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A Final Off The Record From
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Grannie
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Annie |
Photo by D.E. Yeatts
Then in 1970 John Holsinger thought it would be a good idea to unearth the History and revise it; to that end, a committee headed by Ed Bauer, was appointed. Someone suggested that it be called The Committee For Action On the Virginia Region's Evolution--CAVRE for short.
From this springboard provided by John E. Cooper and Ed Bauer, I proceeded to contact as many old timers who caved in the VAR for pictures, stories, legends and general caving tales. This work has finally been culminated, much to my intense relief, and is presented here for your enjoyment in the absolutely last issue of THE REGION RECORD that any of the former editors intend to publish.
What we have is a collection of stories, anecdotes, legends, general caving tales, and pictures of VAR cavers. The material was selected with the intent that it would reflect the typical caving experiences of those who began caving within the Virginia Region during the 1950's and 1960's.
While I am quite aware that history is still in the making, I terminated this particular tome at 1970 for reasons of expediency. I knew that if I continued collecting material, my public would cease to take me seriously, and I would never get this important volume published! To imagine a future without a history of the NSS's first region in print is unthinkable.
I, of course, expect that "my" history will serve as a foundation to stimulate others to prepare and publish a history from 1971 to whenever. Any volunteers?
No doubt before you've even read this introduction, you've scanned the pages of this history to search for familiar names and your favorite caves. Hopefully, you've been rewarded and delighted, but in case you wonder why certain people or a particular cave is missing,
It isn't that we didn't try. In the past 6 years, no VAR meeting has passed without a plea for contributions. Articles have been published begging for information in the NSS NEWS, the VAR/FYI and even in VPI's alumni newsletter, THE TECH GRAM. Be ready to help out on the next history!
A word of explanation before you read further. Many of the trip reports written in the early years of the Society's growth describe blatant acts of what is now considered to be vandalism of the cave environment, and certainly does not reflect the current motto of the NSS. We have not included these reports to embarrass or intimidate their authors; on the contrary, we wish merely to show where we cavers of today have come from, and how the thinking of cavers has changed since the Society and the Virginia Region were formed.
My grateful thanks to the many people who assisted me in this endeavor is great. Major contributors include: Edward W. Bauer, Evelyn L. Bradshaw, Roy Charlton, Bill Cuddington, R.H. Handley, John R. Holsinger, Dr. Jean Lowry, S. Acton Loyd, Philip C. Lucas, Robert L. Lutz, Marguerite Klein Miller, Dr. John Murray, Larry and Betty Sabatinos, Richard Sanders, Paul Stevens, Earl Thierry, Thomas B. Vigour and Tommy Watts, III.
I must also mention the persons who assisted me in this project, without whom two more years would have been added to complete the history: Howard N. Braithwaite, Pam Douty, Cheryl Jones, A. James Kramer, Lois J. Miller, Hester and Jerry Nettles, Kevin Ogle, Jim Powers, Janet Queisser, Linda Ann Reiff, Kim Smith, R.E. Whittemore and Sharon McGee.
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previous--front cover, insde
next--West Virinia pg132
articles index
|People index
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|Cave index
|Places and Grottos.
VAR home page
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