Rockhound News
NEXT MEETING: Thursday, June 19, 2008
PROGRAM: 2008 Show Party at Woldumar
REFRESHMENTS: Last names A through M - Please Bring Goodies
Program Information:
This is the last meeting before September, and the October Annual Show is fast approaching. Since everyone loves the show and everyone needs to be part of preparing for the Show, the June meeting will be devoted to making things for the Show. We’ll be preparing Exit Gifts for Children’s Day, Petoskey Stone Polishing Kits, and Mineralogy Sample Kits (egg cartons). Please bring your stones for the Pebble Pond. Make sure your favorite working partners come to the meeting, and prepare to have a good time!
Location & Time: The June Meeting will be held at 7:30 pm at the Woldumar Nature Center at 5739 Old Lansing Road, west of Waverly Road in Delta Township. We’ll be meeting in the Lower Level “Rock Room” of the Old Barn. From I-96, exit at Lansing Road North & take Old Lansing Road north.
CMLMS Calendar for September 2008
September 4, 2008 Board Meeting-7:00 pm at the Okemos Library
September 18, 2008 Membership Meeting at North School or new meeting spot
A Message from CMLMS President Kris Wood
I want to thank everyone involved for making our banquet a success. If you missed it, you missed a great one. Our speaker Larry Molloy was wonderful – very entertaining and knowledgeable about the Copper Country. If you get a chance to pick up one of his books, do so; we had the opportunity to have them signed at the banquet. It was really nice to meet and greet some of you that I didn’t know before. The food was great, our emcee Neil was fabulous as always, and we all had a good time.
It is the time of year to start huntin’ rocks!! When you are out collecting, please don’t forget the Pebble Pond for Children’s Day at the Show. We also need polished pocket stones to donate to Ele’s Place as keepsakes for children. When you are out collecting, Have Fun and Be Careful! Please share your stories with us in the newsletter. I personally would love to hear about collecting experiences at different spots, private or public. Share the good and the bad ones, so we can all benefit.
And last but certainly not least, we need to start thinking about Showtime, since when we meet back up in the fall, it will just about time for the Show. Think about how you can get involved this year, who you can bring or recruit to help; we always can use more help at the Show! Don’t forget to pick up some Show flyers to share and spread the word to everyone, as our Show covers so many interests.
Happy Hunting – Can’t wait to get UP north! Peace, Kris
Programs – A Message from CMLMS Vice President Milt Gere
Future Meetings … Please give me your suggestions for future meeting program topics for the fall, or offer to present a program yourself. Thanks. Milt
Woldumar Nature Center is running a weeklong day camp for school-aged children the week after we meet there in June. They need several of our members to volunteer to talk about rocks, minerals, fossils, and different aspects of our hobby along with polishing Petoskey Stones. The ‘geology’ related items are scheduled for the mornings of Tuesday and Thursday, June 24 & 26, 2008. This is a good Community Outreach Project for our club.
Please contact Milt Gere, CMLMS Vice President, for details.
Field Trips – A Message from CMLMS Field Trip Chair, Dan Sine
Are you interested in field trips during July and August? Two possible locations for summer field trips are: 1) the LaFarge Quarry in Paulding, Ohio, for fossils (about 2.5 hours drive) and 2) central Indiana for geodes (about 4.5 hours drive). Please let me know if you are interested in either of these trips. Depending on how many CMLMS members are interested, we could arrange car pools or rent a van. See the May newsletter for more information about the LaFarge Quarry in Paulding. If you are interested, please contact Dan Sine either by email (daniel.sine@opm.gov) or by telephone (cell: 517-749-0414) or (home: 517-381-0805. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Show News – A Message from CMLMS Show Chair, Roger Laylin
Time does fly! The CMLMS Annual Show is only 4 months away. The Show dates for 2008 are October 24, 25, and 26. Show flyers will be available at the June meeting. At the June meeting, we will be working on Exit Gifts for Children’s Day, Petoskey Stone Polishing Kits, and Mineral Specimen Kits in egg cartons. I’ll also bring buckets for your pebble pond contributions. Please remember the pebble pond if you take a trip anywhere material is available, because as of now, the pebble pond is empty. We have at least 1,200 children expected for Children’s Day at the Show. There also will be a June/July picnic and work session at the Laylins. We still need to box up rocks for the Show and make more “critters” for the Children’s table. – More information at the June meeting.
