Palmetto Grotto

General information:

• A generous donation of caving gear was made by a friend out of Charlotte, will allow for us to complete an extra set of vertical gear for members to borrow. The extras will be raffled off at the October party.
• We invite members to help us with caving events! If you feel your caving or navigation skills are holding you back from leading, consider co-leading with someone else. You can help with filing the permit, communicating details, and picking caves, dates, camping locations without being the one to lead the group inside the cave.

Upcoming dates:

Event	Dates	Trip leader / Contact
Caving – beginner vertical	Sept 5-6	Eric
Caving – beginner horizontal	Sept 26	Eric
Grotto Birthday Party See below for location	Oct 3	Eric
Community event: TAG Fall Cave-In (Dogwood City Grotto event)	Oct 8-11	N/A
Community event: Bats, Beer, and Bluegrass (SCCi event)	October 25	N/A

Grotto end-of-year party:

Every year we hold an end-of-(fiscal)year party in October. This year we’re holding it at the Clemson University Forest so that we can make it open to anyone who wants to come. You’re welcome to invite your (respectful and fun) friends to join us for lawn games and grilled food.

Where: Wildcat Falls Picnic Area*
When: October 3rd @ 3pm
_{* If your GPS takes you from the Old Six Mile Rd side of Issaqueena Lake Rd, you’ll need to cross a creek that a low clearance vehicle would not thrive at. All vehicles can get through from the Lawrence Bridge Rd side!}

Aside from membership dues, this is our main revenue source for the year. At this point, we primarily use revenue to purchase loaner gear so we can take as many people caving as possible — but we hope that in the near future we’ll be able to use it for stewardship activities, special events, and other cool stuff. It’s free to attend and if you’re not in a place to donate at this time, we still want you to party with us! However, we also hope that you when you’re there, you buy a raffle ticket or donating to help cover snacks and sodas.

End-of-year elections:

At the grotto party, we will also be announcing the officer line up for the upcoming year! Some administrative items about that:

• Nominations are now officially open! Per our bylaws, nominees must be full Palmetto Grotto members in good standing who have either self-nominated, or been nominated by another member.
• Nominations may occur in person at a meeting or submitted to the executive committee in writing, aka by emailing palmettogrotto@gmail.com.
• Three weeks prior to the party (aka Sept 12, 2026) nominations will close and voting will commence.
• Only members can vote, and if you are a member you will receive a ballot by email. If your email has changed, let us know!

We are especially looking for grotto members to fill the Communications Officer position, although any member is free to run for any position. Responsibilities of each position can be found in our bylaws.