Well, another TSA Convention has come and gone.
I just wanted to thank all of you who came down to attend and thank those folks
who helped make it such an enjoyable weekend!
Some thank you's to:
* Rob Bisset for all of his behind-the-scenes efforts to, once again, pull off
a great Convention!
* Diana Tomchick and Bill Steele for lining up a wide variety of enjoyable, and
useful sessions.
* Darla Bishop for holding down the Registration table.
* Stefan Cresar and his Crew of congenial and creative caver chefs and a great
dinner, yet again!
* Jon Cradit and Rahr Brewery of Fort Worth, TX for generously donating 8 cases
of beer (that's 192 bottles, but, who's counting) and 36 Blind Salamander
glasses
(the kind you drink out of. These were not for the salamanders to wear!)
* Jim Kennedy, TCMA auctioneer extraordinaire, and his lovely staff of Ellie
Thoene and another young lady, whose name I do not know.
Some highlights of the weekend:
* Over $3000 raised during the TCMA auction to be paid towards the remaining
$8K note on the Deep and Punkin Cave property.
* Watching many of the above items that were donated for the auction by Pete
and Karen Lindsley, as they sell their house in Dallas, bought and "donated"
back to
Karen and Pete so they can "enjoy" and transport these items to their new
house in New Mexico.
* Jim Kennedy winning the ICS registration raffle. "Rigged" comes to mind,
but, I only blame myself for not doing a better job stuffing the ballot box.
* Excellent talks given that were very entertaining, educational, humorous and
moved along, right on time.
* Some delicious FREE beer was enjoyed. The 8 glasses that were auctioned off
raised almost $100 for the TCMA!
* Lots of meetings, legwork, and volunteers corralled for the ICS in only 3
short months! YES, they still need volunteers!
* A superb barbecue dinner by our Caver Cook Crew. I barely had room for
another Rahr beer or three afterwards, during the auction!
* An extremely productive and succinct TSA Business Meeting. Some of the
highlights:
- Members Area and the online access to The TEXAS CAVER has been a
hit and well-received by membership. Second most visited section of homepage.
(The calendar is first, barely).
- NO DUES INCREASE!
- A complimentary TC will now be sent to any prospective caver
thinking about joining the TSA.
- A new (and cheaper) printer of the TC has been found and will be
utilized for the next issue.
- The Convention ended up in the black and may have actually made a
little money!
- A $2200 donation to the ICS for 8 registrations for foreign
cavers to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event who may not have been able to do
so.
- A $500 donation for the NSS' Rapid Response Fund to be used
towards White Nose Syndrome Research and Containment.
- New and repaired survey equipment that can be used on various TSA
projects. A $400 expenditure.
In that vein, the above last three items were made easier by the fact that over
40 members of the TSA have opted for receiving their TC in digital format, a
savings to the TSA of over $800!
A lot of people have commented and questioned me as, "Why should I join the
TSA?", and, "What benefit is there to digitally receiving the TC!?"
The expenditures above are great examples of what the TSA funds can be used
for, why you should join the TSA and encourage others to do so, and the
direction I envision the TSA proceeding in the future.
Since the TSA does not own any caves, we can support caving related activities,
projects, events, help educate the public and prevent damage to caves and their
inhabitants (see WNS) and a myriad array of other worthwhile endeavors by
receiving your annual dues and the cost savings realized by reduced newsletter
printing costs.
Not a TSA member? No problem! We still would like for you to contemplate
becoming a TSA member. Send me an email for your complimentary TEXAS CAVER and
see what you've been missing.
Visit the TSA website at www.cavetexas.org and become a paid member and/or
become an online member of the TSA.
There now are a total of 11 back issues available for your reading pleasure.
If you're a TSA member, but haven't yet joined the Digital Revolution, it is
extremely painless to do so. Go to http://www.cavetexas.org/members/ and sign
up. Please remember to select how you want your TC, mail or digital.
You can still opt to receive the TC in the mail, or you can do your part to be
environmentally and fiscally responsible, while sticking it to the USPS and
their rate increase in May by opting to go digital!
The Members Area continues to expand very well and we currently have grown to
well over 80 members. This is over 40% of the total membership.
I'll get off my soapbox now, but, I want to thank all of you who made it out to
the Convention and thank all of those who helped make it successful.
After you have enjoyed talking about caving at the TSA Convention, come on out
to Longhorn this weekend, as well as the always popular CBSP Project, and get
down and dirty in some real caves.
Longhorn Caverns State Park Dig, This Saturday, May 2nd
This is a pre-ICS project! We will be meeting at the visitors center at
Longhorn Caverns State Park at 9 AM, Saturday, June 7th, and caravan from there
to the Crownover entrance. We will be prepping the area for a possible thru
trip during ICS, hanging out at the beautiful state park, and conducting a
possible thru trip. Please bring your own water, food, and camping gear as the
Visitors area at the park is available Friday and Saturday nights.
Contact Mark, if you plan on attending!
Colorado bend State Park Project, Saturday, May 9th.
Thanks!
Mark Alman - TSA Chairman
