President’s Message – February 2024

Presidents Message

From the Top of the Rock Pile .   .   .   .   .

Planning for our Gem Show is well underway. I took on the position since no one volunteered to be the Show Coordinator. I am determined to keep our show from falling to the wayside because no one is interested in volunteering for the position.

I give a lot of kudos to Mark Hohn for getting our show off the ground again in 2018. What Mark restarted is now a successful show every year and has grown year after year. Last year, Chris Vitellaro put together a great show that celebrated our 75th anniversary and was our most successful show financially. I want to express a huge thanks to both of them.

I am very excited that in 2024, we are moving to a much larger venue with better parking and a location with much more visibility to bring in visitors.

This year’s show is on June 29th and 30th, with set-up on June 28th. We have 2 rooms to cover this year. Roger is looking for volunteers, so be prepared to help when he calls or emails you.

We have 5 new families that joined our great club in December. Welcome to our club! To our members who have yet to renew this year, please visit our website and renew your membership online. If you attend a meeting, you can pay your dues with a check, cash, or credit card.

Thank you to Roger Danneman for his excellent job leading our field trips every month. Our field trips are one of our most attended club events. We are all looking forward to Roger’s field trips for 2024.

Our monthly meeting attendance continues to grow back to the pre-pandemic levels. Since our membership is growing, I hope more members will attend our monthly meetings. The larger our meeting attendance is each month, the easier it will be to book quality speakers.

I look forward to seeing everyone at our February meeting.

Kat Koch, President

Updated: February 21, 2024 — 12:53 pm

Presidents Message

  • From the Top of the Rock Pile Our annual club picnic went off great. The grass and Arboretum area was not wet or muddy, plus it didn’t rain while we were there. We had the usual club members attend, plus a few new faces. I forgot to count how many people attended, but I estimate around 40. Thank you, Angie and Brian, for shopping for the food and setting everything up. Thumbler’s Tumblers donated a tumbler for our picnic auction and another one for our holiday auction in December. The new double-barreled 15# tumbler sold for $120, approximately one-third the …

Meeting Announcements

  • We are going to show a video of the most unusual and amazing things found in Amber. It isn’t just insects. We are also going to have a recap of how our Gem Show did last month. Show ‘n Tell: An item that has something trapped inside or a picture rock, thunder egg, or geode that looks like it has an insect, animal, or face inside.

  • Maureen will speak on the geology and the movement of the Washington coastline over millions of years. Show ‘n Tell: Favorite rock or mineral from Washington

  • Glen Ripper is a leading authority on Obsidian. He is a walking encyclopedia which should make this an interesting and educational meeting. Show ‘n Tell: Obsidian – let’s see your colors.

  •   We start the day off with a potluck holiday meal. The club provides roasted turkey and ham. Members fill in with their favorite holiday potluck dish. We follow our meal with the election of officers for the coming year. Our final activity is our club auction. It is a great time to pick up great bargains on rough rocks, polished rocks, slabs, fossils, opal, etc. Our Young Tumblers can use their Rock Bucks to purchase auction items. This meeting is also our semi-annual food drive for the Kent Food Bank. Please remember to bring something. The Food Bank has informed us that they need feminine hygiene products and grape or strawberry jelly. People donate loads of peanut butter but never jelly. They also receive very few donations of feminine hygiene products.

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