Meeting minutes.
In the idea of openness and clarity, the minutes of the past meetings appear on this page. See something you're interested in? We're happy to talk about it again!
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Meetings are open to the public
and held the first Thursday of every month
(September through November and January through April)
at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Building,
114 Knight Street, Stroudsburg.
Doors open at 6:30pm, the meetings officially begin at 7pm.
7th of September, 2023
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The Meeting was called to order at 7 PM BY President Robin Kessler. There were 12 members in attendance, and Robin welcomed 2 visitors. Coupons were distributed for the raffle.
The meeting was started with Old Business. Robin made a request for lecturers. Articles are needed, photos, drawings, and poetry are also needed for the coming November contests. Request was also made for sponsorships by businesses ($75) that want to advertise to our members in our newsletter which will entitle them to membership in the club as well. We also need more ideas for field trips. Please check our website for old lectures which were recorded.
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New business included the Sussex County College radio station making announcements for free. Perhaps our nearby colleges can do this for us.
The treasurers report was made
The raffle was conducted.
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Collecting at the Anthracite museum will be conducted for the members who missed the first visit on October 1st. 9 am to 1 PM will be the hours, contact Mike Dunton. Mike showed members specimens collected at the Anthracite site. Mike also showed members fossils from his trips.
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Professor Kessler showed specimens of prehnite, chalcedony and local fossiils.
Art showed Franklin Minerals after attending the mine tour at Franklin. They were seen under UV light.
Robin showed vanadinite on top of barite.
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A talk on the theories of the creation of the Delaware Water Gap were reviewed by Serge. A few comments were added and social time ended the meeting after clean up at 8:20 pm
6th of April, 2023
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President Robin Kessler opened the meeting at 7 PM. He welcomed 16 members to the meeting.
The meeting started with old business. The need for volunteers to make presentations to the club was mentioned. Long or short articles for the newsletter are needed as well as submissions for our contest such as artwork, photos or cartoons. November is the deadline. We are always looking for business sponsors since we can be a tax deduction.
New business was next. A new link can bring members to a club merchandise page. See the website.
A trip to the Lackawanna Coal Mine by bus is being investigated for club members. We are considering early June for this event. It is located on the North side of Scranton.
Mike Dunton offered next Saturday for a C K Williams Quarry visit for members 10 am to 2 pm. Minerals include a serpentine suite, quartz, and eastonite. Sign up with Mike before the actual date.
The June 1st auction has arranged to be at Splinters on route 611 and Shepherd Lane, just north of the Crossings. The business will be open just for the club activity.
Donations should be brought in to meetings, and Robin will store them till the auction.
Flyers to give out will be printed to help open this event up to the public. Our auction will be held at Splinters main room.
The North Jersey Club will hold a Jamboree at the Sterling Hill Mine where they will conduct a Swap and Sell event at the pavilion. Register with them at their website with Diane. Registration includes a hot dog and Hamburger and is $5. June 10th is the date of this mine tour event.
Robin conducted the raffle.
The lecture this evening was titled, “Search for the Necro-crystal”, and was presented by President Robin Kessler. All members enjoyed this talk about vivianite and how it changes to meta-vivianite.
Social time began at 8:10 PM and clean up followed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.
2nd of March, 2023
President Robin Kessler opened the meeting at 7 PM for the 15 members in attendance.
Old Business was brought up first with mention of the need for volunteers.
If you would like to be a club trustee, please mention it to Robin. An article about being a club sponsor is on our new website. The business called Splinters has been hosting the executive meetings. Welcome membership bags are here for new members.
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New news includes a July 7th Federation Convention in Syracuse for 2023. Minerals on Main street In Stroudsburg was mentioned. Our facebook page has been closed since the website is running. Thanks go out to Dave for his photography. Robins mineral shop is in the Old Village Trader, Mount Pocono on the second floor on route 611 next to Pocono Rocks. This weekend at the Convention Center in Edison, New Jersey there is a holistics fair which expects 3 mineral dealers.
