BLUE RIDGE GROTTO of the National Speleological Society
BRG Minutes for 2/21/2025 (final)
Logan’s
Roadhouse, Roanoke, VA
Attendance:
Susan Burr Marian McConnell DanO McConnell
Mary Sue Socky Trish
Geiger Nick
Schmalenberger
Helene Ferguson Meredith
Weberg Cyndi
Hutchison
Barry Ferguson Sharon Mohney *Bambi
Marshall
*Alex Thompson *Anastasia
Thompson *Guest
Vice Chair Susan Burr called the meeting to order at 6:28p.
Chair Dave Socky was absent – mountain climbing in Africa
Thank You Marian to make sure we have the room reserved for meetings.
TRIP REPORTS
1/18/2025: BRG trip to Lowmoor Cave, VA. 14 people signed up, but only Susan Burr, Jeff Huffman, Lauren Appel, Nick Schmalenberger, Alex Thompson, Trish Geiger, Sharon Mohney, Ben Hester and Abby Arbeiter made it to the cave. The old ladder over the scary spot has not yet been replaced. Good trip!
1/19: BRG Winter Party. Dave Socky, Mary Sue Socky, Alex Thompson, Susan Burr Jeff Huffman Hillary Huffman Doug Feller, Cheryl Feller, John Pearson, Lyn Pearson, Lauren Appel, Nick Schmalenberger, Bob Alderson, Trish Geiger, and Joey Fagan. Fifteen cavers showed up with nice things to eat, we watched old cave videos and had fun with Nick Schmalenbergers’ new squeezebox.
1/20: Nick Schmalenberger, Angela Rao, Alicyn Gitlin did some of the Higginbotham Caves near Frankford, WV. Probably #1 and # 4.
1/23: Dave and Mary Sue Socky attended the Virginia Cave Board meeting in Natural Bridge SP, VA. Dave later visited the now-closed Caverns at Natural Bridge, VA. Very icy entrance.
1/25: Nick Schmalenberger reported on a cave rescue in New River Cave, VA. A VPI trainee was climbing on rocks near the Lunch Room, slipped and broke his leg (Fib-Tib fracture). VPI and Blacksburg Cave Rescue Group (BCRG) responded. Some BRG were on standby. Injured caver is going to be OK.
1/27: Dave Socky. Dave Hubbard, Carl Amundson, Blaine (NC) etc. visited Shenandoah Wild Cave, VA with landowner permission and paleo permits. They removed one Long Nosed Peccary skull (Pleistocene, extinct) and various bones; more peccary skeletons are still in the cave.
1/27: Carol Tiderman and Mary Sue Socky visited Shenandoah Caverns, VA. Beautiful cave!
2/1: Nick Schmalenberger & Martin DiLeggi visited Padlock Cave, Rockbridge Co VA – one of Martin’s digs.
2/15: Meredith Weberg attended the SVG weekend. They rented Mark Hodge’s old mill house (now Airbnb) McDowell, VA for the weekend. Went to Crossroads Cave, VA, which had ice everywhere. Nope! Visited the two caves on the mill property: Cedar Knob Cave (vertical) entrance is in shed, and the horizontal Solid Rock Cave with its wooden door.
This Month’s trip
– tomorrow, 2/22/2025, Dixie
Caverns Conservation trip, Roanoke Co. VA. Meet at 9:30a. Mary Sue Socky is leader.
Gently clean cave of ‘moss’ (lampenflora) and wash the Wedding Bell. Baby salamanders have been spotted!
March grotto trip – Rapps Cave, WV.
April /May (maybe) a thru- trip in Maxwelton Cave, WV in the Scott Entrance (tube) and out the Historic Entrance. This would be a BRG trip with Mystik Miller leading. Susan is still planning this.
BUSINESS MEETING
February 21, 2025 - BRG Treasury Report
Respectfully submitted by Marian McConnell.
Fund Amounts
$
112.96 Cave Bucks
$ 2.00 Conservation
Fund
$ 144.12 Equipment
Fund
$ 5,851.77 General
Fund
$ 6110.85 Total Funds
Committees:
Newsletter –no Feb. DUMP, Editor Dave Socky is on safari. Really.
Membership –we have 51 members & 3 subscribers. (4 members did not renew for 2025). Membership packets will be mailed in March 2025.
