Minutes of the Chouteau Grotto Meeting
Wednesday, September 4, 2002
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 PM.
20 members were present
Treasurer's Report: 1445,59 in the coffers
MSS Matters: Bill Elliott reported that the MSS Meeting will be on September 21
in Rolla, with a technical session of papers beginning at 9 in the morning
(paleontology and biology, mostly; Bill will speak on biospeleology and David
Ashley on the Tumbling Creek Snail. The MSS President will talk about cave
archaeology).
Foresight Matters: In Bob Lerch's absence, Jessie announced the some back
issues were available.
Upcoming Events
The Chicken Roast will be on September 21, the same day as the cave rescue
drill at the Icebox. Rescuers should be done in plenty of time to participate.
The event will be at the scout camp at the Rock Bridge Memorial State Park.
Cave Rescue Training: Scott Schulte announced that there will a prep meeting
for the drill at 7 PM on Friday, September 20 at the Boone County Fire HQ
at 2201 NW I-70 Drive (cross I-70 on Stadium and it's there on northwest
corner). If you plan to participate in the drill on Saturday, September 21, you
should also come to the prep meeting Friday night. If you weren't at the
meeting tonight but plan on participating, please let Scott know as he would
like a head count. Scott's email is nrschus@mail.dnr.state.mo.us
The Park's telephone number is (573) 449-7400 or 449-7402.
Dogs will probably participate in this rescue drill. The extrication will be
separated from the search component this time around.
September 14, Saturday, Bill Elliott is inviting the Grotto to visit the old
Boone Cave (Rocheport Cave). This will be a work and fun trip, involving
clearing some debris from the cave gate. This will also be a cave photography
workshop. Bring your camera and any flash units, and work gloves. Meet at 10
A.M.: Go to the Rocheport exit on I-70, cross over to the south of I-70 to
where there is an old, closed gas station. The gas station is the meeting
point.
Mike Morgan: There is a Capen Park cleanup of the climbing area this Saturday,
September 7, at 10 AM. You all come out and pitch inä
Rita Worden: On 4 October, at the Icebox, there will be a bat identification
program presented by Rick Clausen. Contact Roxie if you are interested (her
email is nrcampr2@mail.dnr.state.mo.us This workshop is
especially suitable for wild cave tour leaders who can put this knowledge to
work. There will be a followup in January.
Jo Schaper and Dave Webster: The MVOR will be at the Sinks in Shannon County,
October 18-20. See www.mvor.org for more information. Jo Schaper says
they have a very cool T-Shirt! This year it is BYOB, by the way. MCKC is
sponsoring.
Jo and Dave need help stuffing envelopes, preparing shirts, etc. for the MVOR.
Guidebooks will be ready October 7, so it will be after that. 5-6 people are
needed. Exact details will be announced at the next Grotto meeting. Let Jo or
Dave know now if you think you can make it.
On Tuesday nights Mike Morgan and others are climbing at Capen Parkä contact
Mike for details.
The NSS Conference will be August 4-8, 2003, in Porterville, CA. Jo Schaper
gave Bill Elliott a pack of materials about the conference.
New Faces at the Meetingä
Mike Slay from Fayetteville, AR will be working with Bill Elliott as cave
biology intern until at least next summer.
Also here are Mark Shirer, Jeff (went to Jeannette's Folly last weekend), Bryan
(from the climbing club), and Steve Taylor from Lees' Summit, who has been with
Lake Ozark Grotto but will be here from time to time.
Cave Reports:
Bill Elliott went with Lake Ozarks Grotto to Keeswetter Cave (sp?). The owner
is interested in gating it. Bill tried out his "new back" in it, and
got totally slimed.
Joe Hobbs talked about his month of caving, with the Western Belize Regional
Cave project, in Belize. The project's aim is to understand the ancient Maya
uses of caves. Participation is open to all; contact Joe (HobbsJ@missouri.edu)
for details. Joe also studied Spanish in Guatemala, where there are also many
opportunities for cave research and exploration.
Kat McCarthy went led an Icebox trip last Saturday. This was her certification
trip to be a wild cave tour leader, and she passed with flying colors.
Congratulations, Kat!
Ben Miller worked in Lava Beds and did a lot of lava tube caving in California.
He also went with Jessie Bebb to the Marble Mountains for a few days. Ben
caved in Nevada on the way home, and then last weekend went to the Bighorn
Mountains and caved there. Daryll Greaser and Roger Brown joined him.
Rita Warden caved with Daryll and others in the Glacier National Park, in a
'swiss cheese' type cave.
Carroll Cave: in case you've been following this story, they broke throughä
The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 P.M.
Ben Miller did a slide presentation of his trip with Jessie Bebb to the Marble
Mountains of northern California.
Respectfully submitted,
Joe Hobbs, Secretary
(with many thanks to Joe Dom for covering my duties over the summer).
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