Club News
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Please send any newsletter items to Elaine Beane at (gebeane@comcast.net). The deadline for each issue is five days after the monthly Board meeting.
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Member Archie Ammerman has been cleaning out his storage shelves and has donated to CMLMS about 500 pounds of slabs, plus geodes, 90 pounds of tumbling mix, apache tears, and miscellaneous cutting material and rocks. He said that more probably will be available as time permits. Thanks, Archie, and we hope to see you at future meetings!
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Roger Laylin asks, “Do any members need cutting oil for their saws?” If enough folks are interested, Roger will buy a barrel of Amsol 400, a nontoxic odorless mineral oil available locally. This oil is currently priced at $7.06 per gallon. Please contact Roger at 517-349-3249 if you are interested.
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Sue Casler has a request from a coworker who is seeking small pieces of pyrite to use in a “gold” panning exercise at a Girl Scout Camp. A couple hundred small pieces would work. Scouts who find pyrite “gold” can turn it in for pizza and treats. If you have pyrite that you are willing to donate to this cause, please contact Sue at caslers@michigan.gov.
Things To Do and Places To Go
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June 20-22: Midwest Federation Show & Lincoln Gem & Mineral Club Show. Lincoln, NE.
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July 10-13: Wonderful World of Agates Show, University of Wisconsin, Fox Valley in Menasha, WI. More information at www.agateshow2008.com. Lodging at the Appleton Exel Inn (920)733-5551.
CMLMS Board Meeting: May 1, 2008
Present: Elaine Angstman, Elaine Beane, Sue Casler, Milt Gere, Alan Hukill, Arie Koewelyn, Lyle Laylin, Roger Laylin, Gordon Lewis, Bob Mosher, Dan Sine and Kris Wood. [Board members absent: Ernie Aughenbaugh, George Heaton, Jenny Martin, Kara Miller, and Mary Anne Hanlon-Smith]
President: Kris Wood called the meeting to order at 7:14 pm at the Okemos Public Library.
Announcements from the Pres: Banquet – May 15th, tickets; need some folks to bring displays; scholarship person can bring two guests.
Vice President: Milt Gere – We will have a June Meeting, but need a location, since the school is closed. Program for the June meeting -- possibly a “work” party for the October show.
Recording Secretary: Sue Casler – Summarized April 3, 2008 minutes.
Corresponding Secretary: Mary Anne Hanlon-Smith (Absent).
Treasurer: Alan Hukill – Reviewed receipts/disbursements for the month of April 2008.
Directors: 3-YR, Bob Mosher – regarding insurance covering club – suggested a sign in log for record of field trip attendance, would include a waiver of responsibility and safety checklist. Also, a good example of basic rules for field trip collecting, from Ontario Minerals.com was passed around. Milt Gere also had a copy of the Mich. Basin Geological Society insurance for review. Since we have a field trip scheduled for this weekend (Alpena, LaFarge Quarry), Dan Sine said he would use the sign in log.
2-YR, George Heaton – (Absent); 1-YR, Arie Koewelyn – No report.
Roster Secretary: Ernie Aughenbaugh – (Absent)
Liaison Officer: Alan Hukill – No report
Past President: Elaine Beane – announced that her first newsletter comes out next week.
Membership: Elaine Angstman – No report – except for the Board to say “Welcome Back”!
Field Trip: Dan Sine – The May 3rd trip to the LaFarge Quarry in Alpena, Michigan. (Some of us are
leaving Friday.) Meet at the Quarry at 9:30/10 am on Saturday. The trip to the LaFarge
Quarry in Paulding, Ohio is still scheduled for May 17th as of this time.
Community Outreach: Elaine Angstman – Woldumar looking for rock people for their summer camp,
will be the third week of June.
Finance: Gordon Lewis – announced that a MSU student has been selected for the club scholarship award. She is Chelsea J. Mack, from East Lansing, MI; Chelsea is working toward a degree in Environmental Geology and is a confirmed rockhound!
Web Master/Site: Lyle Laylin – Please take a look at the new look of the club’s website.
Show: Roger Laylin – Lila Stevens is putting together the egg carton mineral sets and needs some more minerals.
