Past Meetings Log:​​​​​​

Ideas for other clubs and to generate interest in our speakers and outreach.

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July 2026 Annual Picnic: Saturday July 18th

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June 2026 Club Meeting:

Agates Around the World - Jeffrey Anderson presentation will tour the seven continents that produce agates with some geographical background info and personal stories.

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May 2026 Club Meeting:

Birthstones – a Historic Presentation on Legends and Lore of the Western Gemstone Tradition by Brad Zylman.

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April 2026 Club Meeting:

Gem Faceting by Laurie Acosta. 

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March 2026 Club Meeting: Annual MMS Swap Meet - buy and sell event.

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February 2026 Club Meeting:  

Trilobites of the Michigan Basin by James Musolf.

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January 2026 - Annual Banquet:

Guest Speaker Paul Gross, former WDIV Meteorologist, on non-political Climate Change.

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December 2025 Club Meeting:

Dr. Ralph Conti - A Rockhound’s Guide to Radioactivity Detection plus Social Night.

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November 2025 Club Meeting:

Our Annual Auction Night at Cranbrook

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October 2025 MMS Show: October 18th

Our Annual Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show at the Macomb Meeting Center.

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September 2025 Club Meeting:

Brad Zylman gave a stunning presentation on Garnet Chemistry and Garnet Minerals.

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August 2025: Summer Recess

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July 2025 Summer Picnic: Saturday the 19th

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June 2025 Club Meeting: Monday the 9th -

Dr. Sarah to Speak on How Minerals Affect Rock Formations​

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May  2025 Club Meeting: Monday the 12th

Sheila Swyrtek, Geology Professor and Museum Director, spoke on the reestablished Mott Mineral Museum.

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​​April 2025 Club Meeting: Monday the 14th

John Jaszczak to Speak at Cranbrook on the Official Mineral Museum of Michigan, the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum.

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March 2025: Monday the 10th - Our Annual Swap Meet at Cranbrook.

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February 2025 Club Meeting: Monday the 10th

Club Meeting via Zoom with David Joyce on Cobalt, Ontario, the Silver Mecca!

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January 2025 Club Banquet: Saturday the 11th

Our Annual Club Banquet at the Michigan State Management Education Center, Dr. Peter Voice on Michigan's Resources

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December 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 9th

Club Meeting on Michigan Greenstones, and lapidary insights to working on the State's Gemstone

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November 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 11th

Our Annual Auction Night at Cranbrook

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October 2024 MMS Show: October 11th, 12th & 13th

Our Annual Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show at the Macomb Expo Center.

 

September 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 9th -

Meeting at Cranbrook with Brad Zylman on Glacier National Park in Montana.

 

June 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 10th -

Meeting at Cranbrook with Dr. Sarah Brownlee on color effects in gemstones.

 

May 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 13th -

Natalie Sowinski from the Miner's Den came and enlightened us on Lab vs. Real Diamonds and the jewelry industry trends.

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April 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 22nd (Delayed because of the Eclipse) -

We met over Zoom with Kent Ratajeski, curator and director of the Buce Dice Museum in Grand Rapids, to visit the museum virtually.

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March 2024: Annual Swap and Social Night at Cranbrook.

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February 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 12th -

Zoom Meeting with Nathalie Brandes on "Mining throughout the Ages".

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January 2024 Club Banquet: Saturday the 13th

Our Annual Club Banquet at the Management Education Center

 

December 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 11th

Larry Atkins spoke to us about the field collecting of meteorites.

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November 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 13th

Our Annual Auction Night at Cranbrook

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October 2023 MMS Show: October 13th, 14th & 15th

Our Annual Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show at the Macomb Expo Center.

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September 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 11th

David K. Joyce spoke to us about Moroccan mineral collecting in a hybrid meeting in the Cranbrook Library.

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August 2023: Summer Recess

 

July 2023: Summer Picnic

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June Club Meeting: Monday, June 12th

Club members Todd Wethy and Patti Graves-Wesolosky entertained us on their exploits in Antarctica.

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May Club Meeting: Monday, May 8th

Richard Grinstein spoke on Jewelry and Gemstone Art History and Style.

 

April 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 10th

Radioactive minerals and how to collect them by Rick Strapple.

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March 2023  Club Meeting: Monday the 13th

Club Swap & Social Meeting

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February 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 13th

Western Michigan University Professor Tom Howe gave a personal talk on the Minerals and Geology of Tasmania.

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January 2023 Club Meeting: Saturday the 14th

Annual Banquet where Ph.D. Fisher from the University of Michigan gave a presentation on his lifelong research on Mammoths and Mastodons.

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December 2022 Club Meeting: Monday the 12th

A Zoom hybrid meeting on the Matilda & Karl Pfeiffer Museum. We were shown wonderful Arkansas minerals and native artifacts.

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November 2022: Annual Auction at Cranbrook

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October 2022: Annual MMS 77th Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show

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September 2022: Ph.D. Ralph Conti spoke on Rare Elements and how they are formed and came to Earth from the stars.