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The Treasurer, Nina reports that the club insurance has been paid, and reported the club's finances. Then, Mary Ann started to conduct the raffle. Everyone picked up specimens for attending the meeting.
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The evening's presentation began with Nina Kiliszeks talking on The C K Williams Quarry, Its history, its geology and prospecting there. The quarry donated to Lafayette College may be visited by the club soon perhaps. Basic mineralogies include: Eastonite, serpentine, quartz, williamsite, chrysotile, phlogopite, tremolite, pyrite and titanite as well as others. Questions were answered and the next presentation was made by Robin Kessler on Legos and Our Hobby. Robin presented pictures of a new lego creation that imitates crystal clusters created by Dario Del Frate, CEO of a cement quarry. The Legos are available on the Legos website.
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The meeting was adjourned at 8 :30 PM after social time and clean up. Submitted by Prof. Kessler, secretary
2nd of February, 2023
President Robin Kessler opened the meeting at 7 PM. He welcomed 14 members and 2 guests who came in from the Friends of Mineralogy.
Old business was addressed; looking for volunteers for more presentations (Robin offered to help create the presentations to be delivered). We also need entries for our mineral media contest to end in December. Members should be looking for more sponsors for the club.
New business was opened with the new poster being presented for distribution into our community. The contest was approved to be open to local schools and scouts troops.
Treasurer's report was given by Nina, followed closely by MaryAnne and Robin running the raffle (they make such a good team).
Robin gave a presentation on Labradorite where members were able to contribute, ask questions and make comments.
We entered social time afterwards, followed by a leisurely cleanup.
Doors were closed at 8:50 PM.
5th of January, 2023
President Robin Kessler opened the meeting at 7 PM. He welcomed 12 members to the new year.
He started by asking for volunteers for talks, for photography and to greet guests. Colette volunteered as Membership coordinator to give out information to guests and new members. If no one volunteers to give a talk, Robin stated he would present a talk on Labradorite. There was no old business brought to our attention.
For new business, Robin is looking for creators for newsletter articles for science, for stories, and for visual media. We will be running new contests for those who contribute to the newsletter. Sponsorships from businesses should be sought by members. For $75 a business gets advertising in our newsletter, our website and at our meetings. Kathy from Shooting to the Moon immediately jumped at the opportunity. The business covers membership as well.
Nina gave the treasurer’s report. We are sending out the EFMLS form with 40 members. Insurance is due next month when the Federation gets a new carrier.
We will be replacing our old advertising cards soon.
The professor will offer a look at a collection from Larry Cohen, treasurer of the New York Mineral Club for many years who went into a nursing home.
Maryann conducted the raffle. All members took specimens.
The presentation for the evening was given by Colette on rock types from volcanic structures. She gives this interactive talk at her summer camp position. Members sorted stones at the front table
Into their cone type of either shield, cinder or stratified cone.
Social time followed the presentation to finish coffee, and cookies. Members looked at the Collection provided by the professor. The meeting was adjourned and clean-up followed.
20th of December 2022
The holiday meeting took place at the professor’s house, and 15 members attended. Jude opened with a compliment on last meetings successful member presentations. It was a Great job by all. Elections for officers were carried out and final tally was Robin Kessler for president, Matt Tommasino remains vice president, Professor Michael Kessler for secretary, and Nina Kiliszek remains treasurer.
The holiday meal was contributed by the professor, Jude, Nina, Art and others. Members enjoyed the meal as there were 15 different courses to select from.
Robin called for a meeting of the executives to discuss the clubs outlook ahead. There will be a meeting of the officers on January 2nd at the professors.
Clean up started at 7:30, and the meeting was adjourned at 7:45 PM.
3rd of November 2022
The meeting was opened at 7: pm by President Jude. 15 members attended with one prospective member and one guest. Donations were made by members for the fellowship building use. New members were joining from our table set up at the Mt. Bethel Show. Michael Kessler suggested better planning for the next Show and placing someone in charge. Mike Dunton stated that we need to present the club activities at that time. Mike also brought in an Apache tear, possibly from Utah or Nevada.
