President’s Message – November 2023

Presidents Message

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

Our club election is coming up in December. As I write this article, our membership stands at 145 families. We will most likely reach 150 family memberships by the end of the year. I point this out because we need some of our members to volunteer to run for board positions.

Some volunteers have been board members for decades and are getting older. We really need younger members to step up for our club’s continuing success, which will be our younger members taking over the reins of our great club. We also need our younger members to be active and give us new ideas and input for our club.

Being a board member doesn’t take a lot of time. We have an online board meeting on the Monday before our monthly meeting at 7 pm. We need two positions filled in the upcoming election: a Vice President and Director of Programs. If you are still unsure about volunteering, plenty of board members are willing to show you the ropes or help you fulfill a position.

As you are reading this, please consider volunteering for a position. Our club needs you!

We continue to get new members 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 each of you.

I want to welcome the new families that joined our club at our gem show.

I look forward to seeing everyone at our November meeting. Look for further meeting details elsewhere in this issue of the Tumbler.

Kat Koch, President

Updated: November 9, 2023 — 11:02 am

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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