Dear Friends of Mineralogy,

The Tucson show was a just a lit-tle bit fabulous this year. Magnifi-cent displays of minerals from the American Mineral Treasures pro-ject in conjunction with the pub-lishing of a book of the same name made it perhaps a "once in a lifetime" event. The opportunity to view some of this country’s most famous mineral specimens, all in one place, was a treat. If you missed it, you should at least buy the book – all the best pieces, all in one place, and you don’t have to leave home. FM members Gloria Staebler and Wendell Wilson edited the book and they did a fantastic job.

The Board of Directors met in Tucson on a rainy Friday. In my opinion, the most important piece of work we accomplished was the establishment of "honorary membership" awards for people who have made outstanding contributions to FM. This award will be given infrequently and only for contributions above and beyond the normal amount of volunteerism we need from our members to be a successful organization. This year we selected three people for the award: Dr. Werner Lieber, Mrs. Kay Robertson, and Martin "Marty" Zinn. Dr. Lieber helped establish the best photograph awards that have morphed into the award for best paper in LapisEnglish. Kay Robertson was instrumental in establishing the awards given to the best educational exhibits for individuals and institutions at the Tucson Show. Marty Zinn has always heartily supported FM and routinely provides the room and reception for the FM annual membership meeting at the Tucson Show. The Board felt is was important to acknowledge these people who, through their actions, also acknowledge that FM is important. Honorary members will receive lifetime membership and a certificate acknowledging their contributions.

We established another award for best article in another publica-tion. This will be given to the author who writes the best article in Mineral News. In order to better promote the hobby, the Board believes we need to support those publications that actively promote the hobby. Like the awards for best article in the other periodicals (Rocks and Minerals, Minera-logical Record, and LapisEnglish) Mineral News will also receive a $200 award to help defray the cost of publication.

To see what else we’ve been up to, please peruse the minutes of the meeting published in this newsletter. If you have suggestions or comments on how we can better accomplish the goals of FM, please contact your chapter president, any local director, or me. Their contact information is also listed in this newsletter along with mine.

I hope spring is arriving in your part of the country. It’s time for the snow to melt off the outcrops and the frost to have finished heaving those geodes, agates, or fossils out of the soils. Perhaps it’s time to buy new hammers and chisels, lay in a supply of mineral wrap, and check the collecting pack for the proper supplies. The time is now to obtain those maps of potential collecting sites and plan the collecting season’s ad-ventures. Get out there and have fun!

Virgil W. Leuth, President

Previous Leters from the President

• January 2008
• August 2007
• May 2007
• December 2006
• May 2006
• December 2005