Putting out a call for volunteers to help the James Cavers, US Fish and Wildlife, and The Nature Conservancy finish up the haul out of all the debris that we have accumulated in Coach Cave. The following was sent to me by Charlie Bishop. If you are interested please reach out directly to Charlie or contact me for more information.

?

US Fish & Wildlife and TNC are attempting to organize a trip September 16, 17 and 18 to remove the wood and debris from the Coach entrance room. To do it effectively and not overwork any one individual, at least 25 people are needed. In addition to James Cave Project cavers, some personnel from the Kentucky Bat Management Group, KY Fish & Wildlife, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife have volunteered to help, but more individuals are needed. People will stand on the entrance steps and pass cut-up sections of boards and bags of small pieces of wood up and out of the cave to be loaded into pickup trucks and taken to a dumpster. It may take two days to get all of the wood out. USF&W will pay for Friday night motel lodging for anyone who commits to work both Friday and Saturday. Lunch will be provided each day. Anyone coming for only Saturday gets lunch, but no lodging. If you can participate. please respond by September 6th.

?

Brian

Hi Everybody!

Yes, unlimited kudos are due!? I think this is Katt at Coates Cave.??

Best, Rick?

On Tue, Aug 9, 2022, 6:23 PM Gary via <garygibula=[email protected]> wrote:

Kudos to Resto Camp Director Brian!

I don't know if this was stated at the Awards Dinner (which I was unable to attend) but, on behalf of all Resto Camp participants, Brian should be recognized and thanked for all the time and effort he puts in as Director --and especially with how well the 2022 Field Camp went.

Here's a list of what Brian did:

- he planned and organized the week;?

- he networked with the Park (Liz, Dr. Rick) on making sure Maple Springs was reserved for us;?

- he discussed work projects with them;?

- he networked and discussed work with Charlie/Kat Bishop and the James Cavers for our work at Coach Cave;?

- he did the same with Rick Olson and the massive project we successfully completed at Coate's Cave;?

- he organized and maintained the participant list --which grew and grew-- as well as handled all the registration fees;?

- as the participant list expanded, he managed the growing list of food and the menu it would take to feed us;?

- he planned and executed the Awards and 'spiff' gifts we all received;?

- he and Katt arrived days early at Maple in order to make the site ready for us;?

- they (and others) made the big 'shopping trip' to purchase all the food, beverages and other supplies;?

- he and Katt woke up early every day to prepare breakfast for everyone;?

- they (and additional helpers, like Dee Boerma and others) helped cook, lay-out the food spread and put it all away after we'd eaten our fill;?

- Brian supervised all the work that was done and (along with Ken) did a great job in demolishing the wood wall at Coate's and rigging the water tank for removal;
- he even found time (along with John and Ken) to diagnose, order a new motor and repair the kitchen ceiling exhaust fan.

Other recognitions:

- Jonathan and Teresa for cooking a delicious dinner

- Dave Boerma for making a fire every night

- Ken for cleaning the bunkhouse gutters

- Other 'unsung heroes' for doing tasks and other jobs that cement us as a family and tribe!

But mainly, we owe you our thanks and gratitude, Brian. With your always-cheerful demeanor and positive outlook on things, you're an outstanding Resto Director.?

We thank you!

Kudos to Resto Camp Director Brian!

I don't know if this was stated at the Awards Dinner (which I was unable to attend) but, on behalf of all Resto Camp participants, Brian should be recognized and thanked for all the time and effort he puts in as Director --and especially with how well the 2022 Field Camp went.

Here's a list of what Brian did:

- he planned and organized the week;?

- he networked with the Park (Liz, Dr. Rick) on making sure Maple Springs was reserved for us;?

- he discussed work projects with them;?

- he networked and discussed work with Charlie/Kat Bishop and the James Cavers for our work at Coach Cave;?

- he did the same with Rick Olson and the massive project we successfully completed at Coate's Cave;?

- he organized and maintained the participant list --which grew and grew-- as well as handled all the registration fees;?

- as the participant list expanded, he managed the growing list of food and the menu it would take to feed us;?

- he planned and executed the Awards and 'spiff' gifts we all received;?

- he and Katt arrived days early at Maple in order to make the site ready for us;?

