From: "John Tudek" Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 21:06:51 -0400 Subject: [wvusg] Grotto Meeting Minutes for September 5, 2007 Meeting was called to order at 8:02pm Financial Report: We have $356- in the bank. Football Game Fund Raising: No change - John is still looking into it. Student Grant: Kyle was drunk. Very drunk. No change. In the student grant, that is. Flyers at the Mountain Lair: This Friday from 10am to 2pm. Everyone should come out for a bit and help bring in some new members. The more the merrier!!! Kickoff Weekend (Beginners Weekend): Stuart Campground has already been reserved for us all. There'll be lots of good beginner trips (Sharps', Bowden, etc..). We're kicking around doing a hamburger dinner on Saturday night, which the grotto will pay for. You're on your own for the rest of the weekend. But feel free to bring other assorted food. Barton Cave Trip: Sunday on September 9th at 1pm. We will meet at the Rec Center at about 12:45 the latest. Barton is a nice, easy horizontal cave with about an hour or two's caving. We should be back by dinnertime. Orientation to Cave Rescue: On September 29th-30th. The cost is $40-. A basic orientation to how to help in a cave rescue. Good for everyone to take at least once in their caving career. VAR/MAR: October 12-14 in Daily WV (just outside of Elkins). Lots of great caving in the area with totally different caves than at Beginners Weekend. Preregistration has to be by Sept 29th. The link is: http://www.philly60th.org/ Deckers Creek Race: This saturday is the Decker's Creek Race. It's a three person race all day. The cost is $120- for the team ($40- a person). The events include hiking, canoing, biking, climbing and a mystery event. It's sponsored by the Friends of Deckers Creek. http://www.deckerscreek.org/AdventureDay2007.htm Upcoming Trips: We're still kicking around Cave Mountain, Mystic and Thorn Sinnett as possible trips once it gets cold. John also suggested that we look into the Germany Valley Field House as a base of operations for our winter caving. Vertical Practice at the Rec Center: We want to get back to going to the Rec Center Wednesday nights before every meeting. Stay tuned to see what happens! Trip Reports OTR: Was a great time. Dave Riggs placed third in the 30m ascent with a time of 1:46. Trips went all over the area - to Bowden, Sharps, Sinks of Gandy, Hellhole, etc... John lost a thesis project, but that's okay. Rader's Valley: Dave went to Rader's Valley and saw Bobcat Blowhole which is a nasty, grueling caving. Dave always has the good trips! He did see some great cave after the nasties, though. We ended the meeting with an excellent presentation from Dave Riggs about beginning caving. Lots of the information Dave talked about can be found in the brochure "A Beginner's Guide to Responsible Caving" at the following website: http://caves.org/brochure/ Meeting was adjourned to BW3s at 9:01. -- "Schist Happens"