Minutes for the March 22, 2010 TriTrogs General Meeting

Attending: Ken Walsh, Diana Gietl, Mark Little, Mike Broome, Mark Daughtridge, Howard Holgate, Hayden Holgate, Zeke van Fossen, Pete Hertl, Melanie McCullough, Brian Bolt

The meeting began when Mark Little shared membership lists with everyone present, and he copied down updates that were shared. The updated membership list will be posted to the web site.

Regarding web updates, we discussed the inclusion of a new feature where members can enter their volunteer hours. The NSS uses this information when it applies for grant monies, and it's important for the grotto secretary to report the numbers for conservation, exploration, survey, and outreach. Mike Broome will develop something that matches the NSS Volunteer Values spreadsheet, but we’ll need to announce it to the membership in general and remind them to enter their numbers.

Pete Hertl will share the April program about his recent trip to Ellison’s Cave in February 2010. Photos will include the North Pole and Angel’s Paradise, and Diana agreed to add some photos of her own.

Discussion then turned to some of the upcoming national and regional events:
NSS Convention in Vermont—August 2-6
VAR—May 21-23 in Lewisburg, WV
SERA Summer Cave Carnival—June 17-20, Monteagle, TN
Kentucky Karst-o-Rama—July 15-18

When asked about how cavers have been received outside the Northeast, Mark Daughtridge (?) suggested that "WNS is just a polite way to say “Yankee”."

Diana Gietl has worked on a WNS letter from the TriTrogs and will send out a letter to some members for corrections. The NSS has made a formal notification to the US government about its current recommendations for WNS research and a public-private partnership. Ken mentioned that the TriTrogs continue the WNS monitoring efforts in Smyth County, Virginia and outreach to scouting groups (3 groups with more than 75 scouts so far this year).

Ken announced that Dave Duguid has identified several bat monitoring efforts with the state DOT biologist for bats, Lisa Gatens. [Dave later sent out an update with some limited dates]

Diana found no interested members to fill the remaining spot on the executive committee.

Regarding trip reports, Diana announced that the blizzard predictions prevented the bat count project in February. Pete Hertl will talk next month about his February trip with John Plyler to Ellison's Cave in Georgia as a program.

Mike Broome and Lisa Lorenzin joined the BCCS for a trip to Burnsville Cove. They attended the pancake weekend to raise money for the fire department and found themselves digging on the surface. Forty people met there for five to six days. Mike and five others dug in a scary pit on Phil Lucas’s property that dropped 10 degress in temperature as one descended. Four large rocks were supported with bolt hangers. Mike broke big rocks into smaller rocks, but the dig needs a backhoe to go further.

Mike then went to visit the Wishing Well dig, just off the road next to a house. The dig was opened up and then closed to be considerate of the nearby neighbor. However, the owner is anxious to discover cave. On the third visit, they dug Wishing Well with a backhoe. It’s now a forty-foot pit that starts with an oil tank atop a culvert, with a winch and hauling system to pull up the rocks. A very big rock pile is now on the front yard beside this posh dig.

Regarding upcoming trips, the list below reflects those mentioned:
March 27 trip to Smyth County, VA for bat counts and documentation of saltpeter cave -- contact Ken Walsh
March 27 trip with Venture Crew 469 cancelled
April 10—Sport Trip with Justin Noia and Duke students to James Cave
May 8—VAR Cleanup of Crystal Caverns
May 22—VAR in Lewisburg, WV
NSS Convention in Vermont—August 2-6

The March "program" of Archive Digging involved file cabinets of information from the grotto archives. Meeting attendees were encouraged to route through old materials from other grottoes, the NSS, the TriTrogs, and other sources to find historic artifacts, cave maps, and general interest materials that would be useful to grotto members. We pitched a lot of materials and had some interesting finds that brought back fond memories.