October 5 Business Meeting Report

by Andy Thompson, MSDC Secretary

A large fist-sized chunk of rodingite, with a green chromium-bearing mineral in a pale quartz and feldspar matrix. Photo by Mike Fitzpatrick.

President Kenny Reynolds welcomed everyone to our October 5th Zoom meeting and, for their
service, thanked the four past MSDC presidents who were in attendance. He also gave special
thanks to our September presenter, Bill Stephens, for his excellent presentation on “New Mines
and Quartz Crystal Habits in the Herkimer Area, New York.” Likewise, Kenny gave high praise
and thanks to Ken Rock’s October Mineral Minutes for its excellent content and attractive layout.
Kenny asked if there were any editorial changes needed in the October MSDC Business Meeting
report. Receiving none, the minutes were unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report

John Weidner said there have been two additional new members to the club since his
September report and that the club’s finances continued to be solvent and had no significant
change in the past month.

Vice President for Programs Report

Cindy Schmidtlein said our November 2nd presenter will be Tim Rose, our club’s sponsor and link
with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Nature History. His topic will be the mineral
rodingite which historically has been found at the Hunting Hill Quarry location in Montgomery County, MD.
For a number of years, that Rockville quarry has been closed to collectors.

Our December program, Cindy added, will feature Garry Bowersox who is widely known for his
decades long work bringing the gems of Afghanistan into the light of day.

Geology in the News

Many upcoming mineral shows were cited including the Northern Virginia Mineral Club’s annual show. After missing a couple of years due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NVMC is bringing back its annual gem, mineral, and fossil show. The show will be on November 19-20, 2022, in Dewberry Hall, Johnson Center Building, George Mason University (GMU), Fairfax, VA.

After setup on November 18, show hours will be from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday, November 19, and from 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday, November 20. For more information, see: NVMC Oct 2022 newsletter.pdf (novamineralclub.org).

Also, folks attending the October MSDC meeting mentioned the mineral shows of many other clubs,
ranging from New Mexico to the Pacific west coast, taking place between October of 2022 and
into 2023.

Old and New MSDC Business Issues

Kenny asked if members had any old or new business issues they wanted to discuss. No such
issues were raised. Accordingly, he asked for and received unanimous approval to bring the
October business meeting to a close.

Close of Business Meeting

He then turned the mic over to Cindy to introduce the evening’s presenter.