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Home » WAMS Meeting Minutes – October 3, 2023

WAMS Meeting Minutes – October 3, 2023

A meeting of the Washington Agate and Mineral Society (WAMS) was called to order by club President Jim Sachet at the First Baptist Church of Lacey on Tuesday, October 3rd at 6:30 PM.

There were 17 people in attendance

The President started the meeting with introductions and asked everyone to name their favorite rock of the week. 

The silent auction began with about 15 items on a table at the front of the room

The agenda for the meeting:

  • Member’s table for selling of personal items
  • Show and tell
  • Break
  • Kids program
  • Business
  • Membership dues
  • Rockhounding field trip coordinator
  • Program topics
  • Club communications (email, Facebook, other)
  • Holiday party
  • Announcements

Kids Program – Jim announced that Daniel Kaufmann will lead the Kids Program.  It will be held in the breakout room across from the kitchen following the Break.  Each program will last 30 – 45 minutes while the other members carry on with WAMS business.  Daniel was prepared to give information about petrified wood for the program, but no kids were at this meeting.

Members Sales Table – The board proposed the idea of having a table at the meetings for members to sell their lapidary crafts or rocks for their own personal profit. Concerns were raised about possible conflicts with WAMS non-profit status, and the lack of clarity on how it would work & possible distraction from our regular meetings.  There was some interest in conducting a ‘rock swap’ once or twice a year.  No action was taken & the topic was tabled.  

Show & tell: 10 people brought items for show & tell.

Sandy- had a Columbia basin agate (CBA) and rockhounding details of her trip to the Columbia River, Saddle Mountain, and Deer Creek. Becky- brought a pendant she made using a quartz crystal she found at Crystal Mountain. Kristina- had several amethyst crystal specimens purchased from a Shelton club member, and a few unknown rocks she hoped to get identified. Angela- had a few things; two nice carnelians from the Chehalis river, petrified wood from Oregon, a large piece of fire agate, and a large common opal in matrix from Opal Butte, OR. Wendi- ancient fossil Orthoceras dish with a story. Gretchen- had a pendant she made with a rock from Bryan Tallman’s collection. Al- brought several fossils from the Lincoln Creek formation, and the Astoria formation; and gave a quick talk about labeling your collection. Rachel- Had calcite with drusy pockets from Timberwolf Ridge. Jack- brought a specimen with agate banding from the north fork of the Snoqualmie River.  Jim – provided some follow up on the previous presentation about using public lands maps and geology maps to identify access to possible rockhounding sites.  Public lands maps are available at the WA Dept of Enterprise Services for $10.95 per map.  WDES is located at 7580 New Market St SW, Tumwater, 98501.  Geology maps are available through WA Dept of Natural Resources, Geology Division (dnr.wa.gov/geology portal).  Printed copies of geology maps are no longer available through WDNR Geology or WDES.  Geology maps of various scales may be viewed and downloaded for printing at their web site.  Search for “Geologic Maps” on the WDNR web site.

BREAK- About a 10 minute break for snacks and socializing

The silent auction ended at end of break, and the club made $47.

Business:

  • Rockhounding trip coordinator
  • Britni and Sandy are volunteering for the position
  • Rock Talk – the talk for the next meeting will be about obsidian presented by Jack Graham
  • Membership dues – A motion to increase membership dues to $15 for a single membership and $25 for a family membership was passed unanimously by a show of hands.
  • There was a short discussion on what should come with a membership: membership card, tote bag, club rock buying discount…
  •   Holiday party at the December meeting
  • We decided on an anonymous gift exchange
  • Also decided on the club buying an entree- item such as pizza or chicken.  Club members are invited to bring potluck side and dessert items.
  • And we decided to have a show & tell
  • We decided against the idea of having a silent auction (need to confirm this)

Announcements:

  • Gretchen will be stepping down as the club webmaster in January. She will assist anyone that wants to take over the position with the continuity of managing it.
  • Kristina announced that Daniel (her son) will be running his booth called “Fossilized Fun” at the Lacey Children’s Day event on October 7th from 11 AM-2 PM at Huntamer Park.
  • Al Wald – WDNR Geology will be holding an auction of geology-related materials at the Capitol Rotunda on November 15th from 9:00 to 3:00.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM

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