Phone (406) 670-0506
By Shirley Leeson
The CFMS houses our Gold and Benotite specimens in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. This event may be of interest to some of our Clubs/Societies, who may want to participate in this event.
The Gem and Mineral Council of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a gala event on Sunday, May 2nd, 2010. Billed as "An Evening to Remember", the event will include dinner and drinks, silent and live auctions, historical photo essays, special museum tours and time for past, current and, hopefully, future members to socialize in the beautiful setting of the museum and its world renowned Hall of Gems and Minerals. The exciting evening will culminate with a fascinating retrospective of the past 25 years in the world of gems and minerals by one of its most dynamic "players", the inimitable Bill Larson.
The public is invited, with a special invitation to past members. Tickets are $50 for members and $75 for non-members. RSVP required Jean Brandt (213) 763-3326 by April 24th.
FYI- The Gem & Mineral Council, a members' group at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, (www.nhm.org/ gmc) offers its members opportunities to advance their knowledge and enjoyment of gems and minerals within the unique context of the museum, including a varied schedule of activities including exciting field trips, educational lectures, and exclusive social events. Through their membership and participation in fundraising activities, Council members actively support the museum's Mineral Sciences Department and the museum's Hall of Gems and Minerals.
-Shirley
By Bud McMillin &: Patt McDaniel
Our question for you this month is one asked of me several times a month around the dues and insurance paying time. “Why is our insurance so expensive and what can we do, as society members, to help make our insurance less expensive?”
-Bud
Patt: Expensive is a relative term. Most clubs have found the program’s insurance to be less expensive than what they could obtain elsewhere and the quality of coverage is amongst the best in the industry. I have shopped the insurance every chance I get and I have not yet found another company that is willing to provide a quote for a program to cover the kinds of activities that the Federation’s clubs have. There are many factors in insurance pricing that we do not have control over but there are at least a couple of ways that we can avoid higher costs and perhaps even reduce them. Risk management awareness is one way to prevent claims and the resulting potential price increases. Another way, because a portion of your cost pays for services provided by McDaniel Insurance Services, is to help us be very efficient in our processes.
Risk management simply means being aware of safety and other factors that may contribute to injury to a visitor or damage to property of others. Whether it is a show or meeting or workshop, take a look around for hazards. Correct or avoid loose or uneven flooring, carpeting or pavement, wobbly steps, poorly lit areas, rough areas or projections that can scrape or snag, steps without railings. Keep hot coffee or food away from where young children might be. If you are going on a field trip, the trip leader should be very familiar with the area or do a pre-check trip before the time of the trip. Trails in natural areas can change dramatically with weather and you would not want to lead a group of people into a hazardous situation. There are thousands of ways to be more aware of the safety of an area. The “loss ratio” (how companies evaluate claims activity) is fairly good for the Federation so keep up the good work.
Finally, McDaniel Insurance Services bases its fees on an estimate of how long it takes to perform the services needed
by the Federation and its member clubs. We find that sometimes we get forms and questionnaires returned that are incomplete, illegible or difficult to understand. We really do need the information on the forms to do our job correctly, and in the case of the Directors and Officers applications, they must meet the requirements of the company. We find that it sometimes takes a considerable amount of time to email, fax and phone back and forth to obtain the complete information and then we need to be sure that everything is documented in writing and the various pieces of information are gathered together so that we can figure out what happened a year later when no one remembers. You will hear rounds of cheers in the office when we receive a Directors and Officers application that is completely and correctly done on the very first try! (It only happens once or twice a year.) Would we reduce our costs if we were able to do the work in a shorter amount of time? Yes we would!! We want a successful program for the Federation that no competitor can touch! (I actually think we already have that, but I would like to see the membership delighted with it as well.)
-Patt Wilson McDaniel
By Jim Brace-Thompson
Do you want to start a juniors rockhound group in your club or society but are afraid you don't know enough to get one going? Do you have a juniors rockhound group and want to see how to make it better by gathering ideas for more kids' activities and programs you might implement? Or perhaps you already have a successful juniors group that's going like gangbusters. Would you be willing to share your experiences to benefit fellow clubs within the Federation?
We asked all these questions and more in March at the annual show of the Mother Lode Mineral Society. Terry McMillin and the MLMS show committee invited me to come to their show to moderate a Juniors Activities Roundtable Discussion. I offer my sincere thanks to Terry and to MLMS for the invitation and for their gracious hospitality throughout their show. They went above and beyond, and it's appreciated! If you've never been to the MLMS show, make a point to visit next year. It's one of the best! Plus, I'm happy to report the roundtable discussion went great, with excellent participation among 15 good people working with kids via their local clubs. I trust that we all walked away with new ideas to try in our own clubs. I know I did!
