FUTURE EVENTS: Themed meetings 2010 FURTHER THEMES FOR THE COMING YEAR - 2010 - June 1st: Plants & plant-like minerals (Dendrites etc) July 6th:Sponges and Bryozoa - mineral clusters. August 3rd is your Own Choice, and/or table displays and slide show - any members want to do this one??!! September7th : silurian Fossils and Opals. October 5th: Cretaceous fossils and White Minerals November 2nd: Swap & Sell evening - clear out those sheds!!! December 7th:Amphibians, Reptiles and Red Minerals. January 4th 2011: Spondylus Ancient and Modern and 'Spiny' Minerals FEBRUARY 1ST 2011 AGM AND ANNUAL BEST FIND COMPETITION These themes may be subject to change. Recent 'finds' and items that need identifying are very welcome at any meeting.Informal talks and slide shows by members and guest speakers, may be added nearer to the date.EVERYONE WELCOME FIELD TRIPS: = contact Dave for details.

Best Find Competition 2009

There were 5 entries for the 'Best Fossil' and 4 entries for the 'Best Mineral' annual members competition. As usual, the entries were of a reasonably high standard, and votes done by annonymous ballot by the members present at the AGM. First place in the 'Best Fossil' category went to Ken Machin for his Nautilus CymatocerasSecond place went to James T.King for his French Echinoid. First place in the 'Best Mineral' category went to Clive Minker with his super Analcyme with Mesolite in Basalt from Skye, Scotland. Second place went to Stephen Burchmore for his Calcite specimen (loc?)

Competition Winners for 2008

Congratulations to our Best Mineral and Fossil Competition winners! Well done to everyone who took part - as usual it was well represented and the specimens were of a very high standard!! BEST FOSSIL WINNER : KEN MACHIN with an Ammonite sp.Lytoceras Fimbriatum from Blockley. Steve Burchmore was a close runner up with a large Proplanulites Ammonite. BEST MINERAL WINNER : MARION STRATTON with a super specimen of Pyrite / Marcasite from Samphire Cliff, Dover. The runner up was Clive Minker with a fabulous example of metallic needle -like Millerite from the Welsh coal fields. Thank You to everyone who managed to attend the AGM - even if it was a month later than normal, due to the snow!

2007 AGM and 'Best Find' Competition The AGM was held in February 2008 at our usual venue for the club monthly meetings. It was well attended, though no huge surges of enthusiasm were generated by the offer of two posts on the Committee. The 'melee of potential new Editors,'...'jockying for position in a democratic manner until a winner emerged' alas, did not come to pass. So our existing editor, Ken Machin, of the club newsletter, 'Rocks in Print'was returned by default! As were the other Committee members. Our librarian/Archivist post was taken up by James King, after David Graby was forced to step down due to family commitments. More detailed reports of the AGM, including those by the Chairman and Treasurer, are to be found in the MKGS Newsletter, Issue #130, March 2008. The annual 'Best Finds' Competition, this year had no 'Junior' entrants, therefore no competition. However, the entrants in both categories for the main competition was really high, as usual. There were 5 entrants for the 'Best Fossil' - 1)Crocodile Tooth 2) Ammonite Oxynotoceras 3)Ammonite Liparoceras 4)Nautilus with Ammonite and Belemnite in Body chamber. 5)Ammonite Tragophylloceras. The winner was #4 , a fabulous Fossil Combo, found by Ray Fox (see photos) The 'Best Mineral' category also had an interesting mix of cabinet to micro specimens, including - 1) Marcasite 2)Marcasite 3)Calcite 4)Woodwardite etc 5) Cacoxenite on Quartz. The winner was #5 an aesthetic miniature specimen of bright orange micro-spheres of Cacoxenite perched over Quartz crystals, collected in Bulgaria, by Colleen Thomson.