dave Riggs gave a trip report of a ridge walk on Deckers Creek he and Brian did. They dropped these 2 pits--the first of which Dave found--and is the deepest known pit in Monongalia County at 28 or so feet.

3. Hellhole: John Harman gave a trip report on the surveying trip he, Josh Flaugher, Cullen Henke, Brian Masney and Mary Schmidt did.

4. Mammoth Cave: Dave did a trip report on the Karst geology class he took there and recommended it highly.

5. Lava Tubes: Dave did a trip report on several lava tubes he visited in Oregon and Washington.

4. Original Sin Cave and Windy Slope Cave. We had a Power Point presentation on the discovery and initial work in these two caves. The presentation was narrated by Doug Mc, Brian Masney and Dave Riggs.

5. Shavers Mountain Survey: We had a video and showed a few pictures from the June survey in which work was done in Jumble Sinks Cave and a trip was made to the Bowden Quarry Caves.

There were 14 people at the meeting last night: Don Humphrey, Alan Carpenter, Jodanna Humphrey, Llew Williams, John Barth, Josh Flaugher, Jesse Miller, Doug Bell, Mary Davis, Bob Griffith, Doug McCarty and Paul Richtor with his wife and mother-in-law.

Paul and his wife gave a great slide presentation and travelogue on the tower karst and caves of Guangxi Province in China.

Because of the slide show, the business meeting was somewhat truncated.

Items discussed were:
1. T-shirts are being actively worked on

2. Celebration of the Outdoors at Coopers Rock on June 9th. At this juncture only Bob, Mary and I have committed to being there. It would be good to have a few more people to help out. Bring caving gear and vertical gear if you have it. Mary will let the list serve know what time to be there.

3. Orientation to Cave Rescue Class--will occur at Laurel Caverns on September 29th and last all weekend. Sign up early.

4. Cheat Canyon: Aaron Bird plans to camp in the canyon and work for a week from June8-June16. I will be joining him for a few days. Anybody with a little time that weekend or that week who wants to do some project work can join us. Also, there will be an evening of light caving/digging on Monday, June 4th. More details will be forthcoming.

5. The Second Annual Simmons Mingo Caveapaloosa will occur on July 14th. More details will be forthcoming. We will camp by Simmons Mingo cave and do several caves that weekend.

6. Scanning WV Cavers: Aaron Bird is digitizing WV Cavers. Mary is going to check and see if she can power scan bulk materials.

7. Report on WVaSS meeting was given by Doug Mc

8. Bennett Cave trip report was given by Josh

9. Kings (Rishers) Cave report was given by Doug Mc

10. Jumble Sinks trip report was given by Doug Mc.

The next meeting will be June 25th at 3 Ways Inn

There were 19 adults at the grotto meeting tonight: Don Humphrey, Jodanna Humphrey,  Janelle Humphrey-Rowan, Jeremy Rowan, John Tudek, Brian Masney, Mary Schmidt, John Barth, Dave Riggs, John Harman, Josh Flaugher, Jesse Miller, Doug Bell, Maria Springfield, Mary Davis, Bob Griffith, Kevin Keplinger, Kevin's wife and Doug McCarty.

Topics discussed were:
1. Caves and Karst of China next meeting (May 21) by Paul Richtor. Bob Griffith will bring a projector. Brian will be the back up projector  person if something unforeseen prevents Bob from bringing one.

2. T-Shirts are being worked on (I swear)

3. WVaSS meeting/Shavers Mountain Survey reminder--This weekend at the cabin at the National Forest campground on Glady Fork off of the Sully Road.

