Welcome to Little Rock Grotto!
LRG is an internal organization of the National Speleological Society (NSS). We are Arkansas cavers who not only cave recreationally, we also actively participate in cave conservation and study.
If you are interested in caving and wish to learn more, please contact us or come visit one of our monthly meetings!
New members are always welcome.
Due to security, safety, and conservation concerns, as well as to preserve positive relationships with local landowners, some cave names have been intentionally omitted from this site.
News and Updates:
November 13
Well, AACS weekend has come and gone, which means it's officially fall. Leaf-off is here!
Nominations for 2009 officer positions were made at our last grotto meeting, and we will vote at our next grotto meeting (December 4). If you are a dues-paying member in good standing and wish to vote, either come to the meeting or submit an absentee vote via email to Dewayne Agin.
September 30
Two bits of news! First, Fancy Pants 2008 had a great turnout and photos have been posted to our flickr site. Second, another issue of Arkansas Underground has been published. If you didn't receive the email announcing the issue and you think you should have (or want to be added to the list), contact us.
August 21
Okay, even more congratulations are in order. Jeff Bartlett was also the recipient of an Honorable Mention at this year's convention, for his entry to the Cartography Salon. I think that's all of it. Not a bad showing for Little Rock Grotto this year. Next year: Merit Awards.
August 19
For those who were not able to make it to the August grotto meeting, some of the photos from Mike's slide show have been added to our flickr site. You can find the set here. I didn't realize how much I wanted to go caving in the French Alps until I saw Mike's photos... these are definitely worth a look!
August 18
It would appear that additional congratulations are in order: we've received word from a fellow caver that Bryan Signorelli is the recipient of two Honorable Mentions (green ribbons) for his contributions to the Cover Art Salon as editor of Arkansas Underground. The winning issues were Volume 17, No. 6 (May 2006, featuring a photo by Andy Andrews) and Volume 18, No. 2 (Mar-Dec 2007, featuring a photo by Jeff Bartlett).
August 16
Congratulations are in order: our very own Dewayne Agin has been selected as a Fellow of the National Speleological Society, officially making him the first active LRG member to receive this recognition. Here's to a couple more decades as LRG prez, old man!
August 5
May 12? I haven't updated this page since May 12? If the NSS website contest still existed, I would lose all over again. A lot has been going on, no matter how crushing the heat outside is. Mike went caving in France. Jeff went caving in Kentucky. Aly and Bryan got married. The cave files survived a lightning attack. We've continued to work several Arkansas cave surveys, with more good stuff on the horizon. Want to be a part of it? Get in touch with us or come to a meeting.
May 12
Dr. David Thomas, Lyon College Professor and LRG member, has posted a series of photos to our flickr account from the cave microbiology project he's been working on; Definitely worth checking out. We've also added several photo sets showing what else we've been up to the last few months.
April 11
The Jan-Apr 2008 issue of Arkansas Underground is now available, with excerpts soon to be posted on the newsletter page. This is by far our largest issue to date, ringing in at a novelesque 64 pages.
Of course, this means that our backlog of newsletter material is completely empty, so your contributions are needed. If you're going caving, consider designating someone to write a trip report.
April 2
OK, it's spring now - I can tell, I have poison ivy. There are lots of trips coming up soon, so check in at a meeting for a recap of what you've missed and what's on the horizon. We'll also have a 1:600 plot of the working Chinn Springs map for display at the next meeting. Only 34% of the existing survey has been drawn, but it's still impressive at 90" wide x 42" high. Check with us for upcoming survey dates.
March 31
Added another map to the projects page. Newsletter soon!
January 28
Here we are in the dead of winter, with little caving to be had; let's face it, Arkansans are a bit delicate when it comes to cold weather. LRG folks do manage to stay busy, and January has seen multiple ridgewalks.
For those of us otherwise preoccupied, however, winter is cartography season, and some exciting things are happening to that end. Two more recently completed maps have been added to the projects page, and we're working on setting up a password-protected page to update grotto members and other surveyors on the status of everyone's favorite 6 miles of cave. Stay tuned.
January 10
One of our smaller cartography projects (name withheld at land owner's request) is now complete, and the map has been delivered to the land owner. we've added a link to the map on our projects page. Thanks to everyone who helped with what turned out to be a unique survey.
January 7
Just a quick reminder - a new year is upon us, and as such the LRG membership roster has been wiped clean. Annual dues are $10, and should be brought to a meeting or mailed to us and addressed to treasurer Aly Bowen. Please note that we are no longer accepting checks.
2007
December 6
The new issue of Arkansas Underground is out - check your email. If you're supposed to get a copy and didn't, or would like to request one, contact Bryan.
In other news, officer re-elections were held at tonight's meeting. Bryan Signorelli unseated incumbent Mike Patton for the position of Vice Dewayne, and Jeff Bartlett replaces Brandon Waggoner as member-at- large. When approached for comment, Bryan inexplicably responded "read my lips: no new taxes."
November 23
Today, the new website is officially live and replaces the old site on the caves.org server. Internet Explorer 6 users will see a slightly less attractive variant of each page, sans transparency, but it should work, and is 100% functional in IE7 & Mozilla 2. If you see anything awry, have a negative experience in another browser, or would just like to make a suggestion, you can contact Jeff. In addition, if you periodically have news that you'd like to see posted here, e-mail me and I'll add it as soon as I can. Currently, selected newsletter articles from the archive are yet to be linked, and our projects page is under construction; check back for updates.
November 20
We have recently established a Flickr "pro" account in order to facilitate the uploading, sharing, and printing of our caving photos. Login and password information will be available to all LRG members, and we encourage everyone to take advantage of this service. If you should lose the account info or have any questions, you may contact Jeff Bartlett.
November 5
Congratulations to Bryan Signorelli and Jeff Bartlett for their winning entry in Swaygo's Pack in Action Contest! The winning photo was taken during a survey trip to IHTC and illustrates the "ear dip" portion near the entrance of the cave that we've all grown so fond of. As winners, the pair will be dividing a pile of swag headlined by a free Swaygo pack. It's a nice bonus for all the tight, wet belly crawling performed while advancing the ongoing survey. Be sure to look for Jeff's ugly mug in upcoming Swaygo promotions.
November 1
Nominations have been made for 2008 LRG Officers. If you were absent from the November meeting and wish to make a nomination, please contact Dewayne Agin. Voting will take place at our next grotto meeting on Thursday, December 6; all are encouraged to attend.
October 2
Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's annual Fancy Pants trip. As usual, the outfits were ridiculous and everyone had a good time. Projection equipment willing, we will have a slide show to share at the upcoming meeting, and will post images to the site's gallery shortly thereafter...