February 2024 Business Meeting Summary

by Andy Thompson, MSDC Secretary

On Thursday, January 11, Julien Navas, of Paris, France, visited Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park for the first time. While there, he found a 7.46-carat diamond on the surface of the park’s 37.5-acre search area.

President Kenny Reynolds thanked and welcomed everyone for joining our monthly meeting. In particular for their service, he thanked the three past presidents who were in attendance.

Kenny asked if we had any first-time attenders willing to introduce themselves and tell us if they have any particular interest in collecting. Zach shared briefly that he has enjoyed working with mica, has a special interest in pyrite, and is looking forward to going on field trips for further mineral collecting.

The president then asked for a motion to approve the January Business Meeting Report as published in the February issue of Mineral Minutes. A motion to accept was made, seconded, and approved without discussion.

Geology in the News

Kenny then asked if there were any geological or mineral reports to share. That led to discussion about an upcoming Tucson event in which Bill Stephens, our EFMLS President, offered an open invitation for anyone wanting to attend the day-long 42nd Annual Tucson Mineral Symposium on pegmatites via Zoom. Dr. Mike Wise was to be a featured presenter.

Jeff Guerber called attention to the media story about a 7.46 diamond found at the Arkansas's Crater of Diamonds State Park. For more information click on the link here which describes how Julien Navas of Paris, France discovered it on his first trip to the park.

Jeff also reported on the Mars helicopter (drone) Ingenuity which in its 74th flight on January 18 damaged its blades beyond repair.

Ken Rock reminded attendees that the Mineral Minutes newsletter belongs to all of us and he encouraged everyone to consider submitting either an article or even a link to an item that can be included in our monthly "Geology in the News" column.

Andy announced that the club’s Board of Directors (BOD) would meet on the evening of February 19. He encouraged any members who had questions or suggestions for improving the club to share them with any BOD member listed in every MSDC monthly newsletter.

The upcoming annual Montgomery County mineral and fossil show, Kenny said, will take place on March 16 and 17. More info is available at https://www.glmsmc.com. Craig Moore promoted the Delaware Mineral Society’s upcoming Gem, Mineral and Fossil show scheduled, as always, on the first weekend of March (2 & 3). See: https://www.dms.org. He also mentioned that the club has an excellent newsletter.

Upcoming MSDC Monthly Programs

Kenny then called on Cindy, MSDC’s Vice President for Programs who shared that our club’s March presenter will be Dr. Mike Wise. Information on Mike and his topic can be found in Cindy’s program announcement in this newsletter. The April presenter will be Leigh Broadhurst speaking on serpentine. The May presenter will be Dave Powars, speaking on the Chesapeake impact crater. Kenny thanked Cindy for her excellent work lining up wonderful presenters and interesting topics.

With no further topics to be discussed, Kenny called for and received a motion to close the business portion of the meeting. He turned the microphone over to Cindy to introduce the evening’s presenter.