New Discoveries in the New Discoveries Section of Grand Caverns

Transcription

1 Vol. XVIII No. 1 Winter Chairman's column Another year has come & gone. As we look ahead to 2005, we can see opportunities to get involved in projects around the region. The Spring VAR will be hosted by Bubble Cave LLC in the Lewisburg WV area. The Fall VAR is being talked about by VPI. Conservation chair Andy Reeder is making plans for the Easter Restoration project at Grand Caverns. There is a wish list being put together by the park. They have items, besides the usual gravel hauling, they would like our assistance on this year. We may need some skills other than strong backs. A list will published in the Region Record & posted on the Web site around February. Also, I cannot fail to mention the ongoing massive attempt to find and restore formations in Fountain Cave. By the way, thanks to the efforts of several region folks, the steps to the entrance of Fountain and inside the cave have been dug out. The VAR project on mapping the caves on Cave Hill, is now entering year two, with no end in sight. Grand Caverns has increased from 3,700 feet to over two miles of surveyed passage and is still going. The number of caves on the property has gone from 13 to 17 and the promise of more is there. Contact Carol Tiderman if you want to join in. All are welcome. All the signatures in Grand Caverns have been photographed. We are looking for volunteers to "Adopt a Grid" and convert the information into a format that can be put on the Web for historical & genealogical research. Highland County is going strong. The contact is Rick Lambert. The West Virginia Cave Conservancy has many ongoing projects. Contact Jeff Bray. He will direct you to where you are needed. In the last year Cave Bucks has been a major help to many projects. In the words of the founder J. C. Fisher, Collect and give, don't hold onto the money. And something to think about, the VAR has been asked to help write and endorse a new guide outline for the tours at Grand Caverns. The plan is to cover more history, conservation, & science. There will be less emphasis on naming every rock & formation. Their plan is to give the public a tour worth the money. Let me hear your ideas. Craig New Discoveries in the New Discoveries Section of Grand Caverns by Chris Woodley In May, the VAR resurvey of Grand Caverns dug into virgin passage. The digging was done mostly in April and May in pursuit of a breeze. The new discoveries are past an 8-inch constriction where most of the digging was done. This is a description of the goings on since August. The monthly totals are survey lengths not cave length. September was a slow survey for Grand Caverns. Due to vacations and OTR, turnout was low. (The survey had been moved to the second weekend because of OTR.) One team went into the New Discoveries Section on Saturday. Their objective in the Big Stalagmite Room was to dig through a hole near the lowest section of the cave. They hoped to connect with the historic section. After about 30 minutes of digging, the hole was large enough to pass through. On the other side was a 30-foot dome but nothing else. The team packed up the digging tools and took some pictures before leaving. On Sunday, a survey team entered and continued heading south. They surveyed in the highly decorated Fugazi Grotto. One of the more prominent features of the Fugazi Grotto is a 5-foot diameter shield. They surveyed 194 feet leaving behind 2 leads: one going back towards known passage and another heading south with a slight draft. In October, the lack of leads meant only one team went into the New Discoveries Section on Saturday. They went to push the lead with (continued on page 3)

2 Volume XVIII Number 1 The Region Record Winter Mar. 15 Deadline for submitting material for the Spring issue of The Region Record. Mar Annual Easter Weekend Clean-up at Grand Caverns, Virginia. See flier in this issue for more info. Apr. 18 Deadline for getting the preregistration discount for the Spring VAR meeting. Apr May 1 Spring VAR meeting at the West Virginia State Fairgrounds in Fairlea, West Virginia (near Lewisburg) sponsored by the Bubble Cave LLC. See info and registration form in this issue. Spring Bowden Cave cleanup. Date and details to be determined. The Re g io n Re c or d The Region Record is the quarterly publication of the Virginia Region of the National Speleological Society. Any articles, announcements, or other materials of general interest to cavers in the Region are welcome. Send