South Mississippi Chapter-GPAA
Minutes of Meeting: 6 August 2013
Cedar Grove Community Center
President: Jim Young
Meeting called to order at 7:10 PM with 14 members present.
There were no minutes to be read from June or July due to the fact that meetings were to be held in conjunction with a work/prospecting outing at Camp Firefly in Alabama. June had only 3 members in attendance. July had 2 members present due to extreme weather conditions at the camp.
Only one design for the chapter logo was presented for approval. Jim Young’s design was accepted by the group as the new logo. Jim Duncan volunteered to get pricing on having the image digitized for use on patches, shirts and caps. He will report his finding to the group at the September meeting.
A newsletter for gem and mineral shows in our vicinity were discussed. The GPAA Gold show is to be held in Jacksonville, FL in September. Tickets are free to members but have to be requested.
Our chapter is interested in sponsoring an information booth at the gem and mineral show in Pascagoula in early November. A demonstration on panning was discussed as a way to draw interest in prospecting as well as entice new members in joining our chapter. The national GPAA will be contacted for promotional materials that can be handed out to people who visit the booth. Jim Young will get information on booth costs to see if it is feasible for our chapter to do this.
Jimmy Pugh spoke of his most recent finds metal detecting. He discussed the equipment he used to find the items he brought to the meeting and passed those around for group members to see.
Issues at Firefly Camp in Alabama have forced the need to have guests there by invitation only. There are several reasons for this including the discovery that the depth of the current well will not support large groups of guests and the water usage needed for those numbers. Also, the Tallapoosa River has proven to be quite a challenge for some of the more experienced dredger and could pose a dangerous situation for our novice prospectors.
Members Daryl and Isabel Rice submitted a letter resigning their membership in this chapter. Bridgette Helm was appointed interim Secretary/Treasurer by President Jim Young.
A collection of $35.00 was taken in.
Meeting adjourned at 9:10 PM.
Bridgette Helm
Jim Young, President