Summary of November 3rd Business Meeting

by Andy Thompson, MSDC Secretary

The first lava began spewing out of a fissure close to Mount Fagradalsfjall in March 2021 on the Reykjanes peninsula to the southwest of Reykjavik. For more than six months, the volcanic eruption has been mesmerizing spectators, making it the longest Iceland has witnessed in more than 50 years. Photo by Vilhelm Gunnarsson/Getty Images

President Dave Hennessey, under the weather and with a sore throat, opened the meeting and immediately asked Vice President Yury Kalish to chair the meeting in his stead. Yury welcomed and thanked our Zoom attendees for coming. He called for and received a motion and a second to approve the October Business Meeting minutes as published in the November Mineral Minutes newsletter. With no objections or corrections offered, he called for a vote to approve which was unanimously given.

Old and New Business

With no old business raised for discussion, Yury called everyone’s attention to the new business of the slate of the club’s officers for 2022, a draft of which was identified by the Nominating Committee (Betty Thompson and Yury Kalish) and published in the November issue of this newsletter. He invited interested parties to submit additional names which will be added to the slate and on which club members will vote at the December Zoom meeting. If a member wants to nominate another member for a position on the board, that member needs to first get the permission of the person to be nominated and then submit that name to the nominating committee (Yury.Kalish@gmail.com; bdthompson01@yahoo.com).

Treasurer’s Report

John Weidner said there was “no change” in the financial state of the club.

Geology in the News

Dan and Shawn gave a firsthand report of recent volcanic activity on Iceland (photo above) and what it was like walking on warm lava that was only a few weeks old. Other members reported on newly minted beach front property due to volcanic activity in the Canary Islands, off the west cost of Morocco, that was spilling lava which was cooling and extending the beaches into the Atlantic Ocean.

There was also discussion of several mineral shows taking place in the coming weeks.

With no further discussion, Yury called for and received a motion to close the business meeting, and, changing hats to his position as Vice President of Programs, he introduced the presenter for the evening.