all material to Bob Hoke (6304 Kaybro St., Laurel, MD (301) , editor@varegion.org). Electronic submissions ( or disk) are encouraged, but any form of input is welcome. Non-copyrighted material contained in the Region Record may be reprinted by organizations that are affiliated with the VAR or the NSS, provided that proper credit is given to the Record and the author. The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, the VAR, the NSS, or their internal organizations. VAR Officers & Committee Chairs Chairman: Vice Chairman: Secretary Treasurer Craig Hindman, 7600 Pindell School Rd., Fulton, MD (410) H, chair@varegion.org Judy Fisher, (304) H, vicechair@varegion.org Carol Tiderman, (410) H, secretary@varegion.org John Fox, (540) W, treasurer@varegion.org Conservation: Andy Reeder, 840 Twin Lakes Rd., Green Bay, VA 23492, (434) H, (434) W conservation@varegion.org Landowner Awards: Janet Tinkham, 360 Kings Dr., Fort Valley, VA janete@shentel.net Reg ion Re c o rd Staff Editors: Bob Hoke, Pauline Apling, Barry Chute Proofreader Meredith Hall Johnson Circulation Manager: Meredith Hall Johnson, 8061 Kittiwake Ct., Springfield, VA (703) H, circulation@varegion.org Reg ion Re c o rd Subscriptions New NSS members in the Region receive two complimentary copies of the Region Record. Current NSS members moving into the Region from elsewhere receive two complimentary copies. Current NSS members who move within the Region get no freebies. When a subscription is going to expire the last issue will be stamped Time to Renew. No renewal notice is sent. When a person attends a VAR meeting he/she is automatically added to the list to receive the next four issues. If he/she is already on the list, four additional issues are added to the subscription. When multiple people live at the same address only one copy of each issue will be sent to the address unless a box requesting individual issues is checked on the VAR registration form or a request is sent to the Circulation Manager Virginia Region of the NSS Regional Calendar July NSS Convention in Huntsville, Alabama. See for details. List Your Event Here If you have a caving event that is of regional interest please send information to the Editors listed above so it can be included in the calendar.

3 Volume XVIII Number 1 New Discoveries (Continued from page 1) the draft. It was tight going for about 15 feet, but the passage opened up to walking passage. This passage, known as The Sidewalk, goes for 90 feet to a pit. The Sidewalk could be seen to continue on the other side. The team had no rope to drop the pit, but a bypass was found and the survey continued. A few more shots were made and it was almost time to leave. The team decided to go on. Around a shield, they found a breakdown slab the size of a van. This was the first big breakdown block found in the cave. Beyond the slab, the team saw darkness. As the team surveyed into the room, their voices echoed. The room was indeed large. It was time to go. Once outside, phone calls were made to the ready team to tell them that they would be needed for Sunday. The two Sunday teams went to survey the large room they named Kentucky. Running down the center for the length of most of the room is a large breakdown slab. On each side of the breakdown block, the ceiling is still intact. Here formations abound, broken and whole. The floor is covered with formations that used to dwell on the ceiling before its collapse. It is very much like a wrecking yard. One team took the west wall while the other went down the center of the room. After surveying about a quarter of the room including the new high point of the cave, it was time to leave. The total survey for the weekend was 813 feet. The size of the Kentucky meant that more teams needed to go into the New Discoveries. In November, a record three teams went in. The primary objective for the weekend was to finish surveying Kentucky. Two teams went to finish the northeast area of the room The Region Record and one team to the southern end. During the survey, all teams noticed large amounts of scat, flies, and other insects. Hopes became high that another entrance could be found but none were. By the end of the day, the Kentucky Room was considered nearly surveyed. Its dimensions, at its largest, measure 320 feet long and 200 feet wide. Sunday, the pit at the end of the Sidewalk was dropped and measured to a depth of 21 feet. Off the pit, passage was surveyed back to the Big Stalagmite Room. Another team surveyed the lead off the Fugazi Grotto. They