February 7, 2001


The meeting was called to order at 7:15 PM


19 members were present.


Treasurer's Report: $1201.37 in the coffers


Webmeister's Report: Mike O'Laughlin has volunteered to take over from
Nathan, but first needs to check up with Nathan about what is involved.



MSS Representative's Report: Rita Wordin, now our official delegate,
attended the meeting in Rolla on January 20. She passed on the good
news that Rob Taylor, editor of <underline>Missouri
Speleology</underline>, will publish the papers written by students of
the Seminar in the Geography of Caves at MU in 1999. The MSS (and
Carroll Cave Conservancy) is looking for survey teams for a 20-plus
mile-long cave. Contact Tom Lounsbury, caveman@grapevine.net....Rita
heard a presentation on excavation on palaeontological remains from
Missouri caves. Due to regional arrangements, these are being deposited
at the University of Illinois. The next MSS meeting is on May 19.


Foresight Editor's Report: Patti Williamson is almost ready to print
the 2000 (1) edition; Jessie Bebb has kindly volunteered to assist her.
For dues-paying members who were not present at this or the last
meeting, Patti will mail the two issues out to you at the same time.
Daryl Greaser is working on the 1999 (2) edition.


Position Available: Fine Opportunity. Patti is looking for one of us to
go to merchants of mid-Missouri and ask them to sign on as advertisers
in the Newsletter. Is any one of you willing to do this? Please contact
Patti.


Some old business....


Bob Lerch passed around the member list printouts he inherited from
Daryl. This was a chance to make some changes. If there are any of you
out there who were not present at tonight's meeting and want to bring
your member list information and interests up to date, please contact
Bob. If you are a new member, you should contact Bob to do the same.


Bob also shared with us the "Certificate of Excellence in Cave
Restoration" issued by the Missouri Department of Conservation to
recognize the Grotto's efforts in restoring Hunter's Cave. Kind thanks
to Bill Elliott for this recognition. As Bob said, the way the Grotto
feels about it is that "there is no such thing as a sacrificial cave"
and there is a lot of pride to be felt in what Grotto members have
done. It is a collective congratulations but there are a few people in
the Grotto who have done the hard and important work, and all of us
thank you especially.


Ben Miller announces a May 7-11 opportunity to participate in the Black
Hills Restoration Camp to be held at Wind Cave National Park and Jewel
Cave National Monument. There will be just 20 volunteers to restore and
maintain the cave's natural appearance. Off-trail caving and
sightseeing is part of the deal. For more details, please contact Marc
Ohms at 605-745 4600 or Marc_Ohms@nps.gov The deadline for applications
is March 16.

<underline>

</underline>Some cave reports...


Jessie and Patti visited Cookstove and .... (Sorry folks, I was
distracted at this moment)


Rita Worden and company visited Bear Cave, Little Cave, Love (? It IS
February) Cave. Rita also visited a cave in the Devil's Backbone
Wilderness but does not know which cave it is; she followed raccoon
tracks into the place. Any ideas? She can give you more clues on its
whereabouts.


Rita, and Bob and Andy Lerch also did some mapping in Hunter's Cave.
Bob reported that most of Hunter's Cave's water is pirated from Turkey
Creek (the "classic losing stream," says Bob), but some is also from
Bass Creek. Bob made an interesting comparison of Hunter's with the Ice
Box: Hunter's lacks the sinkholes associated with the Ice Box.


Jim Huckins, Jim Ruth and others visited Money Cave and others around
Salem and took out a lot of trash. They saw 3-4 other smaller caves
unknown by name.


Jim Yancey (who was here tonight -- good to see you Jim!) taught a
"Wonders of the Outdoor World" class last fall, taking groups to learn
vertical and other caving techniques in Farwell (?) Cave near Roaring
River State Park. Jim said there is a lot of cleanup that could be done
there, and observed an impressive fault near the back of the cave. Jim
Huckins added that the deepest pit in the state is near there, but is
not a place you might be anxious to visit. It is called Devil's Hole
(?).


Jo Schaper has been doing more work on her thesis. This tufa is good
and rare stuff, apparently, quite unusual in Missouri.


Upcoming Trips...


Bill Elliott is leading a GPS-locating trip of caves in the Three
Creeks Conservation Area on Saturday, February 10. A signup sheet was
passed around. If you get this and were not at the meeting but are
interested, contact me or Bill ASAP.


Jo Schaper is leading the Cathedral Cave cleanup trip on 17 and 18
February. 9 Grotto members are signed up and some others are coming
from farther afield. Contact Jo if you wonder if there might be any
spaces left.


Bob Lerch is leading a Hunter's Cave mapping trip on Sunday, February
25. Bob is also planning a March 3-4 mapping and restoration trip into
Hunter's; contact him for details.


Greg Miller visited from Arkansas, and joined the group at G and D.


Dave Webster passed around copies of the Ballad of Boone County; if you
didn't get one you can contact Dave.


Kay Stewart kindly brought in a stack of NSS News, older Foresights,
and more. Joe Hobbs is keeping what wasn't taken at the meeting, adding
them to a box of journals Kay donated two years ago, so contact Joe if
you want to rifle through these.


The meeting adjourned at 8:35 P.M.


Bob Lerch aired a short video promoting next summer's NSS Convention in
Kentucky. Looks good!


Respectfully submitted,


Joe Hobbs


Secretary