4. Celebration of the Outdoors: Mary Davis is the point person. She will  find out when we need to be there and start etc. Once again, that will be on June 9th. Doug Mc will put together and adjunct slide show on Cheat Canyon caves

5. Cave rescue trip reports: Kevin, Dave and Brian gave trip reports on the cave rescue at Simmons Mingo.

6. Cave Rescue call down list: We discussed the need to do a call down  list. Mary Schmidt volunteered to organize that. We will put together a list of people who are interested in being included. (All cavers can be included whether they have had OCR or other training or not). One person will be the point person so Doug Moore or whomever, only needs to make one call. That person will call preassigned people, and those people will call preassigned people--etc. More info will be posted soon to the list and be put on the web site.

7. Cave Rescue Training: There is an NCRC training  from June 16-23 in  Salem VA. There is an OCR class this weekend at Clinton NJ. John Tudek says it is about a 6 hour drive, and you can camp out. We discussed the possibility of sponsoring an OCR in the future. (Once again, all cavers are encouraged to take an Orientation to Cave Rescue (OCR) Class

8. Advanced Vertical Practice/Training: All vertical cavers need to know fundamental self rescue moves--rigging basic haul systems, how to self rescue, doing a basic pick off (if all else fails). I proposed that we do this. Mary volunteered to coordinate this rather informal familiarization with these techniques. Hopefully, Don Humphrey will help out with this. This is for experienced  vertical cavers. We won't be doing any  basic SRT  training when this occurs. Mary will propose a few dates  and we will select one.

9. Slaty Fork caves: John Tudek is doing his Masters Thesis on the hydrology of the Sharps Cave area--so he will soon be doing multiple caving trips in that area. You can help John with his work and see some of the many caves in that area. Watch for it on the list serve.

10. New GVKS fieldhouse: The house next to Mrs. Teter (near Mystic) that used to be rented by Tri-State Grotto (and before that by the Mud Ducks) will now be rented by the GVKS (Germany Valley Karst Survey). To support it, other groups can use it for $30 a night. On top of that every individual will pay $5 a night.

11. VAR meeting: Fall VAR will be a VAR/MAR at the OTR site in October.  It will be Philadelphia Grotto's 60th birthday. Next Spring's VAR will  be a VAR/SERA meeting in June in Bristol VA. It will be a 3 day event and there will be lots of led trips.

12. Billy Clay Pit: Mary Davis gave a trip report on Billy Clay Pit--a nicely decorated two drop vertical cave administered by MAKC--She and Jeff Lydic went there with Carl Pierce of the Pittsburgh Grotto and MAKC.

13. Simmons Mingo Through trip: Bob gave a great trip report on the Simmons Mingo through trip. Sounds like it was a tough and tight trip.

14. Poor Farm Cave: Maria gave a trip report on a Poor Farm (Pocahontas) trip.

15. Cheat Canyon: I gave a very brief report on the status and noted that Aaron Bird tentatively plans to camp in the canyon and work for a week from June8-June16.

16. Harr # 2 and Bennett Caves. I gave brief trip reports on these caves. The owner of Harr # 2 has found 2 other caves on his property he wants us to check out. Dave gave a brief description of the new cave we found near Bennett Cave.

 17. Druid Cave: Dave Riggs says Alan Peterson, one of the discoverers of Druid Cave, will be here on Monday June 4th for a trip to Druid. There may be some slots open for that trip. (Druid is a vertical cave that requires vertical proficiency and experience).

18. Vertical training/practice part 2: I forgot to mention this during the meeting, but we will have a beginning vertical training at Coopers Rock on a weeknight this week or next week. It will be announced on the list serve.

There were 19 people at the grotto meeting: Don Humphrey, Jodanna Humphrey, Jeff Lydic, Harry Marinakis, Jacqey McDaniel, Alan Carpenter, Brian Masney, Dave Riggs, John Harman, Josh Flaugher, Jesse Miller, Doug Bell, Maria Springfield, Matt Smith, Bob Griffith, Mary Davis, Jason Thomas, Cullen Henke and Doug McCarty.