surveyed Winter the collapsed entrance of Water Tank Cave, a group on the surface tried to make a voice connection. No connection was found. However, the survey did find a lot of scat and roots. They also marked a new high point for the cave. The second team went northeast. Their passage looped back under the breakdown in the Kentucky Room. They left several leads. The third team went north. The room here goes down to what appears to be the original floor before the collapse. They turned around with the lead heading towards known New Discoveries passage. The Wrecking Yard in the Kentucky Section of Grand Caverns, Virginia. Photo by Chris Woodley. the passage for 50 feet to a window about 8 feet above the floor of the Big Stalagmite Room. The total survey for the weekend was 1,559 feet. Since the bulk of the Kentucky Room had been surveyed in November, the three December teams surveyed the leads heading out of the room. One team took an east lead looking for a possible connection to the surface. From 3 Accompanying the survey teams, a photo crew tried to capture the Big Stalagmite Room and Kentucky. On Sunday, one team entered the New Discoveries Section to do some mop up in Kentucky. The total survey for the weekend was 1,247 feet. There are many leads that will be pushed in the coming months. The lowest and highest points in

4 Volume XVIII Number 1 The Region Record Winter the cave are in the New Discoveries Section for a total relief of 116 feet. Claws marks and bear and raccoon scat is abundant. The Big Stalagmite Room in the Kentucky Section of Grand Caverns, Virginia. Photo by Chuck Hoffman. Island Ford Cave Cleanup By John Pearson On Saturday, October 2, 2004 a group of cavers from James River Grotto, Bubble Cave LLC and Monroe County Cavers got together for the semi-annual cleanup of the only West Virginia Cave Cancervancy cave in Virginia. Arriving early, the author picked up all the litter where we needed to park the cars. Arriving around 9 a.m. were George Wortley and Bess and Jim Tennant. There wasn t that much trash to pick up, so we were going to tackle the graffiti at the entrance and just inside the cave. While Jim picked up all the roadside trash along both sides of the road, the rest of us picked up inside the entrance. At the Kiosk, we also stocked brochures about safe caving at the kiosk provided to me by Bob Hoke and a new one about sinkholes that were given to me by Karen Kastning. Alex Sproul was down in Florida attending to the birth of his granddaughter. Congratulations, Granddad. There had been recent high waters on the Jackson River. The drainage ditch along the cliff side of the road had filled with water from the culverts that normally drain the ditch into the river and floated numerous bottles, cans and plastic containers into the entrance of the cave. Easy work, so we recycled all the trash we could, getting one 30-gallon trash bag of recyclables and about a half bag of trash. There was a bag of apples thrown away there, so I floated them down the river for deer food rather than tossing them away. Our next task was to work on the graffiti. There had been at least three recent attacks with spray paint over the last couple of months. Utilizing bio-friendly paint remover donated by Art Hanson Sr. of Tri-State Grotto, Bess attacked the orange paint on the back right wall. I assigned James to be the designated photographer of our work. First Bess applied the remover with a sponge and we let it set for 10 minutes. Then, utilizing wire and nylon brushes the rest of us worked on scrubbing down the walls. George determined that we made better progress when we used a spray bottle with water while we scrubbed. The first two areas we attacked looked great. However, we determined that the fresher the spray paint, the easier it was to remove. In fact, we ended up exposing older spray paint under the new stuff. We then proceeded to work on the stuff painted at the entrance. With Bess balancing on George s shoulders, she managed to get to all the higher paint on the left hand side of the entrance. We were out of paint remover, so we packed up and began to leave. Bob Liebman pulled up and he and I worked on one of the boulders placed at the entrance and managed to get it all cleaned up. We later walked along the river to check out the culverts that backed up the rising river water into the mouth of the cave. All in all, this was a fairly easy cleanup. It s a lot easier to maintain a cave than to clean up one that has never been cleaned up before. Right