President’s Message – May 2026

Presidents Message

Digging It! 

May is finally here, and with the snow clearing, the flowers blooming, and the rains letting up a bit (hopefully), that rock fever is hitting us all pretty hard. I hope you all had a great time at the Rock Bingo night last month!

The Big Show is Coming!

We are now less than two months away from our Cascade Gem, Mineral & Jewelry Show, which will be held June 27–28 at Kent Commons. This is our biggest event of the year, and as I mentioned when I started my term, the people are what make this club great. We need your energy and your hands to make this a success! If you haven’t joined a committee yet, please consider:

  • Show Board Meetings: Our next meeting is online, May 11 (the second Monday of the month) at 6:30 PM.
  • Volunteering: We need help with everything from show preparation to execution.
  • Ideas: I am still looking for your feedback and ideas for what you’d like to see from the club this year.

At this month’s club meeting, our own Mike Blanton will bring his expertise to the program, sharing the tools, tips The Tumbler Page 7 May 2026 and tricks he has developed to drill holes in stones and minerals so you can do more with the rocks you find. And we have three (!) field trips scheduled for May and June – I hope you’ll be able to make it to one if not all of them. Thank you for being a member (and for reading the newsletter).

Happy hunting!

Noelle Barnes, President

Updated: May 11, 2026 — 6:26 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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