President’s Message – June 2023

From the Top of the Rock Pile …. by Kat Koch

Table Lamps – Remember we are looking for new table lamps for our show ‘n tell tables. If you go to Goodwill, a similar store, or would like to donate, the lights must fold up easily for storage. Save the receipt and the club will reimburse you.

Our June meeting is Rock Bingo!

Rock Bingo is always a fun night for all members, young and old. The Kent kids are out of school, so they don’t have to worry about school the next day. 

The club is looking for schools or libraries to put in rock and mineral displays. If you have any ideas on what schools or libraries we can contact, please let Linda Jorza or Kat know. We will do the rest.

Our gem show is fast approaching. Chris, Show Coordinator, needs several volunteers as much prep work needs to be done. Elsewhere in this newsletter is her call for help. It takes a village to put on a show of our size! Please consider helping her.

A lot of effort goes into putting on a show like ours. The venue, advertising, dealer support, food, displays, set up and tear down, and much more go into the planning of our annual show. We have several new vendors and activities planned this year. Please pass the word around about our upcoming show. Our attendance goal this year is 5,000 visitors.

We will need a work party in July or August to fill bags with polished rocks, make case liners, and price items for the club sales table.

Peggy is also busy booking the case displays and organizing the new activities for the show.

Your volunteering has a lot of value as all the profits from our show go towards obtaining an indoor shop and a new meeting room. Please volunteer!

This a reminder that the Billings Montana show is on August 4th through 6th. The NFMS and AFMS combined show and only happen every 7 years. Not only is it a big show, but they also have numerous free speakers and classes. Montana is a dinosaur country, so you will find displays and speakers discussing them. We also get to see material from areas outside of Washington. It would make a great family vacation. It is a show on steroids!

We continue to get new members weekly by registering online or in person at our monthly meetings. We welcome each of you to our great rock and gem club. When you attend our monthly meeting, please introduce yourself to me, as I look forward to meeting everyone.

I also appreciate all the members that renewed their membership!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the May meeting.

Kat Koch, President

Updated: October 8, 2023 — 12:58 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!

Current News