now, the plan is to borrow the Mid-Atlantic Karst Conservancy s pressure washer and repair it over the winter. Next spring, I intend to test drive it on the old paint that remained at the entrance to the cave. If that is successful, then I m going to take it to the Spring 2005 cleanup scheduled for Bowden Cave. There were 13 hours of volunteer time, excluding driving. If we added driving time in, then the total would have been around 23 hours of volunteer time. John Pearson supervises as George and Bess Wortley remove orange spray paint graffiti in Island Ford Cave, Virginia. The painted letters are barely visible in this black and white photo, but they dominate the original color photo. Photo by Jim Tennant. 4

5 Volume XVIII Number 1 The Region Record Winter It's Alive! (The Spring VAR) by J. C. Fisher At the Fall VAR meeting in Parsons no group offered to host a 2005 Spring VAR meeting. John Pearson, Founder and Manager of Bubble Cave, LLC, decided to fill the void and offered to host. So... Yes folks, there will be a Spring VAR and not just any VAR. The location will be the West Virginia State Fair Grounds located in downtown Fairlea, WV deep in the heart of Big Cave Country. The Fairgrounds promise plenty of hot showers and lots of level space for camping. With a lot of help from Jeff Bray and the West Virginia Cave Conservancy this Bailout VAR should be one for the record books. Some of those wonderful members of WVCC and WVACS have volunteered to lead trips into some of West Virginia s finest. There are multiple vertical trips planned, as well the usual offerings of kid s trips, conservation projects, survey trips, and more. To top this off there is even a special Guidebook planned. If you don t want to cave, there are plenty of other activities to do in Greenbrier County. Just be sure to be back in time for dinner. By Royal Decree from his Greatness the most humble and pious Don Anderson, dinner will be catered by Bob s Big Beef. Bar-B- Qued beef, pork, fried chicken and all the trimmings, as well as vegetarian entrees will be featured Saturday night. Both Friday and Saturday nights will have the usual caver brew. Our guest speaker for the evening will be the President of Cricket Maze Cave Association. Cricket Maze Cave Association will be celebrating its 20 th Anniversary in Several vendors have already accepted an invitation to attend. Sunday morning will feature Front Royal Grotto s Award Winning Breakfast followed by the usual speleo-politics. The date for all this is April 29 th, 30 th & May 1 st. Save yourself three bucks and register now. Registering now not only saves you money, but guarantees a meal ticket. A registration form is in this newsletter. See you at the Fairgrounds. Directions to the VAR site: Take I-64 to Exit 169 in West Virginia, the Lewisburg exit. Go south on Route miles to the WV State Fairgrounds and take a right into the camping area just after the pedestrian catwalk over Route 219. Please follow the paved roadways to registration. Virginia Speleological Survey 2004 Year-end Wrap-up by Phil Lucas 5 As I am writing this (December 13) there is still a half a month to go for the year and I know that new caves will be discovered in that time especially in Highland County where Rick Lambert's teams will be caving hard for better than a week. So really this isn't a year-end report, but what the heck. This has been another amazing year for Virginia project caving. We have 4,231 recorded caves, an increase of 79 caves this year. The miles of surveyed cave passages now total more than 473 and that represents an increase of 12 miles. So where are these miles of new cave passage? The answer is from all over. Interestingly, I had a conversation with Bill Balfour this afternoon about the West Virginia Speleological Survey. Bill had just totaled the number of West Virginia caves with 4,240. What a horse race, now West Virginia jumps into the lead with just 9 caves more. It is remarkable how close the two Virginias are in the number of recorded caves. In the long cave category there have been changes. Omega Cave System in Wise County is now over 20 miles with no end in sight. It comfortably holds second place in the state and no one doubts that it will move into first place ahead of Sugar Run in Giles County as additional surveys are done. The Chestnut Ridge Cave System in Bath County is in third place with 17.3 miles and will be bumping 20 miles when a connection is surveyed to the nearby Burns Cave. This means that Butler Cave is currently in