Blue Ridge Grotto of the NSS
MEETING MINUTES
July 19, 2013 - 7:30p – Vinton Firehouse
Meeting began 7:38p
Attendance:
Marian McConnell – Chair Carl Cornett Al Stewart *Shawn Daugherty
Mary Sue Socky – Sec. Dusty
Gulden Nicole
Gulden *Bob Gulden
Cyndi Hutchison Susan Burr *
denotes guest.
Trip Reports:
6/22: BRG trip to McClung’s/Lightner Entrance,
WV. No participants present to report on the
trip. Dave Socky was leader, Nick Socky,
Stephanie Petri, Tommy Polson.
6/22: Tawney’s Cave VA. Fun
horizontal trip took the tour of the cave.
Pat Sims, Susan Burr, David and Zan Rose, Jevon and Heather Rose, Adam
Dorris, Mary Sue Socky, Carl Cornett, Ivy Lidstone & David Tudge kept an active pace.
Trip was over in 3 hours.
6/29: Grassy Springs Cave, VA. Dave Socky, Nick Socky, Joe Calderone, Bob
Alderson had a 12 hour trip and netted 371 ft. of passage, much
of it virgin. They were stopped by a pit.
7/6: Dave Socky and Bob Thren
taught a cave survey course in Grand Caverns, VA. Mary Sue Socky joined the “Biggers Diggers”
crew in nearby Fountain Cave, VA.
7/9: Dave Socky, Mary Sue
Socky, Rebecca Stewart, Carol Zokaites visited Slusser’s Chapel Cave, VA. (NOTE: This cave is owned by the CCV,
and is usually closed).
They were helping Rebecca, who works for the state DCR, do a biological
inventory of the cave. The cave entrance
was blocked by a large washed-in stump, until Dave extracted it. This cave had recently taken a LOT of water
and mud. A new sinkhole /collapse had
formed next to the cave entrance, flooding the cave with sediment. Stoopwalks are now crawlways. Most of the cave critters had been washed
deep into the cave. Dave pushed a pool next to a drowned cave rat? Squirrel? (It had a fuzzy tail); then the group decided to
exit.
7/18: Mary Sue Socky visited Dixie Caverns, VA
as recon. for the upcoming Conservation cleanup.
Upcoming Trips:
·
7/21 (Sunday): BRG conservation trip planned to Dixie Caverns, VA. Will spray “the green” with H2O2 and pick up
stuff. 10a – 2p. Mary Sue Socky is
coordinator.
·
8/5-9: NSS Convention in Shippensburg PA.
·
8/18: BRG Kayak, Canoe, and Float trip on the Smyth River,
VA. Brian Williams and Stephanie Petri
are leaders. Bring your boat! If you need to rent a boat, contact Brian
ASAP.
·
8/24: Fountain Cave,
Grand Caverns project. Resurvey
of Fountain Cave will begin. Contact
Mary Sue Socky if you want to carpool.
Program: First half of Al Stewart’s copy of “NOVA:
Extreme Cave Diving”. We saw 18 min.
until the bulb went dark and the projector started flashing red lights. (Alan Staton was originally our guest speaker,
but he was called away on family business.
Alan will do his presentation on “Heart Attacks, Strokes, and other
Medical Issues as they Relate to Caving” at the September? meeting.)
BUSINESS
MEETING
TREASURER’S
REPORT (submitted by Stephanie
Petri, read by MSSocky):
7/19/2013 Balance Sheet
Petty Cash 110.00
General Fund 3,841.39
Conservation 266.55
Equipment 225.36
Cave Bucks 159.30
TOTAL
BALANCE: $4,591.60
NEWSLETTER
–Thanks for the artwork and articles! Extra hardcopies of the DUMP are
available at meetings.
MEMBERSHIP –
membership lists are available at meetings.
Bring folks interested in caving to the BRG meetings.
ROCKS –no
report.
SAFETY
& TECHNIQUES – no report.
MEMBERSHIP PROPOSALS – Bob Gulden, NSS # 13188 RL, FE, sponsored by Mary Sue Socky. Bob was voted in 6-0. Welcome, Bob!
OLD BUSINESS:
·
Requests for
Caving Presentations: Mary Sue and
Marian upcoming talk 7/25 @ Franklin Co.VA library.
·
Porter’s Tree: project is
tabled until Susan Burr gets more info.
RASS may have already cleaned up the downed tree. (NOTE: Susan Burr requested this item be
dropped, but then RASS/ Glen Todd wrote and said he would let BRG know when
RASS was going to work on the tree so our grottos could work together.)
·
NSS
Fundraising –Last month, BRG decided
to buy a brick for $100.
This
month’s question: What do we want
engraved on the brick? After a short
discussion, it was decided that the brick should say:
BLUE RIDGE
GROTTO
EST. 1970
CAVE SOFTLY
Treasurer
will send money and message to the NSS.
·
BRG Cave Trip
Guidelines – (written 1990, has been
revised from time to time.) Good basic document, needs updating. No new suggestions, so the revised guidelines
will be printed in the next CARBIDE DUMP.
·
BRG August
activity: It was decided to have a Canoe
& Kayak trip on the Smyth River on Sunday, Aug. 18.
·
VDOT I-81 and its
impact on Dixie Caverns. Due to flash
floods, no one attended the meeting. A
few people did write, send in comments to VDOT.
NEW BUSINESS:
·
Does BRG want to
have an August meeting? Susan Burr
proposed that we drop the Aug 16 meeting. Mary Sue Socky 2nd. Everyone voted to NOT have an August
meeting. Next BRG meeting will be
Friday, Sept. 20, 2013.
·
Discussion of new
ropes course/Treetop Adventures at Mt. Lake.
Looks family oriented, Susan Burr wonders if it is too “tame” for BRG.
·
Sending a
donation to Vinton Firehouse, for letting us have our
meetings there. Vote unanimous YES –
treasurer, look up, send same amount $$ as last year.
·
BRG BASH kit is
very outdated. All expiration dates have
done died. Band-Aids are so old, they probably don’t stick any more. BRG membership would like for someone with
medical, first aid knowledge to look at the BASH kit and recommend what be
restocked and how much it would cost. (Please put announcement in DUMP.)
NEW BUSINESS (cont.):
·
FALL VAR. No date or site yet. Rolland Moore (Lexington VA) is interested in
hosting it again. Still open for other
bids.
o VAR has dropped the “must provide beer” clause for VAR
regional meetings. BYOB. This will make things easier for the host
grotto.
ANNOUNCEMENTS,
MAIL BAG, ETC.
·
Former BRG member
Nancy Gale Kuebler died. Nancy was 50
yrs. Old.
·
WNS Decon
protocols – HOT water (122 F) for 20 min.
will kill WNS spores.
·
NSS Convention 2013 will be in Shippensburg, PA, Aug
5-9, 2013. Preregistration is closed. Register on-site in Shippensburg.
·
IMO is offering free shipping on orders over $35.00. Note: Offer
ended 7/2/2013.
·
Marian’s mom, Tillie, is celebrating her 84th
birthday tomorrow. Come to her potluck Birthday Party, noon-5p.
·
MURDER HOLE book by Marian McConnell is available and is selling
like hotcakes!
o NSS members can get discount if they order MURDER
HOLE through the NSS Office.
Meeting adjourned at 8:31p.
Minutes Submitted by
Mary
Sue Socky
BRG Secretary