The Windy City Grotto is an internal organization of the National Speleological Society. We are dedicated to the exploration, preservation and conservation of the subterranean ecosystem. Our membership includes individuals at all experience levels. We welcome anyone who is concerned with the conservation and care of these fragile cave environments, and who wish to pursue a safe and rewarding caving experience.



General Meetings

Meetings are held every second Wednesday of the month at 7:30 P.M. at Aurelio's Pizza, located at 1455 W. Lake St. in Addison Illinois. The Pizzeria is located at the Southwest corner of the Centennial Plaza shopping center, next door to the Marcus Cinema. Our meetings feature business, announcements, and programs (slides, video, narrative) on recent caving trips or cave related topics.

The National Speleological Society believes:

• Caves have unique scientific, recreational, and scenic values
• These values are endangered by both carelessness and intentional vandalism
• These values, once gone, cannot be recovered
• The responsibility for protecting caves must be formed by those who study and enjoy them.

In memory of
Dave Buchner

With great sadness we mourn the premature death of a fellow caver and friend.  Dave died on July 5th, he was 47.  Although, I hadn't seen Dave for a few years, I have some fond memories of caving with him in TAG, and I know many of us have had entertaining trips with Dave.  He loved to play the recorder (wood- flute) while caving.  See "Concert At Valhalla".

For the next couple of weeks I am going to post some of the best and most memorable comments about Dave.  If you would like to add your own comment please contact me. -- Ken Redeker

Rich Lounsbury posted a nice comment on the SUCG, Yahoo Groups site.

Dave was just a great easy-going guy who lived by no-ones' schedule but his own. He was also a fearless guy, and a total "character" being a continuous source of entertainment to us all (as several of us found out in Mexico). I always enjoyed being around Dave. I spent a lot of time with Dave on various caving trips and got to know him well with initial trips to Illinois Caverns, then southern Indiana, followed by TAG, and Mexico.

I have many of classic "Dave" shots which I will get into a slide show to share with you all in the near future. Probably my favorite is of him standing fearless and racked in at the lip of El Sontano de las Golondrinas, the famous 1,200 foot deep pit in Mexico.

Jeffrey Weston wrote this fine tribute on the SUCG, Yahoo Groups site.

My favorite Dave memory occurred at Cave River Valley in southern Indiana. The hour was late when I arrived, set up a tent, and prepared some bratwurst on my portable propane grill. Ken Redeker and Dave arrived in their car famished about a half hour later, so I made several more bratwurst for them for dinner. Dave being a vegetarian declined the meat offer but did consume a raw carrot from his meager food supply. I could sense that Dave was still hungry and mentioned that we would leave the grilling area with the remaining brats for 5 minutes and not ask any questions upon our return, especially if the meat would somehow vanish in our absence. We never had to test his resolve. Dave was adamant that that the brats would remain unmolested whether we were there or not, a true commitment to a meat-free existence.

On another caving campout, Dave accepted an offer of several hard-boiled eggs for breakfast. We all knew that Dave had the habit of cracking open the shell by tapping the cooked egg on his forehead lightly until the egg was ready to be peeled. One of the cavers decided to play a prank on Dave and slip a raw egg into the supply. The third egg selected by Dave was, as you guessed, the raw one which ended up on Dave’s face and jacket. I believe that on that morning, Dave had the best and loudest laugh of all the participants in the practical joke.

On TAG-Net, Myrna Attaway wrote a great tribute to Dave.

"Think back to any SERA or TAG Fall Cave-In.  If you saw a guy up in the dumpster looking for recyclables, that was David.  He once called recyling his religion, and it was.

He looked in every trash can he passed, cleaned up every roadside stop that drew his attention, and patrolled the streets of his neighborhood for storm doors and other aluminum containing items.  He became an expert in disassembling things for the aluminum.

He was willing to wade through filth to save the world.  In memory of him I will save my aluminum and recycle it. I will bring it to TAG.  I encourage everyone to do the same this year.  It is a fitting tribute he would appreciate."