fourth place. The survey of Gap Cave in Lee County is progressing and recently a major passage (virgin) was discovered off the Big Room. This cave system has major potential and should be climbing rapidly up the ranks of the long cave list. There are a lot of exciting projects currently in progress and there are opportunities for all who are interested. A good example is the Grand Caverns project in Augusta County where major discoveries are being made. This is an old commercial cave that has been visited for two centuries and now its length has been more than doubled. Quite a testament to modern project cavers who push hard using today's tools, techniques and just plain courage to thoroughly survey all the cave's possibilities. With this attitude and culture, it isn't surprising that so much new cave is being discovered. In fact it is inevitable. And, I'm convinced, that the best is yet to come! My hat's off to all the gang who have put booty in the book this year. Wonder what great discoveries the new year will bring. I want to thank all those who have provided new data about our Vir-

6 Volume XVIII Number 1 The Region Record Winter ginia caves. The list is long. The following are those who reported on "new caves" this year: Chuck Robbins, Ricky Shortt, Tanya McLaughlin, Rick Lambert, Doug Dalrymple, Josh Rubinstein, Don Feathers, Brad Blase, Bob Thren, Jason Lachniet, Dave Socky, Wil Orndorff, Nevin Davis, Bill Balfour, Joe Caldwell, Dave Hubbard, Bobby Nagy, Wade Berdeaux, Gregg Clemmer, John Wilson, Larry Baer, and Chris Wezyk. On a sad note we lost one of our outstanding contributors to the cave files, Earl Thierry who passed away this past August at the age of 81. If you ever rambled through the pages of Caves of Virginia then you know the name Earl Thierry. That name just keeps cropping up again and again as the reporter for so many of our Virginia caves. When Henry Douglas compiled Caves of Virginia in 1964, he relied extremely heavily on Earl for information on caves in Alleghany, Craig, Botetourt, Giles, Smyth, Wythe, Tazewell, and Russell Counties. Earl Thierry, or "Uncle Earl," as he was sometimes affectionately known, was the first to report some of Virginia's premier caves, including Bane Spring, Buddy Penley, Newberry-Bane, Catawba Murder Hole, Rufe Caldwell, Millers, Salamander, Goodwins, Seabolt, Higginbotham, and Cribb to name a few. All in all, he described over 250 caves in Virginia. We will certainly miss NSS member 498. West Virginia Speleological Rurvey Report September 23, 2004 by George Dasher West Virginia has 4,120 known caves at present. [This was as of September 23, Ed.] WVASS is working to put together a new Web site, so that on-line reporting of the karst features (caves, FROs, springs, and insurgences)will be possible. All reports of any karst features should be made to any and all of the relevant area coordinators, as well as to Bill Balfour, who is in charge of the state-wide database. We are also working to have a "WVASS weekend" this spring, where important West Virginia speleo topics can be discussed and project reports more fully given. This will be at Bill Balfour's new home near Frankford in Greenbrier County, and is scheduled for April 9. Some WVASS contacts: Bill Balfour: State-wide data base HC Box 13A Frankford, WV bal4karst@hotmail.com George Dasher: 63 Valley Dr. Elkview, WV, wvcaver@juno.com Ray Garton P.O. Box 200 Barrackville, WV garton@mammoth-geo.com Doug Medville Indian Ridge Rd. Reston, VA medville@patriot.net Bill Balfour: State-wide data base 6 Bill Balfour: Western Slope Area (Greenbrier County) Bill Balfour and Phil Lucas: Buckeye Creek Basin Bill Balfour and Phil Lucas: Culverson Creek Basin Gordon Brace: Germany Valley Jeff Bray: Monroe County Joe Caldwell: Ludington and Mc- Clung area Ray Cole: Organ Cave Plateau George Dasher: Grant County George Dasher: Pendleton County George Dasher: Significant Cave List J.C. Fisher and Bob Bennett: Eastern Panhandle Ray Garton: Publication sales Ray Garton: Saltpeter Ray Garton: Treasurer Fred Grady: Paleo Bob Hoke: National Forest interface Devin Kouts and Bob Gulden -- Web site Cliff Lindsay: Renick Peninsula Doug Medville: Correspondence Doug Medville: Pocahontas County Doug Medville: Randolph County Doug Moore: Listserve Doug Moore: Tucker County Phil Lucas: Dry Cave Mark Passerby and Aaron Bird: Raders Valley Pete Penczer: Hardy County Nick Schaer: Mercer and Summers Counties

