JRG Meeting Minutes

Regular Meeting

September 26, 2006

By Chuck Waller, Secretary/Treasurer

The September meeting of the James River Grotto was held on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 at the Warren House ground floor activity room at Lynchburg College.

 Board Meeting:

The board meeting began at 6:30 PM. Board members present were Mike Frazier, Matt Lair, Bess Tennant and Chuck Waller.

The main topic of discussion at the business meeting was the grotto helmet use policy. The decision of the board was that a member of JRG must be on the cave trip in which the helmets will be used. Special board members were appointed at this meeting in order to vote on this decision.

The grotto has a new meeting location. Grotto meetings in 2007 will be held at the Warren House at Lynchburg College. This location is beside our old meeting area the Brewer House.

Jim and Bess Tennant have agreed to contact the grotto's past Web Master, Gary Novak, to obtain website editing information. New member,

Paul Stern, will be updating the JRG website and be our new Web Master.

General Meeting:

The general meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. Members present were Jim Tennant, Neal Gunter and George Wortley.

Welcome Visitors: Visitors at Tuesday's meeting included Paul Stern, Harry Sowers, Larry Sowers, Ryan Mayr, Evan Miller and two medical residents with George Wortley, Ralph and Verna.

Trip Reports: Neal Gunter reported on his trip to Glow Worm Cave in New Zealand. Jim Tennant visited Carlsbad Caverns, Subway and Graham Cave while on his summer West coast hiking trip. Paul Stern and staff explored Pig Hole, Island Ford, Tawney's and Link's Cave during the summer. Mike Frazier and old member Mark Morton did a trip to Starne's Cave while at the Fall VAR. Chuck Waller reported on his recent Indiana cave trip.

Previous Meeting Minutes Update: There were no changes to the previous meeting minutes.

Finance Report: The grotto's current treasury balance is $2,668.55.

Committee Reports:

Conservation: No report

Safety & Techniques: Jim Tennant, JRG Safety and Techniques Chairperson, will have a clinic on tying the Butterfly Knot at our October meeting.

Education: No report

Membership: No report

Web Site: New member, Paul Stern, has agreed to update the JRG website and become our new Web Master.

Gear Master: Gear Master, Neal Gunter, has the grotto's (15) caving helmets. They are available for use by members and their guest.

Trip Coordinator / Events:

On Saturday, October 7, there will be a cave trip to Starnes's Cave. On Saturday, November 18, the Sower brothers will be leading a trip to Scott Hollow Cave. Trip Coordinator, Matt Lair, will be emailing everyone with all the trip details.

General Discussion:

There will be a discussion at the October meeting regarding overnight expenses for our Scott Hollow November cave trip.

Dixie Caverns has decided not to have the Halloween Haunted Cave for 2006. In the past, this event generated a lot of income for the grotto.

Meeting Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM.

Program:

Following this meeting the group got to meet one of it's newest members Paul Stern. Paul recently moved to the Lynchburg area and is the New Horizons Director at Lynchburg College.