Attendance:

Al Stewart Carl Cornett Doug Feller
Kenny Garrett* Lance Garrett* Chris Heptinstall
Susan Burr Jacqueline Androsky* Trish Geiger
Pat Sims Allyson Lee Jeff Perdue
Jeff Richards Jared Richards Cyndi Hutchison
John Layman* Paul Stoutamire* Whitney Wells*

*Guests

Note: Vinton was having their Bluegrass Festival so parking was horrible. We may want to plan ahead for next year and have our meeting somewhere else during their festival. Also, the parking lot next to the Fire Station is torn up and not in use due to construction, which only made matters worse! Paul and Whitney arrived as we were ending the meeting.

1. Trip Reports:
July 2nd, Susan, Ricky, Lee Ann, Bob, and Carl went to Smokehole. There was too much water to go out through the wet passage. They had a good trip.
July 8th, Dave, MarySue, Nicholas, Pat, and Susan went to Grand, and Fountain; did the ballroom reenactment; hoop skirts and all. One girl almost passed out because her corset was too tight.
July 9th, Marian and Carl took a small group into the top levels of Catawba Murder Hole.
July (date?), Trish went with RASS to Crossroads and saw some cool soda straws. It was a good trip.
July 26th, Marian, Susan, Carl, and MarySue took a group from Danville Parks & Recreation into Tawney's. The trip went well; MarySue and Susan had to give one of the scouts some special attention ("Hersh"). Fortunately the Danville Parks & Rec Coordinator could not fit through the gate - we probably would never have gotten him back out!
(Date?) - Aaron, Ricky, and Shane did a snow cave in the Tetons and the "Eye of the Needle" in Wyoming. Aaron will bring pictures for the program for next month's BRG meeting.
August 6th, Marian, Carl, Susan, and Cole took Jenny and John (Girl Scout leader and friend) and Girl Scouts into Island Ford. Trip went well.
August 13th, Marian, Carl, Susan, Pat, Cole, met with Jenny, John, and 5 Girl Scouts, along with Cole's friend John, and Pats 2 sons and grandson at Tawney's. There were so many people they split into 2 groups. Trip went great. Pat's grandson, Elijah, was a hoot!

Upcoming Trips:
August 19th - Patton's (Pat Sims) BRG trip. Meet at HROM at 9:30a.
August 23rd - Trip to Island Ford [cancelled].
August 24th - Trip to Rufe Caldwell [new] - meet at Marian's at 10 am. She contacted the owner, Barbara Lucas, and received permission. This is vertical. No novices (unless cleared with Marian).
August 26th - Trip to Murder Hole [cancelled].
August 27th - Trip to Fletchers, led by Aaron Moses. Email to amoses80@hotmail.com if you are interested.
September 16th - Vertical trip to Giant (led by Dan McConnell). Tentative.
October 7th - Sierra Club cave "walk and talk" with Marian, MarySue, and Carol Zokaitis at Catawba Murder Hole. (No caving.)

2. Program of the Day (none).

3. Treasurer's Report:
General Fund $4,673.55
Conservation 575.00
Equipment 239.00
Cave Bucks 0.00 (disbursed per June meeting)

4. Committees:
Newsletter- none (Sockys at Convention in WA) - although Susan reported that one of the newsletters received an award at Convention, and that Dave's video on Grand Caverns won an "Honorable Mention" in the video salon
Membership - no report, although there was one Subscriber requesting a subscription to the Carbide Dump; and Bob Handley was a recipient of the "Hero" campaign by the American Wilderness group
ROCKS - no report
Safety & Techniques - upcoming vertical trip to Giant in September
Conservation - vacant
Ways & Means - vacant (no Haunted Cave this year)

5. Membership Proposals - none

6. Old Business - Thanks to Susan and MarySue for all their hard work on the BRG picnic - great party!

7. New Business -
a. Goodwin's was broken into; someone used a blowtorch and cut the locks. Owner has the gate and they are looking at putting it back up. Someone from BRG will need to go by and get a copy of the new key.
b. There was a "rescue" in Glad Cave of a Girl Scout reported in August County on August 16, 2006. Girl was "wedged between 2 boulders." They got her out; only minor injuries. Susan reported that MarySue got called, but not for cave rescue, just directions to the cave. We need to remind local rescue squads, law enforcement officials, etc. about our phone # for cave rescue call-outs.
c. Movie "The Descent" is another unrealistic cave movie - (Emergence doesn't have competition yet!) Go see it for laughs and ideas about what gear to take caving (hahaha) like ice picks, flares, and enough climbing gear to climb El Capitan! Oh, and sports bras! The cave is supposedly in the "Appalachian Mountains" in North Carolina. Apparently the caves are 75 degrees there because none of the scantily clad women get hypothermic. Even swimming through water passages!

8. Announcements:
* Project in Costa Rica to help bats - $250 per student. DC Grotto is collecting donations. Send to Bob Hoke, 6304 Kabra St.; Laurel, MD 20707.
* There will be a Town Hall meeting on September 12th from 7-9p at the Roanoke Civic Center to discuss meteorology, severe weather, etc. (Not sure what this had to do with caving!)

9. Meeting adjourned around 8:45p.

Notes by Marian McConnell.