ROCKS – No report
Safety & Techniques – If
you find yourself slipping underground, “Make like a Starfish” -position
your body to increase surface area and friction to slow descent. See (1/25/25 accident report in trips.)
Membership Proposals: None
Old Business
· BRG Payment (PayPal) Account – Dave Socky (No Report) BRG will use cash app Zelle for free and will charge $1.00 fee for PayPal transactions. DONE.
· BRG Meeting Space in 2025. January and Feb. we have met at Logan’s for BRG meetings. While it is not ‘perfect’ (TV is broken), it is a free place to meet, and the food is OK. After some discussion, it was decided that Logan’s will do. Marian McConnell will work with Asst. Manager Chloe to reserve the “Garage Room” for March-Nov 2025. DONE
· I.O Report -has Not been submitted to the NSS. Dave promises to fix this when he gets home.
New Business
·
WVCC has
purchased Giant Caverns, VA. A
management plan is being developed. Dan
Crowder will be preserve manager.
·
The
Caverns at Natural Bridge, VA,
closed Oct. 2024. It is now part of
Natural Bridge State Park. Manager says the plan is to let the former show cave
REST. Natural entrance rockwork will be
repaired. Electricity problems are known
to new owner. Future plans? Cave may be used for underground workshops, intro to caving
summer programs, and Lantern Tours.
Local cavers have volunteered their skills to help with repairs and the
cave lampenflora problem.
·
Update
on widening of I-81 and how it will impact Dixie Caverns, New Dixie Cave, VA. (MSSocky,
from conversation with Wil Orndorff).
New Dixie and Dixie Caverns support hibernating bats (Tricolors and Big
Browns). I-81 widening will take place
in center of roadway; however, side work’ will come
VERY close to part of New Dixie Cave.
New Dixie needs a resurvey ASAP! The concrete culvert (along trail to New
Dixie) will be modified, since estimated runoff from I-81 will increase
150%.
·
Chance
to win helmets for BRG – Attend 2025 Spring VAR! (flyer).
The more BRG cavers who register & ATTEND 2025 Spring VAR
will influence how many of the 100 Petzl Boreo helmets we will receive from
Karst Sports and OBG. Each grotto will
have one designated representative who will receive the helmets.
Announcements:
· Charlotte Lucas’ memorial will be May 3, 2025, 2p at Owl Cave, VA.
· Healthy Caving – let’s be healthy going underground. Rules were posted in the DUMP.
· T-Shirts –If you ordered one, Pay Up! There are 17 remaining T-shirts! $12.00 each. Med. to XL, various colors: red, gold, grey, green, light blue, etc. Contact Susan Burr pondlady97@gmail.com for more information.
· Gary & Kim Drewry are moving to Panama! They are selling the farm and everything. Gary has 90 or so old USGS topo maps (circa 1990-2000) that he is willing to part with for $100. If you are interested, please give Gary a call @ 540-280-3186. They’re leaving soon!
· Please send verified cave info updates for https://var.caves.org/index.php/conservation/closed-caves/closed-cave-list to Brad Blase.
· Catawba Murder Hole Cave is CLOSED
· Winter Bat Closure for some caves. WV: closed Sep 1-May 15. VA: closed Oct 15–Apr 15.
· 2025 is the 100th anniversary of Floyd Collins’ entrapment in Sand Cave, KY.
· OTR Fellow Awards nominations are due March 1. Nominate someone deserving See OTR.org for past winners.
CAVER CALENDAR:
Feb 21- BRG meeting 6:30p Logan’s Roadhouse
Feb 22 – BRG Conservation trip to Dixie Caverns, VA.
Mar 21 - BRG meeting 6:30p TBA
Mar 22 – Meeting of The Explorer’s Club, NYC.
Apr.
Apr 18 - BRG meeting 6:30p TBA
May 9-11 - Spring
VAR, Hosted by Out of Bounds Grotto, at Spruce Knob, WV. NEW!
Jun 23-27, 2025 – NSS Convention, Cobleskill, NY.
·
Pre-register
before April 10 to take advantage of the early signup discount of only $275.
Jul-11-19: NCRC Weeklong classes, Mountain Gateway Community College, Clifton Forge, VA. For more info, including prerequisites, visit: https://caves.org/ncrc/courses/ncrc-course-descriptions/
Cold Beer! 7:40p
Program - Vote for Your Favorite Five!
Minutes submitted by Mary Sue Socky, Secretary