I've been talking with members of the show committee for the upcoming AFMS/CFMS show in La Habra/Whittier about the possibility of holding a repeat performance of this roundtable at the show in June. Because most of the folks participating during the MLMS show were from northern California, repeating the roundtable in Whittier would allow for folks from SoCal to participate. If you or the juniors activities chair in your club might be interested in participating in this, please contact me as soon as possible (805-659-3577, jbraceth@roadrunner.com). Whether we can hold this depends on scheduling and facilities, which are still being worked out as of this date. If all does work out as we hope, I look forward to seeing you there, to sharing ideas, and to having fun!
- Jim
By Susan Chaisson-Walblom
To make a nomination, send in the name/s of your nominee/s along with a brief background explaining why you believe your nominee deserves this award. Please consider service that has been long and reaches beyond the regional level. You may submit your nominations by contacting me by phone at (661-943-1861), mail (42122-52nd Street West, Quartz Hill, CA 93536), or e-mail (slchaisson@yahoo.com). Thank you in advance for your nominees!
- Susan
By Elizabeth “Beth” Myers
Field trips are one of the more popular functions of many Rock and Gem Societies and having an active field trip program goes a long way to attracting (and retaining) members. All too often, a Society’s Field Trip Chairperson assumes the sole responsibility for developing and scheduling field trips without capitalizing on a very effective tool that can easily be incorporated into your society.
Consider scheduling a Field Trip Planning Meeting during January of each year and inviting everyone in your society to attend, particularly those who have led field trips in the past. By doing this in January, those rockhounds who need to schedule their annual vacations with their employers will have a ‘heads-up’ regarding their society’s field trip schedule for that year.
- Elizabeth
By Bural LaRue
Along with Spring and great weather come thoughts of hitting the road and exploring our great state. Your cruise control is a great tool to prevent driver fatigue, speeding and help with fuel economy during long trips on flat straight roads.
While using cruise control keep both feet flat on the driver’s side and ready for braking or maneuvering in case you need to suddenly slow or make an emergency stop. Don’t curl your feet up underneath you or on the dash, window, and etc. while driving. Don’t use cruise control on any road wet from rain, snow or ice. If you do step on the brakes to stop, slow or turn off the cruise control, the change in tire speed can also cause the wheels to slip, lose traction and skid out of control.
A word of caution might save you a traffic ticket. I set my cruise control one mile per hour under the legal speed limit and witnessed many tickets being issued to motorists who passed me. I had a friend who set his cruise control two miles over the speed limit. When stopped, the driver informed the officer that the cruise control was set two miles per hour over the speed limit and basically admitted to speeding. A citation was issued.
-Bural
By Betty Pankey
Since the last Federation Show, I have received 8 donations. Somehow the word about the unrestricted funds has not sunk in very well.
The AFMS Scholarship program was revised at the Billings AFMS Scholarship meeting. Starting 2011, the scholarship will be for ONE year and $4000. per student for each of the two students chosen by the AFMS Honoree from CFMS.
This year, there will be two students who will receive $2000. for one year unless we collect enough UNRESTRICTED DONATIONS to cover for 2010 only the extra $24,000. needed for each student to receive the additional $2000. to make the total $4000. per student for one year-2010.
Our CFMS is way behind in donations, compared to the several other regional federations, who have met their goals.
-Betty
By Jennifer Haley
Congratulations to our Honoree this year Frank Monez. Frank chose a SJSU student, Bret Joseph Treece for the CFMS Scholarship. Brett has a bright career ahead of him with interests in marine geology, geodynamics and magmatic processes. Brett will be attending SJSU field camp this summer so we look forward to writing about his experience in future newsletters.
-Jennifer
By Colleen McGann
BUY TICKETS FOR YOUR CLUB AND BUY FOR YOURSELF!
Raffle drawing to be held at the AFMS/CFMS Show June 18-20. 2010. Some of the auction items are a 2” Eudialyte sphere,
a faceted amethyst pendant and earring set, a pear cut amethyst ring, a 13 “ high amethyst cathedral,
and a chrysophrase wire wrapped pendant.
For tickets contact:
Colleen McGann
PO Box 224, Santa Clara, CA 95052-0224
(831)212-1951 or colleen.mcgann@hds.com.
