The Spring 2013 Western Cave Conservancy Meeting will be held in the southern outskirts of Chico in the northern part of the Great Valley of California. We chose this location to better serve our loyal supporters in northern California, southern Oregon, and adjacent Nevada and Washington areas. This meeting is open to everyone and we hope to have a good turnout this year.

DATE:
Saturday, April 27, 2013

TIME:
1:00-5:00 PM (attendees can start arriving as early as 12:30)

LOCATION:
California State University at Chico
College of Agriculture
Agricultural Training Center (University Farm) - Shop II
Shouten Lane & Hegan Lane
Chico, CA 95929

We will have wi-fi available and are setting up a telephone link for those not able to attend in person. Instructions for the phone link will appear at a later date. Skype may also be available.

DETAILED DIRECTIONS:
FROM I-5:
1. In the city of Orland take the CA Hwy 32 exit east to Chico
2. In Chico, Hwy 32 becomes Nord Avenue and then Walnut Street
3. Hwy 32 will make a left turn onto 9th street; do not turn, but go straight (right lane) on Dayton Road
4. Travel 2.6 miles south on Dayton Road and then turn left on Hegan Lane 1.9 miles
5. Turn right at the Shouten Lane entrance to the Campus/Farm

FROM YUBA CITY and SACRAMENTO:
1. Take US Hwy 99 North
2. In Chico, take the Paradise/Park Avenue exit (first exit on the south of Chico) and turn left over the freeway (west)
3. Travel about a mile to Midway Avenue (dead end) and turn left (south)
4. Travel 0.4 miles to Hegan Lane and turn right (west)
5. Travel 1.4 mile and take the first left (Shouten Lane) after crossing the railroad tracks

FROM REDDING and RED BLUFF:
1. Take US Hwy 99 South
2. In Chico take the Paradise/Park Avenue exit (last exit on the south of Chico) and turn right (west)
3. Travel about a mile to Midway Avenue (dead end) and turn left (south)
4. Travel 0.4 miles to Hegan Lane and turn right (west)
5. Travel 1.4 mile and take the first left (Shouten Lane) after crossing the railroad tracks

We will be meeting at The Farm. Once on the Farm, follow the signs to Ag Mechanics (the second right turn) and to Shop II

PARKING:
Parking is available in the Shop II area.

REFRESHMENTS:
There will be a selection of light refreshments to keep you alert through the meeting.

Please feel free to re-post this announcement on your local grotto list!

Thank you and we hope to see many of you on the 27th!

The location of the meeting is the Lexus of Stevens Creek (car dealership) at 3333 Steven Creek Blvd. San Jose, CA 95117. This is in the Santana Row shopping mall area.

We will be meeting in the classroom located on the 2nd floor of the main building. As you enter the building look for the elevator to the right of the information kiosk. The classroom is easy to spot as you get off the elevator. We will have someone down at the entrance during the time most people will be arriving to make sure they find the room.

PARKING: There is street side parking available, but if none is available additional free parking is available at the Santana Row shopping mall located at the corner of Stevens Creek and Winchester Blvds. about 2 blocks away.

There will be a selection of light beverages and finger food to keep you alert through the meeting.

There will be several exciting new reports about our newer projects in the California and Oregon area. We will try to have a new short PBS film about one of the WCC's newer projects available for viewing.

Please join us for another fact-filled meeting to see what your Conservancy is doing, meet other like-minded folks, and enjoy a crisp winter afternoon inside where it's warm.

Read more about this exciting discovery at Scientific American and MSN.com.

Location: Weller Preserve
Time: 1:00 pm - 5:00pm

Advisors: You are welcome to attend in person, as usual, of course. Unfortunately there is no phone service at the preserve so our usual option of phone in attendance will not be available.

if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Marianne Russo.

This will likely be an exciting meeting as meetings go, because we have at least three brand new projects either in progress or under consideration:

1. Involvement with a group of caves on private land in California's Central Coast region [in progress].
2. Possible involvement a cave on public land in southeastern California [to consider]
3. Possible involvement a cave on public land in Oregon [to consider]

Plus we'll be filling 3 or possibly 4 positions on the board. The new board is practically guaranteed to be a fun one, brimming with new people and new projects. Frankly it's going to be a really exciting year and this is how we kick it off. We want your voice... if you want a say in what WCC takes on and how, come to the meeting and seriously consider deeper involvement.

We, the board, look forward to seeing a bunch of you there!

The MLG/WCC auction had a total of 87 items sold by auctioneer Dave Bunnell with the MLG collecting $382 and WCC collecting $268 for a grand total of $650 for the night - not too shabby in this economy. =)