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MARCH 2014 Volume 1, Number 3

A Word From the President

Hello Members and Friends,

First I’d like to welcome new members as we

have a large crop of interested fossil folks this

year. I know you will find the Society to be

educational and fun. In the coming months

we will be having River trips to the Peace River

and a Mosaic trip at the end of the month.

Sign up at the March meeting only. New

members and current members who have not

gone get preference to sign up first. The

newsletter will have events, great stories and

trips listed so please take the time to read.

The Scholarship Auction was a great success.

I want to thank all members who participated

in this event, whether you bid on some great

items or volunteered. THANK YOU. The Soci-

ety does not run without your help. Even if

you volunteer once a year for an event or re-

freshments, it all helps to keep it running

smoothly. THANK YOU. Terri Laird did a great

job after taking on the Refreshment Commit-

tee job. Her first test was the Auction with

Cay Small helping- thank you. Roxane & her

crew behind the table- Pam Plummer, Steve

Strick & Mike Kozlowski, thank you. Donn

Smart & Michael Gesel for pictures and a

shout out to Sue Lev- hope you’re feeling

better. Thanks to Scott Tucker, Bill Howat &

Bob Raiser for helping with setup and Jim

Davis for a fantastic job finding some differ-

ent items for the Auction to keep it fresh

and new. We already have items and are

planning next year’s auction. As usual we try

to strategize but it never works. The books

were a BIG success this year; we did have

some rare ones and some smaller items sur-

prised us too. There were bidding wars on

the Crinoids, Meg teeth as usual, the Black

Quartz, and me this year for a River Trip the

most I ever went for. The Kids Auction was

great as usual- no child went away without

a Crystal Geode. The Silent Auction was

great. Gary and Paula did a great job running

the tables and answering questions. All had a

great time. If I missed anyone -THANK YOU

and my voice took 3 days to come back. So if

you missed this event start saving up for next

year and don't miss out.

Next month will be a large article on the NAPC

convention, fossil project, idigbio, and sci-

ence foundation grants and what it all

means.

Always keep your head held high but look

down once in awhile you don’t know what you

might be steppin’ on

March Meeting

For the March 8th meeting, our speaker will

be one of very own members, Walter Stein. He

will be doing a talk called ―The Kings New

Clothes, A Reappraisal of the Magnificent

Tyrannosaurus rex‖. It will be a summary of T.

rex discoveries and a review of past and cur-

rent views of this amazing animal. He will

bring several show and tell pieces including

some original T. rex material.

See next page for a short Biography on Walter

2 www.SouthwestFloridaFossilSociety.org

THANK YOU TO ALL THE SPONSORS WHO MADE THE AUCTION

A BIG SUCCESS

THANK YOU THANK YOU

Fantasea Scuba—Jim & Julie Joseph ***** Henry Crowley ***** Jim Tatum***** Jerry Zoig ***** Aurora Fossil Museum ***** Cay Small ***** Bob Morgan ***** Kelly Johnson Frank Garcia ***** Terry & Cindy Sellari ***** Tom Ladd ***** Wal-ter Stein ***** Steve Miller Jay Lev***** Ralph Marble ***** Punta Gorda Historical Society ***** Elida Byard ***** Louis Stieffel ***** Terry Quackenbush ***** Andrea Stilley ***** John Powell ***** Bill Eber-lein ***** Pangea, Inc.—Joe Aarsonson Canoe Outpost—Becky Bragg ***** WENG 1530 am ***** Clear Channel Radio ***** Craig Nest-ing ***** George Dietz ***** ***** Megateeth Fos-sils *****

Walter W. Stein

Walter has been exploring for, excavating,

preparing, researching and writing about dinosaurs

and other vertebrate fossils since 1996. He has a BS

degree in Geology from Appalachian State University

in Boone, North Carolina. He was the former Curator

and co-designer of the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Re-

source Center (in Woodland Park, CO), President of

the Bighorn Basin Foundation, Collections Manager

for the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, Field Collections

Manager for Triebold Paleontology (the #1 or #2 pri-

vate commercial paleontological company in the

world), on the board of Directors for the Tri-State

Museum and then later Interim-Director of the Mu-

seum. Walter is also the former cofounder and chair-

man of the Association of Applied Paleontological

Sciences (AAPS) ―Journal of Paleontological Sciences‖.

Walter has worked on and/or discovered well over 25

important dinosaur skeletons including a new species

of giant North American Oviraptor (head preparator/

excavator) and a potentially new species of Tyranno-

saur (discoverer). He has also worked on numerous

other vertebrate finds including, the largest mosasaur

ever found in Texas, the first ever plesiosaur bone

bed from Montana and a very rare, shortnecked ple-

siosaur (one of two of its species). In between, the

big discoveries, Walter has authored a handful of sci-

entific papers and has written two books on the study

of paleontology; ―So You Want to Dig Dino-

saurs‖ (2001) and another called, ―The Top 256 Rules

of Paleontology‖ (April, 2009).