Old Business: None. New Business: None
Elaine Beane moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Dan Sine. Meeting adjourned 8:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Sue Casler, Recording Secretary
CMLMS Board of Directors Meeting: June 5, 2008
Present: Kris Wood, Ernie Aughenbaugh, Dan Sine, Gordon Lewis, Lyle Laylin, Elaine Angstman, Elaine Beane, Robert Mosher, Milt Gere, and Alan Hukill: Meeting called to order at 7:17 pm.
President’s Report: The Annual Banquet went well. The speaker was excellent, and the banquet was well attended. K. Wood took the polished stones donated by CMLMS member to Elie’s Place. The stones are used as keepsakes and memory aides for children grieving the loss of a family member. G. Heaton has reserved the Okemos Library meeting room for Board meetings from September 2008 through June 2009. The January Board meeting falls on January 1, which is a holiday. Therefore, K. Wood suggested that the meeting be combined with the January membership meeting in the same location if possible. If that doesn’t work out, E. Beane volunteered her dining room as an alternative. Archie Ammerman has donated cut slabs, tumbling materials, and cutting materials to the CMLMS. More materials likely will be coming as he clears out his stocks.
Vice President’s Report: The June 19 membership meeting will be held at Woldumar Nature Center. We should evaluate Woldumar as a potential meeting place for 08/09. Ernie Aughenbaugh said that he has done preliminary information gathering on the Miller Road Community Center on the southeast edge of the North School parking lot. The Community Center is run by the Lansing Parks & Recreation Dept. Ernie will find out more about costs, availability of storage space, and other needs. We can discuss this on June 19 as another potential meeting place.
Recording Secretary: No Report
Corresponding Secretary: No Report
Treasurer: Report distributed.
Director Report: Robert Mosher distributed copies of articles on fossil collecting and mineral collecting. He will prepare a list of the web addresses and article titles so that members can access them directly.
Roster: No Report
Liaison: The Midwest Federation has distributed information about the federal bill to restrict fossil collecting on federal lands (“paleo bill”). The Federation will take a membership vote on this bill in August.
Publications: Elaine Beane said that the May newsletter had been mailed and emailed at the usual time. She asked if anyone had had any difficulty receiving the newsletter, or if anyone had heard any comments (pro or con) about the May newsletter. There were no comments. Send material for the June newsletter no later than 5 days after the Board meeting to gebeane@comcast.net.
Education/Outreach: Dan Sine was invited to the Waverly Middle School; he prepared and gave to the Waverly Science Department a collection of 50 fossil and mineral specimens, with a guidebook, keyed to the specimens. The Lansing Hill Alternative High School also has invited Dan and he plans to prepare the same package for them and present it to the Science Department of the high school.
Milt Gere noted that the Woldumar Nature Center has requested a Petoskey Stone polishing exhibition.
Library: The Library is stored in the Laylin’s garage for the summer.
Finance: No Report.
Webmaster: The webmaster is studying the programming needed to permit members to post information on the website about field trips that they have made, including reports and photographs.
Show: E. Aughenbaugh noted that Richard Hightower of Georgia would be a good replacement for the fossil dealer that we are losing for the show. Elaine Angstman said that at the Deming, NM show, she had been contacted by Alex Fagoti of the UP. E. Aughenbaugh moved that Richard Hightower be sent a contract for the CMLMS 2008 show. A. Hukill seconded the motion. Motion approved.
Membership: E. Angstman said that the following had filed membership request forms:
Isaac Miller (family membership); and Phyllis M. Keeney (adult membership).
E. Angstman moved to approve these two membership requests; E. Beane seconded. Motion approved.
Fieldtrips:
There are two possibilities for summer fieldtrips, the LaFarge Quarry in Paulding, Ohio, for fossils; and two sites in Indiana (a Corps of Engineers Dam and a nearby roadcut) with geodes. Dan Sine will do a paragraph for the newsletter about these options.
Old Business: None
New Business: The Board will need to discuss the selection of a new/old meeting place for membership meetings just as soon as possible. The choice has to be made before the required signing of the North School contract in late August/early September. The choices can be discussed with the membership at the June 19 meeting at Woldumar, and then continued through email and phone conversations in July.
Alan Hukill moved to adjourn; E. Beane seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 pm.
Respectfully submitted: Sue Casler, Recording Secretary
CMLMS
Newsletter June 2008