Items discussed were:

1. T-Shirts. (Hopefully they will be done by VAR)

2. Cheat Canyon Dig--Saturday March 31. We will meet at IHOP in the Glenmark Center off I-68 at the Pierpont Exit at 9am  (Come earlier to eat.)  There are 8 people planning on going so far (including from our grotto Dave Riggs, Bob Griffith and I), but others may join us. There is a good chance of breaking into virgin cave.

3. A reminder that VAR will be on April 27-29. There are a lot of people from the grotto going. (Also it will the WVUSG's 30th anniversary.) We discussed what caves to do. 

4. A reminder that the Spring WVaSS  meeting will be at the Old CCC cabin at the Glady Creek Campground on Three Springs Run, Shavers Mountain at 4pm on May 5. Come Friday night or Saturday morning at 9am for Shavers Mountain Survey.

5. Adopt-a-Highway/Harr #2 Trip: April 14. Meet at the Bowden Cave parking lot at 9:30am. When the cleanup is done, we will go to Harr # 2, so bring caving gear.

6. Vertical Training/Practice: April 10--a Tuesday evening. We will meet at the Burger King at the Cheat Lake Exit off of I 68 at 4:30 pm and go to either Coopers Rock or Army Rock.

7. Celebration of the Outdoors--At Coopers Rock. June 9th--hours to be announced. The grotto will be taking people into Coopers Rock Cave , doing vertical demonstrations, giving a slide show and letting people try ascending on a treadmill.

8. Caves and Karst of China--a Powerpoint presentation will be given by Paul Richtor at the Grotto meeting in May (on the 21st--the next to the last Monday because of Memorial Day). Bob Griffith will bring a projector. Brian masney will be the backup man.

9. Banff Mountain Adventure Film Festival: April 4 in Morgantown at the Metropolitan Theater at 7pm. This is the kickoff event for the Morgantown Adventure Film and Photo Festival. Local films will be shown at 123 Pleasant Street and photos will be on display at the Black Bear Burrito from April 16-20 and the films will be on April 20-21 For info on the Banff Films click here. For info on 3rd Annual Morgantown Adventure Film and Photo Festival click here 

10. Brian discussed plans to go to TAG before the NSS convention and not arrive at convention until Wednesday. More planning will take place before convention.  

11. Dave, Jeff and Doug gave trip reports

12. People were encouraged to become involved with one of the three semi-local projects NYDC/Druid, Tucker County and Shavers Mountain

The next meeting will be on April 30 at 3 Ways Inn in Fairmont

There were 20 adults at the grotto meeting last night: Don Humphrey, Janelle Humphrey-Rowan, Harry Marinakis, John Tudek, Rocky Parsons, Sandy Parsons, John Barth, Brian Masney, Dave Riggs, John Harman, Josh Flaugher, Jesse Miller, Doug Bell, Maria Springfield, Matt Smith, Bob Griffith, Jason Thomas, Carl Werntz, Ray Garton and Doug McCarty. This was the first meeting for John H. and Josh--welcome. It was good to see Ray (a life member of the grotto) at the meeting.

Items discussed were:

1. Officer Elections. We were notified by the NSS that two of our officers had let their NSS membership's lapse. The people in question were notified by Bob and that presumably rectified the situation--we hope.

2. T-Shirts. T-Shirts are actively being worked on--we hope.

3. Spring VAR: We will try to camp together at Spring VAR. At least six grotto members plan to go and hopefully more will join us. 

4. NSS Convention: The same thing goes for convention. At this point at least four people plan to go.

5. Adopt-a-Highway: We will set a date for the highway clean up in April and do a trip to Harr #2 afterward.

6. WVASS Meeting in May at the Shavers Mountain Survey fieldhouse. People interested in the systematic survey of the caves in WV are welcome to attend. Ray gave us a brief rundown on the paleontology bulletin he is coauthoring that will hopefully be out for OTR.

7. We briefly discussed the cave diving death of Ron Simmons. Read an interview he did in the 2000 Convention Guide.

Project Reports:

8. Shavers Mountain Project: Was cancelled in February because of snow. Unless the weather intervenes, the project will meet this coming Saturday (March 3) at Alpine Lodge in Alpena.

