April 11, 2009
Hello again!
I hope everyone had a good Easter, and even if you don’t observe it, I hope your weekend was good. Our website is very up and running, and I’ve had several responses to it. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing more new faces at the meeting on Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 7:00pm in the North Room at the Veteran’s Memorial Building in Santa Rosa.
March Minutes :
Ben opened the meeting and welcomed 6 new people. We hope you enjoyed yourselves, and will continue to join us.
Ben reminded everyone that the silver-ingot-raffle is coming up, and that you need not be present to win. Talk to Roger about tickets.
For everyone who donated to the regular raffle, here’s a big THANK YOU. Your contributions are really appreciated.
I asked for the floor and talked about Judith Lavik, Kami’s sister. Judith is not a member of our club; she hasn’t met many of the club members. Yet Judith has taken time and money to help us re-establish our website, and has asked for nothings more than that we give her name and info to anyone needing the type of services she provides. So, here goes. Judith has a business called By Word of Mouth Design. Her website is www.bywordofmouthdesign.com. The phone number is 707 578 5683. E-mail: judy@bwomdesign.com. A brief description of what she does: Web-design & maintenance, graphics, flyers, newsletters, publications, and much more. Okay, that’s the cut and dried version. I can personally tell you that she is incredibly helpful in all aspects of ‘webbing’. I knew nothing (and cared nothing) about web pages or web sites. Since taking on the project of either updating the old, or creating a new, site I have had to learn more than I wanted about this subject. I am a ‘dinosaur’ when it comes to computers, since I did medical stuff 10-hours a day. I seldom turned on the PC at home, so to say I was computer illiterate was being kind. Judith has answered all my questions, and best of all she hasn’t made me feel stupid or ‘illiterate’ in ANY way due to my lack of computer skills. She has educated me in the skills I need to do my part in the maintenance of this web site. While I was still in a cast, she volunteered to take over the work until I had recovered. She STILL answers questions for me, and most graciously, too. So, I apologize for taking so much room to tell you about her, but she deserves this space and a heck of a lot more. If anyone has a need for any of the services Judith provides, please contact her. She’s the best!
Ben asked us to think about organizing other outings. The club sponsors at least one outing each year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go on more. Ben has invited small groups to his claim in the future, and has asked that other claim owners do the same. Please think about it.
We needed someone to take over the name badges and their upkeep. David Yoch has volunteered, so if you have a ‘name-tag’ issue, he’s the man to see. Several members went to the Gold Show held in Fresno. Kathy Graham said she and Gavin saw Gail and Clay there. He said he went and actually that’s where some of the new faces at the March meeting found out about us. He also learned about a new ‘gold store’ located in the East Bay, and talked about their meetings and the services they provide. For more information, see He.
Roger spoke about purchasing nuggets for the raffle from club members, and asked for names of anyone wishing to sell their nuggets. ( More on this at the April meeting) Richard Giddens spoke about two subjects. He has a friend, Tim, whom is an attorney, and he’s going to give a presentation about firearms and your rights, especially relating to gold sights. He’ll update us on the current laws and regulations. Next issue Rich addressed was the flea markets available to us. He’ll research dates and requirements so we can raise more money for more outings. Updated information will be provided at the April meeting.
Lance Thompson gave a presentation on gold in its crystalline form. It was very interesting and the specimens he had were beautiful. Thank you so much Lance, for educating us and showing your samples. It’s amazing that gold can look so fragile and delicate.
On the show and tell portion of the meeting, only a few members had anything to show but Maryann brought in a cake for Jim’s 55th birthday. We all wished him a happy-happy, then we ate his cake for him. We took a break and then held the monthly raffle for gold nuggets and other prizes.
Other information:
We had an executive board meeting and we covered a lot of issues. It was a surprisingly productive meeting. I say this with tongue in cheek because the board members are all EXTREMELY strong personalities, and for the meeting to go so smoothly and without raised voices was a tribute to our level heads and unselfishness! (Again, that’s tongue-in-cheek). But really, we had a good meeting and really did iron-out some wrinkles with which needed to be dealt. Ben may or may not cover these issues at the meeting, since most were board-related, but if members want more information, you can always ask one of us for it. We more or less covered what we, as members of the board, need to do to keep the club solvent and running smoothly.
Now, I want to let everyone know about two long time members whom have had serious health issues, and are thankfully recovering. Art Warner, and Charles Muttart, have both had serious heart problems. Both were very sick, had corrective measures, and are recovering. Charles told me he’s now a bionic man. Please include these men in your thoughts and prayers. They’d appreciate hearing from you, too, so look up their numbers on the phone roster and give them a call.
I also want to tell you that Jim ‘fast-track’ Swasey has had some ‘minor’ ( if there is such a thing) surgeries, and ‘tho in pain, is recovering. He’ll skin me for mentioning this, but Jim is a valuable friend, and an intelligent, common-sense kind of guy, and we need people like him. He’s been a rich source of information for me and for the club. Please have good thoughts for Jim, too.
Don’t forget the annual picnic will be held in Penngrove in June. We’ll be having a cook-off with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes. There will be the annual metal detector hunt with many prizes. We’ll have the gold raffle, softball and other games, all manner of things to do, and good food. The menu provided by the club is going to be London broil, country-style pork ribs, and chicken. We’ll provide the drinks, utensils, bread, and members will bring a dish they think the rest of us will enjoy. A map and times, and more useful info will be provided in May, but I want to remind everyone so you can make it a date: June 6, 2009, at the Penngrove Park.
Hopefully, I’ve covered everything. Now I get to share some of the jokes members sent to me, and a big ‘thank you’ for sending them!!!
As ever,
Kathe
A blonde got new energy efficient windows installed and didn’t pay for them ” because the salesman said they’d pay for themselves in a year!”
I took my dad to the mall to buy new shoes. We decided to grab a bite at the food court. I noticed he was watching a teenager sitting next to him. The kid had spiked hair in many colors; green, blue, purple, red, and orange. He also had black eyeliner smeared so thick that his eyes looked like burn holes in paper. My dad kept staring at him. The teenager would look away and back to find dad still staring every time. When the kid had enough, he sarcastically asked, “what’s the matter old man? Never done anything wild in your life?!” Knowing my dad, I quickly swallowed my food so that I would not choke on his response, knowing he would have a good one; and in classic style, he didn’t hesitate or bat an eye in his response. “Yep, got drunk once, and had sex with a peacock. I was just wondering if you were my son.”
Divorce vs Murder
A nice calm and respectable lady went into the pharmacy, walked up to the pharmacist, looked him straight in the eye, and said, “I would like to buy some cyanide please.” The pharmacist asked, “Why in the world do you need cyanide?” The lady replied, “I need to poison my husband.” The pharmacist’s eyes got big and he exclaimed, “Lord have mercy! I can’t give you cyanide to kill your husband! That’s against the law! I’ll lose my license and they’ll throw us BOTH in jail! All kinds of bad things will happen. Absolutely NOT! You MAY NOT have any cyanide!” The lady calmly reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the pharmacist’s wife. The pharmacist looked at the photo and replied, “Well now, that’s different! You didn’t tell me you had a prescription”
I believe we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
See you at the April 15th meeting, 7:00pm, Vet’s building. Stay safe.