Walter and his wife Heather started their own private

paleontological company called ―PaleoAdventures‖ in

2005. PaleoAdventures provides a wide range of ser-

vices to the education, museum, and tourist related

industries, including Dinosaur dig site tours, com-

mercial internet fossil sales, lectures and educational

programs for schools, clubs and museums, museum

consultation and exhibit design, molding and casting,

contract fossil preparation, paleontological resource

assessments, and much, much more.

Walter and Heather have two young boys; William

(age 10) and Stephen (age 5) that keep them very

busy. The Stein’s have been snow-birding down to

North Port, Florida since 2009.

Over the last year, Walter has worked with the An-

cient Waters Foundation in North Port, as their pale-

ontological chairman. This organization is dedicated

to educating the public about the wonderful archaeo-

logical and paleontological significance of Warm Min-

eral Springs and Little

Salt Springs.

Walter’s overall goal is

to someday build his

own private paleon-

tological museum

right here in North

Port Florida.

3

Tampa 26th Annual FossilFest

March 15th & 16th

Sat: 9-6 Sun: 10-4

Florida State Fairgrounds

Intersection of I-4 & Hwy. 301 just east of Tampa

Admission: Adults $6

Children under 12 —FREE

Fossils & Artifacts

Gems—Minerals—Shells

Fossil Exhibits & Workshops

Kids Games Fossil Mine Raffles

Door Prizes Silent Auction

Fossil Show in Cape Coral

Saturday – March 29th 10:00am - 4:00pm

Rotary Park Environmental Center

5505 Rose Garden Road, Cape Coral

Admission: Adults $5

Children under 10—FREE

Learn about Florida’s pre-historic past and maybe

take a piece home with you. Come to shop or talk

with experienced fossil hunters to learn all about

the fascinating fauna of Florida’s prehistoric times.

Something for everyone: fossils, gems, Calusa

Indian art, children’s activities and more!

For more information, go to:

[email protected]

Or

Call (239) 549-4606

Vendor spaces available. Call the phone number

listed above for details.

Let us know what YOU would like to see in the Club Shop


March Mar 8th -SW Florida Fossil Society

Meeting—7 pm–Walter Stein- speaker

Mar 9th - Dedication Ceremony of

Donna Johnson’s Reflection Garden

Rotary Park Environmental Center 1pm

5505 Rose Garden Road, Cape Coral

Mar 9th - Peace River Trip

Mar 15th & 16th –Tampa FossilFest

Mar 20th - FCOLC Annual Fossil

Auction at Zion Lutheran Church

7401 Winkler Road, Fort Myers

Mar 28th-30th - Weekend of Fossil

Digging on the Peace River

For more info: Call Pam Plummer

239-246-5993

Mar 29th - Fossil Show at Rotary

Park in Cape Coral

April Apr 11th-13th—Venice Shark Tooth

Festival

Apr 12th - SW Florida Fossil Society

Meeting—7 pm

PEACE RIVER TRIP Canoe or Kayak needed

Sunday March 9TH. 7:30 AM BROWNSVILLE BOAT

RAMP - ALL ARE WELCOME Sign up at meeting OR

Call Chuck 941-769-2725

MOSAIC MINE TRIP—Saturday March 29th

SIGN UP AT MEETING ONLY

New Members and Current Members who have never

gone will have preference to sign up FIRST

SouthWest Florida Fossil Society Code of Ethics

1. Members of the SouthWest Florida Fossil So-ciety are expected to respect all private and public properties.

2. No member shall collect without appropriate permission on private or public properties

3. Members should make a sincere effort to keep themselves informed of laws, regulations, and rules on collecting on private or public prop-erties.

4. Members shall not use firearms, blasting equipment, or dredging apparatuses without ap-propriate licenses and permits.

5. Members shall dispose of litter properly.

6. Members shall report to proper state offices any seemingly important paleontological and archaeological sites.

7. Members shall respect and cooperate with field trip leaders or designated authorities in all collecting areas.

8. Members shall appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources. 9. Members shall conduct themselves in a man-ner that best represents the SouthWest Florida Fossil Society.

