I almost skipped the banquet and was thinking about go swimming in the Guadalupe River again. But Jay Jorden, convinced me that I should not miss it.
The Banquet ran smoothly. I think that is due in part to the practice run they had the night before. The weather seemed to be a little cooler. Caver's may have dressed more comfortably than they did for the previous night. I know I did. The food was the best I have ever had at any banquet. The grilled vegetables were super delicious. They did run out of those, so I hope everybody got to try them. I had 2 giant plates of food. I was so full, that I did not get to try the desert. I presume the buses and vans worked better, because they had a better idea what to expect. It seemed cavers were more layed back and sociable, but that may be due to it being the grand finale of the event. The keynote speaker had a pleasant voice and was a dignitary with the Dept. of Interior. My personal viewpoint, and I don't mean to hurt anybody's feelings, is that she really didn't have anything to say that caver's did not already know. For example, in Michigan, they had a unknown guy give a talk about gating mines to protect caves. I think people were surprised to learn of his solo conservation efforts. I think the important thing about her speech was that it gave her a chance to bond with cavers and vice versa. Having a person in her position friendly to cavers is obviously a worthy goal to try to achieve. My only comment about the banquet, was there were still too many rude cavers talking during the speeches. And some of my comments about the NSS Banquet apply. I am glad I attended the ICS Banquet. I met 3 cavers from the Yucatan that I had not met previously at ICS. David Locklear --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
