President’s Message – December 2020

Past Presidents Message
From the Top of the Rock Pile …. by Kat Koch
Governor Inslee and the CDC have asked all of us to not gather for the holidays. I know it’s very hard for some of us not see our friends and family at this time of the year.
The holidays gatherings, religious services, hobby or other group meetings, gyms, senior center activities have been canceled but remember we, as individuals, have not been canceled. We are still a family member, a friend and a rock club member.
Joy, fun and happiness have not been canceled! 2020 has been a weird year and celebrating with one another looks different. Remember to reach out via phone, video chat or email to family members, friends and our rock club friends/members during the coming holiday. We are all here to support each other any way we can.
Above all our rock club and our community of members have not been canceled! We are still here producing our monthly news bulletin, maintaining our website and leading field trips when the weather is good. If you are working on a lapidary project or tumbling and need help, have a question or need talk about rocks please reach out to one of our members. If you need a phone number or email for a member just check the contact page in our bulletin go to our website and under “Contact Us!” send a message with their name. You can also email me at president@cascademineralogicalsociety.org If I have their info I will send it to you.
I am also very happy to announce that the Board has approved a temporary reduction in our dues for 2021 only to $15 per family or individual. Even though we are not presently holding meetings, our club still has to cover our annual dues to NFMS, AFMS, ALAA, WA State Mineral Council and the cost of liability insurance for 2021. I am sure by spring we will be back to holding our meetings again. When this does happen we will once again have the cost of the monthly rental for the meeting room.
Stay safe and healthy so we can see each other next year.
Kat Koch, President
Updated: January 9, 2022 — 3:34 pm

Presidents Message

  • Digging It!  I hope you’ve all had a chance to get out and look for rocks during the lovely weather we enjoyed in July – it’s been mostly perfect rockhounding weather. And for those of you who were able to come on the field trips led by our fearless wagon master Roger Danneman, I hope you found some good material. Big thanks to Roger for getting us all out there and helping us find beautiful rocks! August is a bit of a break from the usual club meeting cadence – instead of having our club meeting on the second Thursday …

Meeting Announcements

  • Our August meeting will not be happening at the American Legion – instead, this month’s meeting is our annual club potluck and picnic on Saturday, August 15. Join us from 12-4 at Gene Coulon Park, South Shelter 2 – setup begins at 10:30am. Bring something you want to share and/or donate to the club auction, also happening during the picnic. 

  • September’s program is coming soon. We will update this page as soon as we know more.

  • Noelle Barnes will present Using Gaia for Rockhounding, an overview of the features and tricks associated with the app Gaia and how you can use it for GPS, saving waypoints, navigation, photo tagging, trail recording and more. Show and Tell: Bring the rock(s) that have the best “story” – and tell everyone how you found them and where!

  • Club board member Paul Ahnberg will talk to us about the impact of wildfires on our lives – from protecting your home to staying safe while out rockhounding – and what we can do today to help mitigate our risk. Paul will combine his knowledge gained from learning at both the WSU Green School (Master Gardener) and WSU Climate Steward programs. Show and Tell: Bring something you found, from a place that you know has since been impacted by floods or wildfires – or was impacted shortly before you arrived. Tell your story!

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