Great Saltpetre Committee

By: Wes Keifer

The last 12 months have been full of accomplishments at GSP. The important accomplishments were discovering more caves on the property; purchase of a tractor (thanks GCG) for mowing the grass (I wonder if Bill Thoman ever got over the pain of writing the check?); Building another toilet closer to the shelter house (thanks to Boss Wisher and his crew); installed a new water pump system for the house; additional picnic tables; electric service at campsites; grading and graveling the road (thanks to Wilbur and the Rockcastle County Board of Education); painted the house; "Farmer" Ron and all his helpers removing brush and thinning out surplus trees; published a new pamphlet on GSP; conducted many tours of GSP for Boy & Girl Scout groups and held an open house for the local residents. Many thanks to those who helped in the above accomplishments and to those unmentioned tasks that were done in the last year. Some of the things that are needed in the future are: establishing nature trails on the property; getting running water in the shower building; surveying and publishing a new map of GSP Cave, and removal of trash from the cave. We are very close to being self-supporting as far as finances go. This is due mainly to income from camping fees and donations from organized groups touring the cave. We also made some money during the "open house", selling souvenirs and refreshments. Anyone wanting a GSP T-Shirt can purchase one from any GSP committee member. A change in the make-up of the GSP committee was made in the past year, that is, the GSP committee is now a committee of Greater Cincinnati Grotto. I must confess that I was a bit concerned when it was first mentioned but will now admit that it was a good move. Again, I and the GSP committee wish to thank everyone who contributed in any way at GSP this past year. I wish we could mention everyone's name that helped, probably the easiest way to do this would be to publish the membership roster of the Grotto. If we can accomplish as much next year as we have in the past year, maybe we will have time to do something we all enjoy - caving softly (and often).

Wesley Kiefer

Chairman GSP Preserve

NSS #25413

<end>