Kids and adults hanging out and having fun at CaveSim during NSSCON2015. Photo by Rangerdj Hall.

Members of the Boston Mountain Grotto (BMG) pose with Dave outside of CaveSim holding the BMG sponsor sign.

The 2015 NSS Convention in Waynesville, MO was a big success.  Cavers took over 200 trips through CaveSim despite the high heat and humidity (we did run an air conditioner in the trailer, but it had a hard time keeping up!)  We also worked with about 31 elementary school children from the local school district.  They explored CaveSim, played cave- and bat-related games and did our hands-on activities.  We also gave each student a copy of the NSS News to take home so that their families could learn more about caves and conservation.

We are very excited to announce that Doug Warner of QueVer donated two incredible El Speleo lights.  We will be mounting these on helmets for use during CaveSim events.  This will be incredibly helpful in giving participants more light while they explore (to compensate for particpants’ eyes not adjusting to the dark quickly enough), and it will save us a lot of time and cost because we won’t have to use disposable batteries for two of our helmets.  Thank you, Doug and El Speleo!

 

A huge thank you to those who sponsored the trip:

Mr. Dick Blenz. Here’s his story from serving in WWII
Mr. Keith Wheeland 
Mr. Paul Schwotzer
               
         Meramec Valley Grotto