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August 2022: Summer Recess

 

July 2022: Summer Recess

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June Club Meeting: Monday, June 13th, 2022

A hybrid presentation from Ph.D John Rakovan on Crystal Forms and calculating Miller indices.

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May Club Meeting: Monday, May 9th, 2022

A pre-recorded hybrid (online and in-person) presentation on Pegmatites by Tom Campbell

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April Club Meeting: Monday, April 11th, 2022

A hybrid Zoom and in-person meeting with Ph.D. Robert Hazen to speak on Mineral Evolution, classification, and visualization with cutting-edge science.

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March Club Night: Monday, March 14th, 2022 - Annual Swap Meet at Cranbrook

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February Club Meeting: Monday, February 14th, 2022

Zoom Meeting with the MSU Planetarium in East Lansing, Michigan. A Science museum that features all the Meteorites that have hit Michigan!

 

January Club Meeting: Monday, 14th, 2022 

We met with Ph.D. Chris Stephano to learn about the unique Minerals of Maybee, Michigan.

 

December 13th Club Meeting 2021

A wonderful presentation by Ph.D. Andrew Gangidine on how we might find traces of life on Mars.

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November Club Meeting 2021: The annual MMS Auction!

 

September Club Meeting: Monday, September 13th, 2021

         Peter Russell of the University of Waterloo spoke on Mastodon and Mammoth Fossil finds.

 

August 2021: Summer Recess

 

July 2021: Summer Recess

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June Meeting: Monday, June 8th, 2021

It was an honor to have a Ph.D. Jaszczak spoke to us about the discovery and his hand in identifying the new mineral Merelaniite.

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May Club Meeting 2021: Cancelled due to the Pandemic

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April Club Night 2021:  

Brad Zylman on Color in Gemstones - The Conundrum of Corundum! The presentation is on the members' only page.

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March Club Night 2021

"Paleo Joe" to speak on Wyoming fossil collecting via Zoom. Meeting at 7:00 pm

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February Club Night 2021:  Fabian Wildfang presents his amazing collection via Zoom. This meeting is planned to start at 12:30 pm.

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January: Meeting Cancelled.

 

December Club Meeting 2020

A fine presentation by Elijah Cornish on his mineral collecting.

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November Club Meeting 2020

Bob Ruby Spoke on his personal collection, collection documentation, and mining paraphernalia.

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October Club Meeting: Monday, October 13th, 2020

VP Brad Zylman to present Mineral Habits - A Common Language. This was an online meeting, and the presentation is stored on the Members' only page.

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September Club Meeting: Monday, September 14th, 2020

Ph.D.Ralph Conti spoke on Fossil cleaning and liberation in an online presentation. Thanks, Ralph!

 

August: Summer Recess

 

July: Summer Recess

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June Meeting: Monday, June 8th, 2020

Presentation on the Dana 8th edition classification of Minerals and the numbering system behind the internationally used system.

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May Club Meeting: Cancelled due to the Pandemic

 

April Club Meeting: Cancelled due to pandemic

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March Club Meeting: Monday, March 9th, 2020

MMS Swap & Social Night - Great food, great conversation, and lots of eye candy! Bring your gems, minerals, and fossils to sell or trade.

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February Club Meeting: Monday, Feb. 10th, 2020

Speaker John Yellich spoke on the historic lake water levels and gave us a lot to think about how we are all interconnected.

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January: Our Club Annual Banquet - January 25, 2020

Our Annual Banquet Night for our Club Members. 4 Billion Years of Great Lakes Geology.

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December Meeting: December 9, 2019, THE AUCTION!!!!

Come prepared for an entertaining night of collaboration and bidding on some fabulous auction items!

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November Meeting: THE AUCTION was canceled due to the weather.

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September Club Meeting: Sept. 10th, 2019

Club member Ph.D. Ralph Conti Spoke on the Optical effects of minerals and why some minerals look the way they do.

 

August: No Meeting

 

July Club Event: Monday, July 22, 2019

The Annual Picnic at MarshBank Park.

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June Meeting: June 10th, 2019

Dr. Michael Cherney came and spoke on the new University of Michigan Natural History Museum and the Ice Age extinctions of Mammoths and Mastodons.

 

May Meeting: May 13th, 2019 

Please come for an interesting night where we will be discussing Michigan's energy future from coal to fossil fuels and current plans for a greener state with special guest Robert Elliot.

 

April Meeting: April 8th, 2019

We hosted Steve Lehto, who enlightened us on the life of Douglas Houghton. Look up his book, Michigan's Columbus...

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March Meeting: March 11, 2019

MMS Swap & Social Night - Books, Shells, Coins, Minerals, Fossils galore!

 

February Meeting: February 11, 2019

We will be hosting Ph.D. Christine Clark, as she speaks on February 11th, to combine the understanding of the tourmaline-mineral group with the petrology of the environments in which these minerals form.

 

January Meeting: Banquet Night

Our Annual Club Banquet Night - We learned about Gold Mining and a Gold/Zinc mine opening in Michigan.​

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