Minutes of the Chouteau Grotto Meeting
Wednesday, October 3, 2001


The meeting was called to order at 7:15 PM

17 members were present

Treasurer's Report: 1271.09 in the coffers

MSS Director's Report: Rita is at TAG

Foresight Editors: Patti is finishing up the second quarter 2000 and the first quarter 2001. Email your reports to Patti for those quarters if you have them, by about 15 October.

Keeper of the Key's Report: Jessie Bebb is the Empress of the Keys!

Chicken Roast: Mike Morgan and Jessie Bebb are doing the hard work. The date is 13 October.

Bob Lerch reported on the Southern Boone County Karst Team. A grant proposal has been written to get its initiatives going.  If funded, the grant will create volunteer opportunities for Grotto members. The grant will focus mainly on land use planning and will promote community involvement and citizen input.

Cave reports:

Danielle Meinhardt went to her first MVOR last week, caving at Jagged Canyon Cave with Mississippi Dan. Jagged has multiple levels, and she and 11 others did the uppermost level. There was much bat activity, a cave salamander, and lots of frogs. Danielle reports that at the business meeting, there was controversy over rules for the MVOR. The motions discussed dealt much with trying to keep 'non-cavers' out of future MVORs.

Jessie Bebb went to Smittle Cave on September 30. Some nearby would-be homecoming queens were along in their white jeans.

Bob Lerch went to, and very much into, Jewel Cave (South Dakota), from 14-17 September (80 hours). It took his party 9 hours to get to camp, and then they spent two days mapping. There were amazing crystal gypsum formations, and gypsum hair. 127 miles of passage have been mapped!

Upcoming Trips

Hunter's Cave Mapping Trip: The next one will be on November 3; meet Bob at the parking lot. The tentative meeting time is 10 AM-- be sure to contact Bob the week before to confirm.

Devil's Ice Box trip for Grotto: we don't know if it is confirmed; this needs to be checked with Roxie - probably 3 or 4 November.

Dave Webster, Treasurer of MCKC, reported the first payment had come in for the Bioinventory project.

Missouri River Relief will be on Saturday, October 6. Contact Lea Claycomb at 817-5656 or  jlca8f@missouri.edu for details. To carpool you can meet at the Atrium of the MU Med School at 7 AM, or show up at Easley at 8 AM.

New faces:

David Wyler, drove down from Kirksville, is from Idaho and knows Southwest US caves well.

Thierra Nalley, Anthropology and Geology student at MU, is familiar with many Ozark caves.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 PM.