Hi all,
You wouldn't believe all the work that is going on behind the scenes
preparing for the next two SWR regionals at Fort Stanton! I'm not really part
of the organizing committee, but I've been privy to a lot of what is going on.
As you know the next regional is a work regional at Fort Stanton to rebuild a
balcony railing on one of the historic buildings on the fort. Several of us
went up to get the project started a few weeks ago in February. There are some
photos of that project that Pete put up at
http://www.caves.org/region/swr/Fort_Stanton/fs_photos2.html. You should check
this link out to get a sense of what we're trying to do.
In case you haven't heard, or didn't get the flyer, we'll be meeting at
the BLM bunkhouse just north of Fort Stanton over the weekend of March 24-25 to
have our regular SWR meeting, and then continue the work that you see in the
link above. What remains to be done is essentially to put everything back
together. There are 103 of those "spindles" or "balusters" that will have to
be prepared. (Sanding, priming, painting). There are numerous other pieces
that will require sanding, priming and painting. Then the whole shooting
match has to be put together. It will take all of you who can make it all day
Saturday and Sunday to get this done! Bring cordless drills with bits and
screwdriver bits (especially star or Torx bits!), wood rasps, gloves, paint
scraping tools, etc. Make sure you wear clothes that you can get paint on.
There will likely be several of us that will go up and begin working on Friday,
so keep that in mind if you can make it.
So why are we doing this? Well, the following regional, also at Fort
Stanton on Memorial Day weekend is the Southwestern Region's 50th Anniversary!
You don't want to miss that! Besides being a really cool and rewarding thing
to do, this work project is an exchange with the Fort Stanton State Monument
for the use of the Monument facilities for our 50th. There are details of
that event at the SWR's website at: http://www.caves.org/region/swr/50th.html
Some of those details are still being worked out but you'll need to be making
reservations and paying something up front. While you'll likely be able to do
some of that on-line, the upcoming regional would be a good time to make those
reservations and pay for it (so bring some money!)
Kathy has volunteered to make Taco Salad for everyone who wants it on
Saturday evening of the work regional coming up. (And she could use some help
preparing it from some of you who aren't into carpentry work). In order for
that to work out, we need to know how many people she should prepare for.
So if you'd like to participate in the Taco Salad on Saturday evening for
around $4-$5 a person, you'll need to e-mail me or Kathy
(speleob...@comcast.net) by Monday, March 19th, so she can be sure to bring
enough food. The meal will include a dessert of some sort and will be served
at the bunkhouse. You'll need to bring your own drinks. Kathy will be signing
up people and collecting money on Friday evening and Saturday morning.
So everyone who can, please come and help out with this work project!
You'll be taking part in something you can be proud of. Twenty years from now
you'll be able to look up at the balcony and think -- I helped restore that!
And finally, take a minute to thank the organizing committee for the 50th
Anniversary, headed by Stephen Fleming. They've been doing an incredible job
putting all this together!
Steve Peerman
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from
the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
attributed to Mark Twain, but no record exists of his having written this.
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