President’s Message – July 2026

Presidents Message

Digging It! 

It’s July, and our annual show has come and gone! I want to say a huge thank-you to all of the volunteers and vendors who made it happen. We could not create this show without all of you – every one of you helped make it a success. I hope all of you were able to come by and see the Silent Auction, the club display cases, and the demonstrators. And if you made a rock buddy during the event, I hope you’ll bring it to our next meeting so you can show it off!

We have two upcoming field trips this month, both to wonderful locations. Let’s all get out there and have some rockhounding fun.

Next month on August 15 is our club potluck picnic, where we will have some great items up for auction to benefit the club. If you’d like to make a donation to the auction pool please let me know.

Thank you for being a part of our club!

Noelle Barnes, President

Updated: August 10, 2026 — 5:40 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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