7 Volume XVIII Number 1 The Region Record Winter WVASS Spring Meeting by Bill Balfour Plans are underway for the WVASS spring meeting to be held at Cave Hollow Farm in Unus, West Virginia on Saturday April 9, People can plan to show up anytime during the day but we would like to start the meeting around 4. We will have some surface related activities to do (digs) and of course Culverson Creek Cave underlies the whole area. A nice 3 to 4 hour trip will be available from the SSS entrance to Fullers entrance also. After we finish with our meeting we'll have some food, we'll supply the main things but folks are welcome to bring side dishes and munchies. You may also want to bring your favorite adult beverage, we'll supply soda's, tea, coffee etc. After the dinner break I would hope folks will bring some slide programs to show off the latest finds and document what's happening in West Virginia. We'll keep going until we run out of things to look at or talk about. There is plenty of camping space available, a couple a bedrooms and plenty of floor space to crash on for those who want to spend the night. The WVACS fieldstation will also be available. So make plans now to come to our first spring meeting, it will be a good chance for us to all get together without other constraints and we can enjoy getting to know each other better and have a good time. Plus, it should significantly shorten our annual OTR meeting. Directions: look on any WV map, go to Greenbrier County, locate the town of Unus (4 miles west of Frankford and 219). Drive to Unus, there are only two houses, we're in the red brick one with the big red barn. Also: Total number of caves in the WVASS database as of December 13, 2004: 4,240. The new WVASS Web page should be up and running in the near future. History of the Virginia Region for Sale! by Meredith Hall Johnson The History of the Virginia Region, Part II: has now been printed. Checks should be made out to Meredith Johnson. The price is $20 + $5 for mailing. Mail to 8061 Kittiwake Court, Springfield, VA Include your mailing address. We printed 250 books and they are going fast. There are fewer than 20 left. This is destined to become a collector s item. All profits will go to cave conservation. Chapters include: People (a.k.a. Cavers): Questions and answers from more than 100 prominent VAR cavers during this time period. Stories and Trip Reports: Just what it sounds like. Cave Rescues: Many exciting and to-be-learned-from reports on famous and not-so-famous cave rescues. Includes a list of rescues within the Virginia Region. Project SIMMER: A separate chapter on this very important VAR project, one of the last of its kind anywhere and certainly the last huge project hosted by the Region. Grottos/IOs/Organizations: Histories of most of the Region's grottos and groups. Includes a full list of all grottos ever in the Region during this time period. Three other chapters too! 384 pages of very interesting reading and many photos. Even includes a few cave maps! Fall VAR Report by Doug McCarty, Monongahela Grotto Chairman & Bob Griffith, Monongahela Grotto Secretary/Treasurer Fall VAR in 2004, done in the context of Monongahela Grotto's 40th anniversary, was a lot of work, but a huge success. Because Mon Grotto has been tied to Tucker County through the years, we wanted to host VAR in that county, an area rich in beauty and recreational opportunities. The only suitable site in Tucker County for hosting VAR was Camp Kidd, a county owned Four H Camp also used as the site of the county fair. We were able to negotiate a cut-rate price largely because late September is considered off-season and we had no competition for the site. Camp Kidd is an excellent site with plenty of room and we especially liked the idea of having an indoor banquet and presentation. Once we got the site nailed down, the real work began. Some things went very smoothly and presented no problem at all because we had a good team of people working on getting things together. Other things did not go so smoothly for various reasons. Early on we had decided that everyone who registered would eat and 7

