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The FHG was founded in 1963, and communication ceased with the group in 1967. Apparently some of the problem arose when the NSS Internal Organizations Committee suddenly began to enforce a provision about dual grotto affiliations by asking all grottos to classify their members as to primary and secondary memberships. Many grottos, including FHG, took offense to the directive. To disprove the rumor that the grotto was actually composed of two members, the secretary submitted the names of five members who had no other grotto affiliation in 1965.
--NSS I/O COMMITTEE FILES.
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The grotto existed in the NSS from 1964 to 1971. While in existence the group published the SUBTERRANEAN SUN, hosted several VAR council meetings, and ranged all over the region in their caving activities.
Among the personnel in the AU Grotto were Kendall Free, Janet Pickens [McCormick], C.J. Otten, Lanny Lehto, and Nathan Gurevitch.
As members graduated from the university, the grotto folded, and was succeeded by the Sligo Grotto, located in the Montgomery Prince Georges Counties area of Maryland. The Sligo Grotto which is still quite active, was chartered by the NSS in 1970.
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Janet Pickens McCormick, early 1970's. Photo by R. E. Whittemore |
The Monongahela Grotto had its beginnings in February 1964 when Dr. Melvin Nida of Salem, WV, wrote to the NSS asking for information about starting a grotto. The early grotto had the usual hassles of writing their constitution, and choosing a name. By October 1964 the new grotto had eight members, and were resolved to work on two club projects: 1) to develop, place and maintain cave registers, and 2) to discover and preserve the early history of individual cavers.
In 1965 Dr. Nida and another grotto member attended the Spring VAR council meeting in Washington, DC, and Charlie Maus invited the grotto to work with WVACS to explore, map and conduct scientific studies of West Virginia caves. The grotto seems to have died for a time soon after the council meeting, but by late 1966 Bill Biggers and a Dr. Gilmore revived interest and membership. The KARST KAVER, currently the newsletter of the grotto, had its beginnings in early 1967; it was to be bimonthly. Dues for the grotto were set at $2.50 per year.
From the records, 1967 appears to have been a good year with club trips to Breathing Cave, Bone Caveand Greenbrier County. The first issue of the KARST KAVER was published in October 1967 with Sam Wymer as the editor.
Kim Smith was chairman of the grotto in 1968. A midsummer membership drive via an article in the Clarksburg newspaper yielded new members with many coming from Buckhannon and Fairmont. Thereafter meetings rotated between the three cities. The grotto did a great deal of work in Baxter's Cave, stimulated by Bill Biggers, Skip Miller and Dan Nigh's discovery of a virgin 140-foot pit. Later in the year, the group rented a house near Bowden Cave, and began to convert it into a fieldhouse. This marked the beginnings of the Bowden Cave Survey.
A new cave discovery in Bickle Hollow Cavestarted off 1969. Paul Richards was serving as president then, and Kim Smith as editor of the KARST KAVER. The grotto hosted the VAR Spring Council meeting at the Purple Tree in Clarksburg in March. Active members of the grotto at Salem College graduated, and if it had not been for the hard work of Richards, the grotto may have faltered. In an effort to keep the group together, he began publishing the monthly KARST KAPERS and a weekly KARST QUOTES.
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With the discovery in June 1969 of the M.G. Section in Bowden's by Dan Nigh and Ray Carton, and with no publication to share their great news, the duo took over the editorship of the KARST KAVER.
"The First Party to Commemorate the 5th anniversary of the grotto was held October 16, 1969 in the Big Room of Bowden Cave. Dan Nigh's grotto emblem was adopted later in the year, and the grotto began first efforts to survey the northern counties of the state, beginning with Preston, Monongahela and Marion Counties." More work continued in surveying Bowden Cave, with club trips to Hellhole, Cass, Mammoth and more.
Again, Nigh and Garton made additional discoveries on New Year's Day in Bowden Cave. In the summer of 1970, Richards resigned as chairman, and Ray Carton was elected to fill the slot. More discoveries were made in Bowden's and with the close of 1970, 21,121 feet had been surveyed in the cave.
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Ray Garton, energetic Monongahela Grotto caver. Photo by R. E. Whittrmore |
Continued mapping in the M.G. Section brought the discovery of a large white fossil-like object on a piece of breakdown. General consensus of opinion was that this was a tooth; confirmation from paleontologist John Guilday of the Carnegie Museum was received that the object was indeed a mastodon tooth with the age set in excess of 10,000 years.
The Monongahela Grotto has continued work in upper West Virginia counties searching out and mapping caves. Through the efforts of Ray and Mary Ellen Carton several of the first bulletins of the West Virginia Cave Speleological Survey were published. During the 1970's members of the grotto supported the field work conducted by the Carnegie Museum with great enthusiasm. The grotto continues to search, locate and map caves in northern West Virginia; they have hosted several VAR meetings and a project. Truly, the Monongahela Grotto is an asset to the Region.
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