5

BEGINNERS TRIP. By Chuck Ferrara

It was a foggy morning drive to Arcadia. There was a chill in the air and the weather report was for a quick warm up. This was expected by all as last year’s Beginners trip was a cold one. The Rockhills were the first to arrive 5 min after I got there Mallory, Gabrielle, and Paul were ready to go. The rest trickled in- John Purcell, Mike, Irene Matthews, John Hacht, Randy, Sue Sassie, Don, Mary Ann Heathcote. Even Ron Seavey showed up later -13 in all. One of the fun things to see is everyone’s design of a screen box. It’s great to see all the creative ideas. This group didn't dis-appoint as we started by critiquing and comparing ideas - what will work and won't almost like the boy scouts soap-box Derby " my car is faster then yours, mines prettier. Then the time came to see. After a talk on rules of the Fossil Permit, ethics and about respect of wildlife it was off to the water. All designs floated nicely. I showed all how to work with the current work a hole sifting tech-nique. All were fine. Everyone agreed this was a good way to test their equipment and make changes. The Rockhills were my leverite collectors, but I remember when I first started- anything that looked remotely like a fossil I picked up. That's how you learn. " it’s a leverite where you found it ". All found some nice small teeth, clam concretions, puffer fish mouthpiece. John Hacht found some nice bird bones, whole horse teeth & Ivory. Yours truly found a nice Mako and much more. The water was a foot higher then used to with a nice current and the weather men were right for a change. It was sunny and a great day to be in the River - sharing and learning with fossil friends. We have trips on the River for this month so sign up and come join the fun and live the adventure.

6

www.SouthwestFloridaFossilSociety.org


SUGGESTIONS??

We encourage members to let us know

what changes or additions you would like

to see—speakers—fieldtrips—raffle—

anything you think should be changed or

ideas for meetings or projects we want to

hear them (BE NICE). Seriously, we do want

your input. If there’s anything in particular

you like about the society or meetings, let

us know that too, so we’ll know how we’re

doing. This is your Society too and we want

to make it enjoyable for ALL.

ARE YOU GETTING YOUR

NEWSLETTER???

If you are on the email listing, you should

be receiving your newsletter via the inter-

net. You should get it by the Monday be-

fore the meeting. Whenever you don’t re-

ceive a newsletter, if you will email or call

me to let me know, I will try again. We

don’t want you to miss out on any of your

newsletter copies. If you should change

your email address, be sure to email me

your new address. You can reach me at ei-

ther [email protected] or

[email protected]

Katherine Ciembronowicz

Joseph & Nancy Kurre

Leszczynski FAMILY

“Take two tons of aspirin and

call me in the morning.”

DUES ARE DUE Jan. 1st

If you just joined in October or later,

you are paid through the next year.

Pay Scott Tucker at the meeting or

see page 7 for where to mail your

check to.

9

SWFFS

Executive Board & Committee

Phone Roster

President: Chuck Ferrara

(941) 769-2725

Vice President: Jim Davis

(941) 379-3286

Treas. & Secy. Roxane Wilson

(863) 993-1649

e-mail: [email protected]

OR

[email protected]

Editor: Roxane Wilson

(863) 993-1649

Directors

Cay Small Mike Kozlowski

Steven Strick Jay Lev

Field Trips

Trip Director

Chuck Ferrara (941) 769-2725

email: [email protected]

Trip Guide

Cay Small (941) 623-3009

Raffle: Jim Davis

Club Website: Tiffany Reichard

Club Photographers: Steven Strick, Donn

Smart, Jay Lev &

Anyone else who wants to help!!!

Refreshments: Teri Laird

Membership: Scott Tucker

(239) 994-1091

e-mail: [email protected]

Dues:

$15.00 Individual

$20.00 Family

$ 4.00 Child joining indepent.

Make check payable to:

Southwest Florida Fossil Society (SWFFS)

Send to: Scott Tucker

24263 San Ciprian

Punta Gorda, FL 33955

Web Sites

The SWFFS Web site can be found at:

http://

www.southwestfloridafossilsociety.org

Gainesville Museum Web Site is at:

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/

Smithsonian (Natural History Museum)

www.mnh.si.edu

Canoe Outpost in Arcadia

(gives info on Canoe rentals and peace river

water levels)

http://www.canoeoutpost.com/Peace/

prwaterlevel.htm

Florida Vertebrate Fossil Permit

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/vertpaleo/

vppermit.htm

Aurora Fossil Museum:

www.aurorafossilmuseum.com/

Roxane Wilson

P.O. Box 1308

Arcadia, Florida 34265

DIRECTIONS TO MEETING IN DOWNTOWN PUNTA GORDA

118 Sullivan St. Punta Gorda FL

From U.S.41 Southbound: Turn left on E.Retta Esplanade. Go a short distance and turn

right on Sullivan St.

From U.S.41 Northbound: Turn left on Hwy. 17 (W. Marion Ave.) Go a short distance and

turn right on Sullivan St.

From I-75 exit at Exit 164: Turn left onto US-17 S/Duncan Rd. Go approximately 2.4

miles. Turn Right on Sullivan St.

From Kings Highway: Take Kings Hwy. to the end and turn left on Highway 41 South. Just

after you cross the Peace River bridge, take the first left (Retta Esplanade) and then your

first right.

www.SouthwestFloridaFossilSociety.org

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