President’s Message – October 2023

Presidents Message

From the Top of the Rock Pile .  .  .  . 

Our Cascade Gem Show was a huge success! A huge thank you, Chris, for putting together a fantastic show. All your hard work is much appreciated.

This year, we tried a couple of new things to bring in additional revenue, such as the club sales table and the sifting bag activity. The silent auction and raffle ticket sales also went very well. Thank you, Rich, Noelle, Paul, and Peggy, for being there the entire show and doing a great job.

Once the final show accounting is completed, I am confident it will be our most profitable show to date.

I am working on getting our Young Tumbler’s Club up and going. Our four young members earned their first badge by doing a display case at our show. I will be handing out their badge at the October meeting.

I am seeking an assistant to help me at the Young Tumbler’s Club meetings. I need to know if the present members would like to meet at 6:10 pm before the monthly meeting or once a month on a Saturday morning. If we meet on a Saturday morning, for 40 minutes, we can do so at the most convenient library. Please let me know your opinions and if you would like to help.

I would also like to thank Jim Cerenzie for volunteering as Club Historian. I hope everyone saw the excellent club history display case he did for our gen show. I have been concerned about our club losing its memorabilia, pictures, etc. It is now in great hands. If you have any photos, old Tumbler issues, show flyers, etc., please forward or give them to Jim.

We need someone to run for the position of Vice President. We need someone to run for the position of Vice President. They must be willing to run the monthly general meetings when the President can’t. Attend the online video board meetings. Help oversee all the club functions and volunteers. Essentially, they help the President make sure everything is running smoothly.

It is important to find someone to fill the Vice President position, as I am not going to run for reelection after this upcoming election. If reelected for the next two years, that will be my final term. So seriously, think about volunteering for the Vice Presidency. The elections will be held at our Holiday Party on December 3rd.

We continue to get new members online or in person at our monthly meetings. Our membership is presently at 140 families! 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 October meeting. Look for further details elsewhere in this issue of the Tumbler.

Kat Koch, President

Updated: October 8, 2023 — 1:07 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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