Maryann conducted the raffle.
Professor Michael Kessler presented a slide show on the minerals found in Turkey and displayed several specimens of Epidote, Quartz and Zultanite.
Member and teacher Colette made a presentation with specimens on the term -massive bedding. Mike presented on cubic crystals. Nina talked about tabular minerals such as barite, and celestite. Michael did a presentation on radial structure and displayed wavellite. Art showed a lot of information on geological time periods. Robin used his digital microscope and micro-mounted specimens to talk about Acicular crystal forms. Serge talked about columnar jointing.
Robin shirt was recognized as unique to mineralogy, and he offered his site to make club shirts.
The meeting was adjourned at 9 PM.
6th of October, 2022
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The meeting was opened at 7:05 PM by President Jude. . Eleven members were present. Issues from the last meeting were covered: Professor will give a talk in January, Serge will make a presentation on the Water Gap. The professor mentioned that a cash gratuity should be collected at each meeting suggesting a dollar per person given to the owners of the facility. Our holiday meeting/party will be held on Tuesday, the 20th of December at 5 PM at the professors home.
Maryann conducted the raffle.
We talked about taking a table at a local show to advertise the club.
Nina talked about Hawaiian Basalt. She showed pieces of volcanic rocks she won at another club. Black coral was displayed from Maui and samples of black beach sand.
The professor displayed minerals from Turkey.
Robin shared 3 games on minerals he created.
The professor continued his presentation on Igneous rocks, relating them to the different crustal types. 3 large specimens were displayed: a green obsidian with crystals forming (feathering), a black obsidian showing pahoehoe flow structure and a pocket in a basalt pillow lava. The pocket showed layers of crystals forming one after another which gave an opportunity to explain Bowen’s Reaction Series.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM. Clean up followed.
1st of September, 2022
President Jude opened the meeting at 7:00 PM with her welcome back after our Summer vacation. A thank you was expressed to Art for locating our new meeting place. First order of business was to locate the bathroom facility.
Phil and Wendy will be absent due to a passing in the family. Our best wishes go out to their family.
The professor will complete our Igneous Rock presentation this October meeting.
Nina conducted the raffle and members added specimens for their collections.
Coffee and cake and chocolate was provided for club members . Our thanks to Jude and Michael.
Art will provide us with rules from the board of the fellowship as he receives them.
Nina would like to talk about Hawaiian Lavas. Serge would like to make a presentation on the Delaware Water Gap.
President Jude asked members to bring notebooks for presentations and here is the list of short suggestions she provided for the November meeting. Each member will report on their subject just to explain how the term is used.
Mike D – cubic
Nina – Tabular
Professor – Radial
Serge – Columnar
Collette – Massive
Melissa – Prismatic
Jax – triangular
Art – scales
Emily – Octohedral
Home school children can register for a Beltsville fossil dig before the end of September.
Jude heard that it may rain diamonds from methane in the Saturn atmosphere.
We had 12 members in attendance at this meeting. As is tradition for the first meeting of the season, we had our show and tell. Nina began by describing a trip to Bear Creek Mtn. Resort where she collected magnetite; whereupon a discussion on magnetism followed. Then she went to the C K Williams quarry where she found a large Muscovite Mica Specimen.
Next Collete described her Alaska trip where she saw basalt pillow lava, and she displayed some snow white sandstone which was said to contain gold.
The professor displayed some epidote and quartz crystals he obtained from Haikkari province, Turkey from people who are mining there. He also showed some white barite accompanying black tourmaline from the same location. This is a rare combination, and also a rare location for minerals like zultanite, which he will show at a later time.
Robin was our last presenter who displayed 3 mineral games he has under production to help people learn their minerals. He gave a quick over view of each game. The first was titled,”Of Quartz”, the second called, “A Hammer, A Bucket, A Newspaper Please”, and finally, the third was, “Quarry Run”.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 PM and clean up followed.