8 Volume XVIII Number 1 The Region Record Winter get a guidebook. We also gave a five-dollar break for pre-registration which encouraged pre-registration and we ended up with nearly half the attendees pre-registered which made planning easier. We had initially planned on getting a caterer, but when we were unable to find a local caterer who would handle a group that large, we were more-orless forced to utilize the full kitchen at hand and cook the food ourselves. After considerable discussion, we decided that the easiest course would be to cook large trays of Stouffers frozen lasagna. That made it easy to deal with the vegetarian meal as well. We bought everything but the lasagna and beer at Sam s Club on the Thursday night before VAR. The lasagna came from a variety of grocery stores in Morgantown. Preparing the Saturday meal ourselves made for a lot of extra work, but it allowed us to make more money and gave us more control over expenses. Based on the number of registrants, we could easily go out and buy more food if it was needed but did not have to commit a fixed number of meals with a caterer. Most things went very smoothly. Susan Posey had suggested that we ask Gordon Brace to do a postbanquet presentation on Hellhole and that was easily arranged. The band was more difficult. We thought we could line up a band that would perform for free, but maybe became no about 4 weeks before VAR. Most local bands we contacted were booked, but fortunately we were able to book the Falling Run Blue Grass Band who happened to have an open date on VAR weekend due to a cancellation. This was a close call and clearly we waited too long for a commitment from the first band. We also wanted to give out some door prizes, but weren t sure what they could be until Ralph Hubbard volunteered to go above and beyond the call of duty and make two beautiful bat houses. Doug Moore came through in the end as well with gift certificates for Karst Sports. Another problem was arranging for vendors. We neglected to assign that task to someone, and we belatedly approached several venders at OTR. Some of them were understandably reluctant to set up in West Virginia that soon after OTR and others had other obligations that weekend. In the end, we had no vendors. Another problem arose with the led cave trips in that several people who we believed were going to lead trips had apparently not given solid commitments, so some trip leaders we were planning for didn't show up. We clearly should have gotten more iron-clad commitments, but overall the led trips went very well. The bottom line, of course, was that hosting a VAR requires that you have a core team of people who can get the individual jobs done. FINANCIAL REPORT FALL 2004 VAR Income: Pre-registrations $2,723 On-site registrations 3,097 Total $5,820 Expenses: Camp Kidd fee $985 Food & beverage for banquet 1,100 Guidebook printing 531 Falling Run Bluegrass Band 500 Beer (4 kegs) 406 DJ for recorded music 200 Badges, tickets, markers etc 176 Firewood for bonfire 20 VAR fees (195 $3ea.) 585 Total $4,503 Net profit $1,317 The Monongahela Grotto has placed the profits in a bank certificate of deposit and will donate this money toward the purchase of a cave in our home areas of Tucker, Randolph, or northern Pendleton counties West Virginia. 8 The VAR Landowner Recognition Award by Bob Hoke The VAR Landowner Recognition Award is given to those cave owners who have done an exceptional job of balancing the protection of their cave with allowing responsible access to their cave by the caving community. It is a way for the caving community to express its appreciation to those special folks. The list below shows the Award recipients to date. At least two additional awards have been approved, but they have not been presented so they are not included in the list. If you know of a landowner who is deserving of the award, write a brief letter explaining why and send it to Janet Tinkham, 360 Kings Dr., Fort Valley, VA or it to her at janete@shentel.net. LANDOWNER RECOGNITION AWARD RECIPIENTS 1992 Buddy Penley (Penley s, access to Newberry, VA) 1993 Rhoda Paxton (Paxtons Cave, VA) 1993 Ruth Propst (Sinnett/Thorn Mountain, WV) 1994 George and Lee Sively (Organ Cave, WV) 1994 Robert E. Bright (Simmons-Mingo Cave, WV) 1994 Gene Turner (Buckeye Creek Cave, WV) 1995 Charles E. Simmons (Porters Cave, VA) 1995 Mothes Family (Friars Hole Cave System, WV) 1995 John Knutti (Bowden Cave, WV) 1995 Pricilla Teter (Mystic Cave, WV) 1996 Bill, Mildred, & Judy Showalter

