President’s Message – January 2022 (Click Here to Read More)

From the Top of the Rock Pile

Our holiday party was a huge success. We had 43 members and guests attending to celebrate the holidays together. It was so good to see everyone!
Our auction proceeds were the largest we have ever had. $1,077 less $33 Rock Bucks = cash to the treasury of $1,047. So that you know where this money goes, a major portion of this will cover our liability insurance for the coming year. The premium went sky-high for 2022. The policy is out for bid to ensure we get the best coverage possible for what the club can afford.
One reason for the tremendous success of the auction was due to the fantastic donations. Rich Russell (faceted citrine in sterling silver pendant setting) and Malcolm Wheeler (matching faceted white Topaz earrings and pendant stones) donated faceted stones that they had cut themselves. In addition, there were so many other outstanding donations from John, Dave, Terri, Roger D, Roger P, Kat, Linda, Mike, and many others. I am so sorry if I have omitted your name. I extend a huge “Thank You!” to everyone.
It was also good seeing some of our members we haven’t seen in a while: Dick Morgan, Keith Morgan, Dan and Sue Rieger, to mention a few. We also had a couple of new family members sign up.
I also want to thank Angie, Brian, and Bev for setting up the potluck table with food and decorations, then cleaning everything up.
Our members are fantastic — everyone pitched-in in so many ways without asking.
Our next meeting is on January 13th, Thursday @ 7 pm, via Zoom. Check the website for details. You should receive an email after January 1st with the Zoom meeting link. You can join the meeting via your laptop, desktop, tablet, or smartphone.
If you are working on a lapidary project (or tumbling) and need help, we are all here to help each other. If you have a question or need help, reach out to someone on the board or another member. Also, if you need grit, the club has some for our CMS members at a great price. Contact Diana Horsfall (she is Bob Pattie’s daughter) and she will arrange for you to get some. Her contact info is on page 2 of the Tumbler each month.
Our lapidary shop is still at the same location. The shop is presently winterized for the next few months. As soon as the weather permits, you can make reservations to use it. Diana will handle making reservations to use the shop. Her contact info is on page 2 of the Tumbler each month.
Don’t forget to renew your membership if you have not already done so. It can all be done through our website or at our regular meetings.
We have both new and old faces on the board for 2022. I hope for some fresh ideas and input from the board and our members. Always feel free to email me from the contact page on our website with your thoughts or feedback. My email address is also on page 2 of the Tumbler each month.
We continue to get new members every week. Our membership is now over 100 families. So if you are a new member, please be sure to come up and introduce yourselves.
Wear a mask, be safe and stay healthy as we all want to see each other throughout 2022.
Kat Koch, President
Updated: February 7, 2022 — 1:28 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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