BLUE RIDGE
GROTTO of the National Speleological Society
BRG Meeting
Minutes 11/17/23
Jersey
Lily’s; Roanoke, VA
Attendance:
|
Nick
Schmalenberger – S&T |
Lauren
Appel – Chair |
Carl
Cornett |
|
Marian
McConnell – Secretary |
Barry
Ferguson |
Helene
Ferguson |
|
Susan
Burr |
Doug
Feller |
Kevin
Johnson |
|
Carrie
Doupnik |
John
Pearson |
Cyndi
Hutchison |
|
Jeff
Huffman |
Margo
Souceck, guest |
Wes
Spangler, guest |
|
Abbey
Mays, guest |
Alexander
Koch (new, guest)* |
Bob
Alderson |
|
Lisa
Graves, guest |
|
|
*Alexander
filled out a BRG rescue information form – I have for you. I gave him a packet
for new people. He came with Abbey Mays.
Trip Reports –
·
10/21 – Lost Cave, WV – “Susan Burr, Jeff
Huffman, Nick Schlmalenberger, Lauren Appel, Trish Geiger. We had a nice trip into Lost Cave. The
entrance area had a little trash that we hauled out on the way back to the car.
The trail to the cave was a little overgrown & had several downed branches
in the way. We wondered if we should clean up the branches or leave it to deter
random visitors. We basically left the brush. There wasn't much of a waterfall
flowing, but it did have some water going into the cave. We spotted a couple of
salamanders as went into the cave & Lauren found a crayfish. We did
discover a lot of broken glass in the entrance area. We didn't really have
anything to safely put glass into to remove it, so we tried to move the larger
pieces off the main trail. There was also some other trash & fresh graffiti
in there. We discussed the possibility of going back for a conservation project
to clean it up sometime in the future. We basically explored everywhere we
could. It doesn't have a lot of formations, but we did see a few. There was
also a lot of tight and/or awkward squeezes & passages to get through. One
I did with grace. NOT! Basically I slid out doing a handstand & almost
ended up on my face. LOL! I believe we were in there about 3 hours.”
·
10/? – Tawney’s, VA – Margo went into
Tawney’s with the VPI Cave Club. They asked her to lead them to the Moon Room,
and then they made it back to the “stripper pole.”
·
11/11 - WVCC Banquet, WV – John Pearson
and others attended the banquet, and praised Mike
Ficco’s presentation. Has a CD of it and could possibly present as a BRG
program (abbreviated version) or invite Mike to come present it. Mike’s
presentation on Omega Cave (from many years ago) is also excellent.
This
Month’s trip – _ Porter’s
Cave, Alleghany Co. VA. Leaders: Susan
Burr and Jeff Huffman. They will be looking for “Misery Pass” and also going in
and out of the Keyhole. Contact Susan at
540-580-9409 or pondlady97@gmail.com. Meet at
HROM at 8:30a.
Next
Month’s grotto trip –
TBA
|
BUSINESS MEETING |
Treasury Report – Lauren read the info. Note: Margo Souceck donated $20 cash to Cave Bucks at the meeting. John
Pearson paid $20 check - dues for this and future year.
Fund Amounts
$
45.96 Cave Bucks
$
2.00 Conservation Fund
$
144.12 Equipment Fund
$ 3,672.52 General Fund
$
3,864.60
Total Funds
Asset Amounts
$ 152.00 Petty Cash
$ 3,712.60 BRG Checking Account
$ 3,864.60 Total Assets
Committees:
●
Newsletter – Great issue.
●
Membership – has 56 members & 5 subscribers.
Be sure to pay your 2024 dues!
●
ROCKS – N/A
●
Safety & Techniques – No news from
Nick.
Membership Proposals:
Old Business
●
Dave created an Auction link for
Carl Cornett’s caving gear. The final total which will be donated for BRG was
$3,201.03! Thank you, Carl, and Dave Socky!
Dave provided a breakdown of all the accounting. I showed the breakdown to Carl and he has a couple of
questions about the shipping (it shows +$77.80) and PayPal Feels (it shows
-$52.28) and total BRG $346.51. I told him I’d ask Dave.
●
BRG Christmas cards were printed
(sample passed around) and will be mailed out – Virginia long-eared bat in
Helectite cave. $164.27 for 75 cards (including envelopes). This included Marian’s
50% discount from Shutterfly. The cover art will be also be on the December Carbide
Dump. Speleobooks requested and received permission to use the art for some
commercial cards in 2024.
●
Marian reserved Jersey Lily’s for
our January with Aaron (Preston no longer works there) – November meetings in
2024. She asked and their Wifi is still very spotty so it would not work well
for Zoom meetings.
New Business:
●
Mary Sue has stepped down as Treasurer for the
remainder of 2023; Dave Socky has agreed to do it for that time period.
●
BRG Officer Elections. We vote at this meeting: A motion was made to
vote on the “slate” by John Pearson and seconded by Susan Burr. All voted (who are eligible) and passed unanimously.
o
Nick Schmalenberger – Chair
o
David Socky – Vice Chair
o
Kelly Perkins – Treasurer
o
Marian McConnell - Secretary
●
Draft of Generic Cave Waiver – Marian created a
draft that will work for any State; for discussion, review and approval. Note
that these are recommended for any non-BRG caving trips. It’s up to the trip
leader to determine if he/she wants to use them. Marian
said she realized it would be better to have each participant show an
“emergency contact #” rather than their address. The draft will be
sent out by email for members to provide their feedback. Again, this is
just a tool and since it’s available for use by trip leaders on NON-BRG trips,
it’s not required by BRG. Just
recommended to “CYA” in case of accident.
●
Marian’s Commitment letter to BRG members upon
her 30th anniversary as a member; was sent out to all members via
email and included in the Carbide Dump.
●
Jeff said it was 10 years ago that he went on a
RCPR caving trip with Carl Cornett and another lady (wasn’t Marian that time)
and that he has been caving ever since, thanks Carl!
Announcements:
●
Healthy Caving – let’s be healthy going
underground. Rules were posted in the DUMP.
Please
send verified cave info updates for https://var.caves.org/index.php/conservation/closed-caves/closed-cave-list to Brad
Blasé.
●
Winter closure dates for bat caves
in West Virginia is
September 1 – May 15.
●
Winter cave closure dates for bat
caves in Virginia is
October 15 – April15.
●
BRG Christmas Party December 17th at
Dave & Mary Sue Socky’s house, 12 – 5p Pot Luck, BYOB, casual, family and
friends welcome. Contact Mary Sue sockymss@cox.net for more
information. An email will be sent out
about the party in early December.
2023 CAVER CALENDAR:
· Nov 24-26 – Annual Mineral and Gem Show @ Salem Civic Center, Salem, VA
https://www.salemciviccenter.com/Events/ArtMID/749/ArticleID/1124/Roanoke-Valley-Mineral-Gem-Show
$5.00
admission, good for all three days. Rocks, minerals, jewelry, fossils,
geode cutting.
·
Dec 17 – BRG Christmas party
●
Jan 19, 2024 – BRG Meeting, 6:30p, Jersey
Lily’s/Salem, VA.
●
July 1-5, 2024 – NSS Convention in Sewanee, TN
●
2024 TAG will be in Union Grove AL on the Lazy G
Ranch; date and details TBD.
Cold
Beer!
Program: “Science View – The Leading
Edge – A Mysterious Substance Lying In Caves” from Japan’s NHK. (28
min.video)