9 Volume XVIII Number 1 The Region Record Winter (Cave Hollow Arbogast Sys., WV) 1996 Dr. and Mrs. J. T. Rogers (Norman Cave, WV) 1997 Connie Houseman (Dixie Caverns, VA) 1997 Mrs. Clark (Clarks Cave, VA) 1997 Geraldine Freeman (McClungs Cave, WV) 1997 Cecil Porterfield (Pig Hole Cave, VA) 1997 Andy Graham (Grahams Cave, VA) 1998 Kent Ford (Witheros Cave, VA) 1998 Joe Lockridge (Breathing Cave, VA) 1998 Bob Brooks (Crossroads Cave, VA) 1998 Ted Monger (Jones Quarry Cave, WV) 1999 Barry Price (Starnes Caverns, VA) 1999 Richard and Frances Latterell (Molars Cave, WV) 2000 The Ferrell Family (James Cave, et al, VA) 2001 The Combs family (Dyers Cave, WV) 2001 Mike and Pat Dore (Scott Hollow Cave, VA) 2001 Dave Mallow (Mill Run Cave, WV) 2001 Robert Wyly (Silers Cave, WV) 2002 Dr. Webb (Giant Caverns, VA) 2002 Upper Valley Regional Park Auth. (Grand Caverns, VA) Please Write Neatly on VAR Registration Forms!! by Meredith Hall Johnson When you attend a VAR, please write neatly so I can read your writing. This information is collected so that you can receive this Region Record in the mail four times a year. If I cannot read your writing (and I m a fine one to talk!), then I cannot add or update your information on the VAR Mailing List. Also, include a Zip Code. Thanks! How to Continue Receiving the Region Record Anyone who attends a VAR meeting automatically gets the next four issues of the Region Record. If an NSS member moves into the Region he/she is normally sent two free issues. Anyone may subscribe for the paltry price of $3.00 per year (see the form on the back page). The easiest way to continue receiving issues is to attend a VAR meeting at least once a year. Cave Map supplied by Phil Lucas and the Virginia Speleological Survey. 9

10 Cave Conservationist s with Attitude! Join us for another GRAND CAVERNS EASTER RESTORATION CAMP (presented by the Virginia Region of the National Speleological Society) on March 25 th - 27 th (Friday Sunday), Enjoy an early PAROLE and join us for our annual gravel hauling express through beautiful Grand Caverns (and our equally exciting sinus plugging, epoxy FILLED escapades in NEARBY Fountain Cave!). Repair broken formations. Eradicate moss. Rebuild the steps into Fountain Cave. Improve cave-owner relations and a whole lot more! A great way to kick those Old Man Winter Blues and it beats making license plates! Primitive camping, socializing with convicted felons, food and beverage on Saturday night! Easter egg hunt for the kids on Sunday morning! And, it s all FREE (okay, donations are accepted)! Directions: Grand Caverns: From I-81, Exit 235, East to Grottoes. Turn Right at small store/gas station. Follow signs and take right into Caverns. Phone (540) FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Andy Reeder, VAR Conservation Chair 840 Twin Lakes Rd., Green Bay, VA (W) / (H) or at: cavecon@earthlink.net

11 Spring 2005 VAR April 29 to May 1, 2005 West Virginia State Fairgrounds Fairlea, WV Hosted by Bubble Cave LLC Spring VAR 2005 Pre-Registration Form Please mail this form with your check (payable to Bubble Cave LLC; Spring VAR on memo line) to: Bubble Cave Spring VAR 2005 Registration c/o Judy Fisher PO Box 276 Berkeley Springs, WV Use pre-registration prices only if your form is postmarked on or before April 18, Thank you. Name Address City State Zip 21 years old or older? Yes/No (Please circle one) Age if under 21 NSS Member? Yes/No (Please circle one) NSS Number Grotto Affiliations: Do you want a Vegetarian Meal? Yes/No (Please circle one) VAR Fees: Through April 18, 2004 (we will use the postmark): Adult (15+ years): $27.00 x = $ Children (5-15): $24.00 x = $ Babies (0-4): Free Total Amount enclosed: $ Cost after April 18, 2005: Add $3.00 per person

12 National Speleological Society 6304 Kaybro St. Laurel, MD Address Service Requested Non Profit Org U.S. Postage P A I D Annapolis Jct, MD Permit #2530 Winter Regional News If you want to continue receiving the Region Record, please read this... If this page is marked TIME TO RENEW it means that your Region Record subscription has run out and this is the last issue you will receive. Subscriptions are automatically extended when you attend a Spring or Fall VAR meeting, or you can subscribe to the Region Record. The last issue you will receive (Volume-Number) is indicated on the top line of your mailing label. More detailed information about subscriptions is listed in the box on page 2. If you wish to renew your subscription, please copy or send this entire page. The address label contains information we need to expedite processing. Also, please print legibly. Thanks. I want to continue receiving the Region Record. Enclosed, to maintain my subscription, are dues in the amount of: (please circle one) $3.00 for one year $6.00 for two years $9.00 for three years Name Address City State ZIP Grotto (or other caving organization that I claim as my primary caving affiliation) Please make checks payable to VAR and send to: Meredith Hall Johnson, 8061 Kittiwake Ct., Springfield VA 22153