The ASS had been around for 4 or 5 years when I got to A&M in 1976. It was my
understanding that Alicia, John Gale, David Finfrock, Bob Bliss, Doug Symank
and Phil Jank were some of the organizing members. And Finfrock had already
graduated the year before I arrived..in 1975.....so I knew who he was because
he was on TV in Fort Worth. Anyway....there were quite a few Finfrock
stories...Another of the early cavers was John Copp....who was quite an
interesting character. And one of the organizations first big milestones was
getting recognition for being an NSS grotto in 1977. I remeber that we worked
to get as many people as possible to join the NSS...which was no small
feat...as for a college student those fees were quite high.
The outdoor rec committee was always trying to USURP our club in thier
ranks...and it was always a fight to keep them out of it...and the NSS grotto
thing finally convinced them that we wanted to be a separate
organization....and we had own own cubicle....with a very LARGE rock that we
carried back from the guads in it. I think we made some of the other student
organizations a little bit nervous....especially when we went and asked the
Association of Former Students for some funding for a project....The football
team was losing a lot of games...and we were feeling cocky and told them the
money would be better spent on our project....they politely showed us the door.
I think John Gale ( or possibly Sherrie Symank?) was the chairman at the
time...or maybe Alicia was still chairman. Maybe Sherrie was the secretary.
After the NSS thing...John Tynes was chair....
There was a very colorful group of cavers around there at the time...most
were not your typical aggies....except Duwain Whitis....he was about as Aggie
as one could get. He even went to football games....and took Barb Vinson. I
think he bought her a mum....( which was the tradition for every game
then)...quite frankly we were shocked that Barb would stoop so low and attend a
game. It took us about a year to finally corrupt his morals...and I think he
was chairman one year when he finally become a "real" caver.
After Duwain came, we had quite a few corps turds come to meetings...and
almost had brawl one night....when someone casually mentioned the upcoming "big
campfire"....it was obvious this lack of respect for the name rankled the group
of CTs...and one of them shouted "its BONFIRE....damn it..." To which another
smart ASS replied "yeah....whats that thing for?" And someone said to "roast
weenies".....to which things escalated to some chest butting...before cooler
heads prevailed...and we all went to the Dixie chicken for a few beers. But
those CTs never came back.
Anyway...the ASS had several faculty advisors around that time...never heard
of this other guy "that has always been the advisor". Bob Meade Donaldson was
our advisor for a couple of years and was a very active caver...he was a caver
from TAG who was on the faculty. When Bob showed up at a grotto meeting one
fall...we were in need of a new advisor anyway....although I don't remember
why.....And he introduced us to the joys of bouncing pits in Alabama...When he
left; we recruited another advisor who was a professor of landscape
architecture...who was a very passionate environmentalist...but was a little
freaked out about caves. And i always had the impression that he thought we
were "up to something" fishy. Eventually the faculty advisor changed
again...but I can't remember who we changed it to.
Brian Riordan <riordan.br...@gmail.com> wrote:
>But officially, ASS is 30 years old.
I can't say when people started caving while attending classes at A&M, or who
went to A&M and ended up caving sometimes in their lives, OR when people first
thought that A.S.S. was a sexy acronym and recruiting tool. I do know,
however, that Dr. Robert Lyton is the only advisor that Aggie Speleological
society has ever had on record at A&M, and he started advising the newly
University recognized group on request of the first president (whose father he
had caved with) in 1977.
-B
On 10/19/07, Travis Scott <tra...@oztotl.com> wrote: I am pretty sure
the the official Texas A+M records state that ASS was first recognized in 1977.
Whether there was a grotto before or after that, I can't say.. But
officially, ASS is 30 years old.
TS
----- Original Message -----
From: jerryat...@aol.com
To: alan.blev...@gmail.com ; Texascavers@texascavers.com ;
aggie-cav...@listserv.tamu.edu
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 1:10 AM
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Aggie Speleological Society at TCR
Unfortunately, this is not the 30th anniversary of the Aggie Speleological
Society. That distinction passed us by 4 years ago. The first meeting of ASS
occurred in September 1973 and was attended by 55 prospective members; in
large part due to the efforts of Alicia Wisener, one of the grotto's first
officers. The grotto published the Guano newsletter from 1974 to 1977, the
Undergrounder in 1979, and the ASS Explorer sporadically from 1995 to present.
You can read about the history of ASS in 50 Years of Texas Caving, which will
be arriving from the printers in early December.
But don't let the 34th anniversary of the grotto pass at TCR without raising
a toast to old traditions, past and present ASSes, and future memories !! ASS
is one of the oldest student grottos around.
Jerry.
In a message dated 10/18/2007 3:45:19 P.M. Central Standard Time,
alan.blev...@gmail.com writes:
As you may know from e-mails sent through the Texascavers list over the
summer, this year is the 30th anniversary of the Aggie Speleological Society
(ASS, from here on).
Although we won't be having ASS awards, as I think George Veni suggested, I
would like to invite all former, current, friends of, and tangentially
associated members of ASS to gather and visit on Saturday morning / afternoon.
We will have a shade shelter of some sort set up somewhere at TCR, which will
be identified by the ASS banner hanging from it. Come hang out, have a drink,
and share stories of your adventures with ASS. I think a wise man once said,
"Even after you've left College Station, deep down inside, you know you're
still an ASS" - or something like that.
ASS will be running a caving-themed obstacle course this year, to be held in
the same general area (glamorous prizes for the winners to be awarded Saturday
night). We will also be introducing a new event involving beer and a
squeezebox. It should be a lot of fun!
Hope to see you there,
~Alan Blevins
ASS Secretary
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