9. Tucker County Survey: Brian and Kevin Keplinger were the only ones there this month. They met with a landowner and did some ridge walking. The plan for this month is to do a survey of a cave that has been closed for 28 years--but which we have been given access to for survey purposes. We will try to knock it out in one long day--although that may be overly ambitious. We will meet in Parsons at the City Café (behind Sheetz with the sign "Mama's Kitchen") at 8:30 to eat and leave at 9am. Ray gave the current TCSS membership some maps and a copy of a draft of the Caves and Karst of Tucker County. He also offered to duplicate and any large maps we needed done.

10. NYDC/Druid: Aaron Bird and Dave did a long cave trip in Druid last Friday, putting in more bolts and rigging. Brian was going to pick them up and take them back to their cars, but got hung up in the snow. He eventually rescued them from the freezing trudge back to their cars in a borrowed four wheeler. The next day Dave, Aaron, Brian, Mary Schmidt and Tristan Bird ridgewalked, placed dye traps, injected dye and found some interesting holes and features. The traps will be retrieved in 2 weeks. Aaron is checking his schedule and we will start digging at a sucking hole in the not too distant future.

Trip Reports:

11. Doug Mc gave a trip report for a Sharps trip

12. Rocky gave a trip report for a recent Hellhole bat counting trip.

Photocopied WVASS Bulletins

Ray had a bunch of miscopied photocopies of several older bulletins that he gave to whomever might be interested. Lots of people were interested.

The next meeting will be on March 26 at 3 Ways Inn in Fairmont.

There were 16 adults at the grotto meeting last night: Bob Griffith, Mary Davis, Janelle Humphrey-Rowan, Jodanna Humphrey, Dave Riggs, Don Humphrey, Alan Carpenter, Jason Thomas, Carl Werntz, John Barth, Harry Marinakis, Matt Smith, Maria Springfield, Doug Bell, Jesse Miller and Doug McCarty. This was the first meeting for Maria, Doug and Jesse—welcome. (Maria and Matt both belong to the Loyalhanna Grotto.

Items discussed were:

1. Officer Elections. The officers for next year are: Doug McCarty, Vice Chair Jason Thomas, Secretary/Treasurer Bob Griffith, Board Member Justin Keplinger. The election was made more exciting be a number of write in votes. People who received write in votes were Brian Masney, Mary Schmidt, Dave Riggs, Chris Carpenter and Rocky Parsons.

2. Spring VAR: will be in Durbin April 27-29, with lots of nice caving. Pre-registration forms can be gotten online.

3. NSS Convention is in Marengo, Indiana July 23-27. Pre-registration can be done on-line

4. T-shirts: Your unworthy chairman continues to screw that up--what else is new.

5. Trip to Harr #2 and maybe another Tucker County cave on February 10. Meet at the southern end of Canaan Valley State Park. Coming south on Rt. 32 from the entrance to the park look on your right for Back Hollow Road and an old quarry. On the other side of Rt. 32 from the old quarry is a large pull-off area. We will meet there at 10 am. This is a beginner cave trip.

6. NYDC/Druid Project will occur on the past weekend of February. Aaron Bird will be in and we will put out dye traps and dump two different kinds of dye. There will be both in-cave stuff to do, and non-caving things to do. Contact Brian Masney if you’re interested in helping.

Trip Reports:

1. Doug Mc gave a trip report for Shavers Mountain Survey and the end of the survey of Panther Camp Cave on January 6th

2. Bob gave a trip report for a trip to Simmons Mingo on January 13^th

3. Doug Mc gave a trip report for TCSS and the Elk Lick Caves on January 20^th

4. Dave gave a trip report for a Scott Hollow trip on January 27

(Wow, a cave trip every weekend.)

The next meeting will be on February 26 at 3 Ways Inn in Fairmont.