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

  • Our wagonmaster, Roger, will go over the field trips he has planned for this year, including samples of what you can find at each location.   Show and Tell: Your Best Rock Find Of Last Year.

  • We’re still developing the 2026 calendar of events, but we know one thing for sure – our March general meeting will happen on the 12th at 7pm. We hope to see you there! Show and Tell: also coming soon!

  • Come one, come all and play ROCK BINGO! With schools out for many local school districts, we invite members, guests, and especially families and kids to come and enjoy one of our most fun nights of the year. Everyone is guaranteed to win at this FREE event! All you have to do is bring three wrapped presents – presents can be rocks, gems, minerals, crystals, fossils, cabochons, slabs, jewelry, tumbled stones – anything you think might be a nice gift for a rock enthusiast. 

Current News