In virtual attendance: Carlin Kartchner, Taylor Tibbs, Stephan Francke, Louis Le, April Nieuwkoop, Mark Daughtridge, Mike Broome, Diana Gietl, Pete Hertl, Lisa Lorenzin, Zeke Van Fossen, Jackson Lemons, Ken Walsh, Martin Groenwegen, Zafir, and Emily Graham

Peter parked at the fairgrounds to witness the eclipse.

When introducing themselves, attendees were asked to name underground cave-adapted creatures they had seen (in real life or on television [no sci fi/fantasy]). The list included crawfish, a translucent salamander in Rehoboth Church Cave, fish in a pool losing pigment, insects with long antenna, bats, swifts, blind fish, Florida cave life (fish and salamanders), jumping teens, troglophile, albino exauto, grotto sculpins, and crayfish too small to eat.

Peter discussed his upcoming trip to Golondrinas Cave in Mexico.

Officers conducted a Zoom poll, and the meeting attendees chose to donate to West Virginia Cave Conservancy again this year as a charity.

The grotto currently has four helmets and lights for loan to members. Mike will take recommendations from members about what replacements should be bought and will later focus on possible purchases for the grotto. Discussion of lamps commenced. The Black Diamond brand lamps (Icon) did not last long because the casings broke too easily. Let Diana know if you have recommendations for camping lanterns inside a tent. 

The recommendations included a discussion about eneloop rechargeable batteries that do not corrode.

We discussed the NCRC callout list, and Ken forwarded the email to the grotto members.

No one had trip reports to share, and the next upcoming trip announced will be the Spring Restoration field camp on April 23. Hopefully members will enjoy some caving camaraderie before then.

Zeke Van Fossenn shared a fascinating program entitled Troglomorphy and Cave Fishes. It sparked many questions and references to old musical bands (Dire Straits and Styx).