Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 12:25:42 -0400 From: "David A. Riggs" Subject: 2007-05-02 WVUSG Meeting Minutes Minutes from the 2 May, 2007 meeting of the WVU Student Grotto. There were only 11 people present for what was really an amazing presentation by John Chenger. This meeting was the last meeting of the 2006-2007 school year - hope everyone has a great summer! 1. Spring VAR was last weekend. At least 15 current Grotto members attended, and lots of alumni were present. We presented a plaque to Dr. Rauch for serving as Grotto advisor for 30 years, and then had a birthday party with red velvet cake provided by the Front Royal Grotto. Talking to the Grotto "old timers" was the highlight of the weekend! Trips were taken to Roadside Pit, Tub Cave, Just Cave, Justrite Cave, Dreen Cave, My Cave, Moore Cave, and probably more that I'm forgetting. We sold 6 shirts, which temporarily keeps us floating, and were given a sizable gear donation by alumni member Scott Maphis - Thank you very much, Scott! In spite of a bit of rain, this was a very excellent VAR. See this photo of the WVUSG 30th birthday party [1]. [1] http://flickr.com/photos/masneyb/477814820/ 2. This weekend we'll have an end-of-year caving party. The current plan is to meet up at Ben Mirible's house in Monroe County on Saturday night, then do some caving (perhaps Scott Hollow if we can swing it) on Sunday. Still awaiting an OK from Ben... Alternate locations are Oildrum Falls, John Harman's Germany Valley property, or the new GVKS fieldhouse. 3. Also this weekend is Shavers Mountain Survey [2] on Saturday. WVaSS [3] will be having their meeting at the Shavers Mountain CCC cabin at 4pm. [2] http://www.psc-cavers.org/shaversmtn/ [3] http://www.wvass.org 4. June 4, a Monday evening, will be another Cheat Canyon work trip. We will likely go into the newly dug open cave and work it. Al Peterson, the first WVUSG Chairman, and one of the discoverers of Druid Cave, will be present. 5. Please return any Grotto-owned gear before leaving for summer! 6. Dave Riggs is responsible for acting as interim Treasurer over the summer, as Treasurer Jessica Morning will be spending the summer in Hawaii! 7. We had an incredible presentation by John Chenger on bats, their "seasons", threats, conservation efforts, and the really cool work that his company Bat Conservation and Management, Inc. [4] does. This presentation was seriously impressive, and John was a good enough sport to field bat questions until well after 11pm. Thanks very much John! [4] http://www.batmanagement.com The final meeting of the year was adjourned at 9:45, and we headed to BW3 for an after-meeting meeting. As outgoing Vice Chairman, I'd like to say that it's been both a pleasure and an honor to serve as a Grotto officer. It's been very rewarding, and I'd like to encourage more people to step up and help lead the group in the future. So long, and thanks for all the fish! - DR -- David A. Riggs