- they (and others) made the big 'shopping trip' to purchase all the food, beverages and other supplies;?

- he and Katt woke up early every day to prepare breakfast for everyone;?

- they (and additional helpers, like Dee Boerma and others) helped cook, lay-out the food spread and put it all away after we'd eaten our fill;?

- Brian supervised all the work that was done and (along with Ken) did a great job in demolishing the wood wall at Coate's and rigging the water tank for removal;
- he even found time (along with John and Ken) to diagnose, order a new motor and repair the kitchen ceiling exhaust fan.

Other recognitions:

- Jonathan and Teresa for cooking a delicious dinner

- Dave Boerma for making a fire every night

- Ken for cleaning the bunkhouse gutters

- Other 'unsung heroes' for doing tasks and other jobs that cement us as a family and tribe!

But mainly, we owe you our thanks and gratitude, Brian. With your always-cheerful demeanor and positive outlook on things, you're an outstanding Resto Director.?

We thank you!

Wow, it’s getting close! I don’t know about you but I’m getting excited. There are a couple of things I want to make sure everyone is aware of prior to camp.

First and most important, the ferry schedule. On the plus side, the ferry is running. On the downside, its current hours are Mon-Fri 6 am to 6 pm and Sat & Sun 8 am to 6 pm. Here’s what that means to us. For Dinner Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday if you are staying offsite on the non-Maple side of the river, you will be driving around to get back. This unfortunately includes the Friday Night Award Banquet. Wednesday night's pizza party will still be at the enclosed pavilion on the south side of the river followed by our Wednesday Night cave trip. This is great news for those staying offsite on that side of the river, for the rest of us, we will be driving around.

Speaking of Wednesday’s Pizza Party, how about some exciting news? Our after-hours cave trip will be a night at Huckleberry Knob hosted by the incredible Missy Shields and John Sies. As I understand it, we will have an opportunity to tour Onyx Cave and another nearby cave. I can’t wait!!

Of course, it can’t all be Pizza parties (we wouldn’t fit in the caves), our primary objective for the week is to give back to the park and nearby caves through volunteering our labor. To that end, I am putting out a couple of calls to action. First, if you are comfortable with vertical caving, please bring your gear. Second, if you would be interested in some potential wet caving (walking in cave rivers, possible short swimming) then don’t forget your wet suit and pack an extra towel. No guarantee that we will have vertical caving and or wet caving but just in case :) Also don’t forget, if you haven’t yet, to fill out and bring the waiver for our work with the James Cavers (link below) and attached.

Right, you’ve been resto’ing all week, it’s time for some Saturday educational trips. “Great, Brian, but where will we be going?” you ask. Well, as with many things in life, there are no guarantees. That said, we are working on lining up a shorter trip to “Short Cave” (see what I did there)! Our longer trip we are looking at heading to Mystic River! Holy cow, where to go?!

I am looking forward to seeing you all at the Howdy Party Sunday, July 31^st. It’s going to be a great week.

Brian

?

Hello Resto Cavers, this is a special announcement for those who will be attending this year's weeklong camp. As you know we are very happy to be once again working with the James Cavers in the continuing restoration of Coach and James Cave. To make things easier I am attaching and making available the liability waiver that needs to be filled out and provided to Charlie on Sunday evening at the welcome party. We will also have paper copies available on Sunday just in case you are not able to do it in advance.

I would also like to remind everyone that White Nose procedures are still very much in play in James and Coach Cave. What this means is that anyone working with us Monday and Tuesday in Coach needs to make sure that the gear you use Monday has been decontaminated or has not been used in another cave. The bats appreciate your consideration.

In other camp news, I’m getting excited as things are coming together. Not only does it appear that we will have 6 or so new to camp participants, but it also looks like the camp's very own local favorites Missy and John may be able to provide a tour of Onyx for our Wednesday night cave trip (they are the best!). I can’t wait!

Speaking of cave trips, I’d like to hear ideas from all of you for Saturday. What are your bucket list trips at Mammoth, let me know in the comments!

Don’t forget the Welcome Party Sunday night where I will once again bring a taste of Chicago in the way of Portillo's famous Beef, Sausage, and Lemon Cake.

Thanks,
Brian