President’s Message – March 2024

From the Top of the Rock Pile

Our Gem Show is on June 29th and 30th, with set-up on June 28th. Roger is looking for volunteers, so be prepared to help when he calls or emails you.

We need a volunteer to ensure all the signs we need inside the venue are made and printed. We also need a volunteer to order street signs for our new location, place them before the show, and take them down. Then I am looking for a volunteer to take charge of the club sales table and set up the sales table.

We need tumble rocks for the spinning wheel and free rocks for the kids attending our show. So, if you are tumbling, please remember to tumble for the show. We need stones that are at least 1″ in size.

We have received donations of cut and polished geodes for the kids door prizes, selenite, hematite and mineral sample cards for the club sales table. Thank you!

We continue to get new members every week. 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.

If you are a new member, please come up and introduce yourself. I look forward to meeting you.

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. Roger has posted his planned field trip itinerary for 2024 on our website. Be sure to check it out.

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 March meeting.

Kat Koch, President

Updated: September 8, 2024 — 4:35 pm

Presidents Message

  • Digging It!  September is here, and it looks like a wonderful month so far for getting together and getting out in the field. First, thank you to everyone who helped make our August picnic and club auction such a success. The delicious food, generous donations, volunteer help and spirited bidding made it a great afternoon, and the auction raised $750 for the club. We return to our regular meeting schedule on Thursday, September 10, at 7:00 p.m. at the American Legion Hall in Kent. Our program is all about YOU: Show, Tell & Transform, where you get to briefly present …

Meeting Announcements

  • This program is all about YOU. Bring a rock, mineral, fossil, or other field find that you would like to turn into something. It might become a cabochon, carving, display specimen, jewelry piece, slab, polished piece, or something entirely different. Bring your item and share: Where and how you found or acquired it What interests you about the material What you’re considering making from it Any questions or challenges you would like help thinking through Then we’ll open the conversation to our knowledgeable and curious club members. Together, we can discuss the material, possible designs, cutting or finishing approaches, and other ideas that might help you take the piece from field find to finished project. You do not need to have a complete plan or any special expertise. That’s part of the fun. Bring the piece itself if possible, along with any sketches, inspiration photos, or examples that might help explain your idea.

  • 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!

  • December’s date and time is coming soon. We will update this page as soon as we know more.

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