Minutes of the Chouteau Grotto Meeting
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
The
meeting was called to order at 7:06 PM, Joe Dom presiding.
20
members were present
Joe
read minutes from the lightly-attended January meeting.
Treasurer's Report: $1201.39 in the coffers
MSS
Liaison: Rita was not present at the last meeting.
Old
Business:
The
Grotto Report to the NSS was prepared for submission by Bob
Lerch.
The
MDC has given permission for an emergency cache to go into
Hunter's Cave. There was discussion of what's needed in the cache.
Kat
McCarthy of the Rock Bridge Memorial State Park related what is
in
the cache in the Devil's Ice Box cave.
Programs: Joe asked if anyone is willing to give a cave related
program at the meeting; see him or email him if you are interested.
Dave
Webster has a video on Floyd Collins, for the March meeting.
CPR/First Aid Certification:.Joe is looking into this. Red Cross
costs 40-80 dollars per person, depending on which type of
certification is sought. The minimum time required for certification
is
eight hours. Rita offered to do a non-certified version, perhaps
as a
meeting program.
Constitution: Bob Lerch is going to give Joe a copy to type into an
electronic version.
There was discussion about whether or not to recruit new members for
the
Grotto. There was general agreement that the Grotto should make
its
presence more well known, though not recruit. The Grotto could
print a flyer to put up at the Rock Bridge Park, at local sporting
goods stores and elsewhere. We should also have a presence at Earth
Day
(Easter Sunday this year).
Dues
are due (20 dollars for regular members, 15 annually for senior
citizens and students, 7.50 per semester for students).
Equipment: Bob Lerch has some components and Ben Miller others; we
need
to check if there is still equipment at the Rock Bridge Park.
There was discussion of keeping the Grotto's equipment it at the
Park, and Kat will check to see whether the Park is still willing to
allow this and to keep track of it with a checkout system. Mike
Morgan volunteered to be Quartermaster to check up on the equipment
from
time to time, if it can be kept at the Park. There was
agreement that Grotto equipment should always be available for use
by
members, rather than checked out and kept in the hands of one or
two
members who keep it for continuous use.
Do
we need any new equipment? There was discussion and then
agreement that the Grotto should buy five helmets and chinstraps for
use
by newcomers. The cavers would provide their own headlamps. Mike
Morgan, Quartermaster, is going to buy a big old plastic box to put
our
new equipment in.
Quartermaster Mike asks that if you have any Grotto equipment,
please bring it to the next meeting.
Requests to the Grotto for cave tours: they do come in from time to
time. If a request comes up, Rita says please pass it on to her.
Spring MVOR, (26 April): Bagnell Dam Campground. This MVOR will be
put
on by Pony Express Grotto. Contact Brent Gerling of Pony Express
at
jbg9730@netscape.net if you have suggestions for places to cave
north of the Lake of the Ozarks.
New
Business:
The
NSS is going to purchase 40 acres of land and the entrance of
Great Expectations Cave, Wyoming, for a cost of $190,857.57 There
was
a motion, approved, for the Groto to donate $100 to this cause.
Jim
Huckins: There is a Senate Bill 360 hat would exempt small
gravel mining operations from environmental monitoring and
compliance. 74% of all gravel mines would be exempted. Write your
Legislators and Governor if you are concerned about the impacts on
Ozark watersheds.
Kat
McCarthy: bat and pink planarian numbers are down at the Ice
Box.
Contact her if you want to get on the mailing list for the
upcoming Ice Box trips.
Upcoming Cave Trips and Other Events
The
Grotto's Winter Campout: it will be 15-17 February. So far 6-7
people are interested. There was discussion about having it near
Branson or in Shannon County. Amber is also going to look into
having it near Talking Rocks; she will get word out on coollist.
Contact Joe Dom for any late information on the campout.
Rita
Worden asked that you contact her ASAP if you are interested in
going on a Grotto trip to the Devil's Ice Box. This needs to be
organized soon as the weekends for April are booked up - it may have
to
fall on a weekday or Easter Sunday. Telephone Rita at
660-849-2156.
Bill
Elliott on mid-May events:
May
15-17. Conference in St. Louis by MDC and Fresh Water Institute
on
"Mapping Cave Resources." This will be a professional but
informal conference, on mapping cave and karst resources from
continental to local scales. Talk to Bill about details.
May 17. MSS is holding an event at Meramec State Park, a
workshop on cave mapping and one on cave biology.
Cave
Reports:
Mike
Morgan and some other unidentified Grotto "old timers" went
caving in Pulaski Country recently. Mike has written a cave report
for
the Foresight about this.
Mike
Slay, Kirstan Alvey and Bill Elliott went caving in Maries
County. They did a bat survey in Indian Ford Cave there. There were
large clusters of big brown bats, which Bill says is unusual. Mike
and
Kirsten also visited Indian Ford Crevice Cave.
Rita
talked about the new passage in Holmes (sp?) Hollow Cave, for
those that didn't hear her account at an earlier meeting.
Joe
requests that when we go caving, we have one person write up a
cave
report that can be submitted for publication in the Foresight.
The
meeting was adjourned at 8:35 PM.
Kat
McCarthy presented the program: "Know the Dark!"
Respectfully submitted,
Joe
Hobbs, Secretary