Maine Mineral Symposium Dead - or just resting?

It was with much surprise I saw the notice that there will probably not be a Maine Mineral Symposium this year.

[www.maine.gov]

Best Wishes, Van King

Bummer.

I never made it to the Maine Symposium, if I remember it was always a little to close to the Rochester Symposium date for me.

Must be a ton of work to put on a Symposium. The Rochester Symposium is fortunate that they have such dedicated volunteers to allow it to continue.

Hi all,

Neither dead nor resting -- the event is retired with wonderful memories, and the committee moving on! We are sorry for any disappointment resulting from the decision to terminate the Maine Mineral Symposium. We know it will come as a shock to our faithful supporters who have been attending for years. This decision was not made hastily by the Board of Directors, and I want to emphasize that there were no hard feelings within our group, or between the Board and anybody else.

We had a fantastic and most enjoyable run for 22 years, but the time has come for numerous personal and logistical reasons. We feel that it's best to make a clean break and go out at the top of our game. We hope that some other group of people or club(s) will be inspired to carry on with a similar educational event in New England, but the name "Maine Mineral Symposium" is still registered with the State as a non-profit corporation.

Many many thanks to all who supported us!

I encourage people who enjoyed the Maine symposium to attend the Rochester (NY) Mineralogical Symposium that's held in April. Rochester was our inspiration when Carl Francis initiated the first Maine Mineral Symposium, and it continues to be a dynamic gathering of mineral enthusiasts from all over the U. S. and Canada.

Cheers
Woody Thompson
Chairman, Maine Mineral Symposium Association, Inc.
& Maine Geological Survey



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2012 02:44PM by Woodrow Thompson.

This is news to me too, Van, and I will miss the event.

The Rochester Symposium is great - but it was nice to have one that really specialized in Maine.

Henry Minot



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2012 09:17PM by Henry Minot.

Woody

I've enjoyed the many years I was able to go to the MMS !
As far as I was concerned, it was the best show in the North East !
It would have been wonderfull if there was just one last, special, spectacular, SUPER FINAL SYMPOSIUM ! ! !
Oh well..... Was great while it lasted

Thank You Woody , Van and all the others who over the years made the MMS the best show the "was" !

Thanks again
Wayne Corwin

Hi Van,

This notice was a complete surprise to me.The Maine Mineral Symposium has always been "The" event to catch up on the news of all the latest mining finds and activity from all over New England. The speakers were always presenting interesting and informative topics and locations. This event will certainly be missed by all the regular attendees and I certainly hope that a similar event can be organized in the near future. Thank you Woody Thompson and all the many people behind the scenes who have dedicated the many years of support and work to keep this yearly event going. The Maine Mineral Symposium will be missed by all New England mineral collectors.

Cliff Trebilcock

Hi,

Sorry to hear the end has come. Is it possible that a symposium could be done at a facility in conjunction with the Springfield Show? Dealers could set up there at a local motel. If my past experience with volunteering is any indication, I assume a dwindling number of dedicated people continued to do most of the work associated with setting up the symposium. This, sadly, is true with mineral club shows in general.

Best,

Joe

Joe

The main problem with that is, , ,
the MMS had field trips to famous mines, , ,
that wouldn't work for Springfield, , ,
and that was a BIG draw for the MMS show .

Wayne

Wayne,

I understand. You can still salvage a part of it and have the dealers and speakers set up at a motel/hotel in Springfield if the Maine Symposium is not restarted. You could call it a New England symposium. Either way, I hope the show somehow continues. Maybe some of the hoarders who bring home tons of rock from Maine can truck them down to Springfield and let everyone field collect those rock piles. LOL.

Best,

Joe

Wayne and Joe,

Field trips could range over a wide radius from Springfield or wherever, such as north to the pegmatite quarries in SW New Hampshire, and perhaps even to basalt quarries in the Connecticut Valley or places in western Massachusetts?? Maybe some ideas could be had from the field trip model of the 3-day New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference (NEIGC) that's been held almost every year for over a century. NEIGC moves around constantly, so the work load is shared. Each year has one or more host colleges who take care of the guidebook and banquet, but the field trips range far and wide, with the more distant ones being on the first or last day (when you're getting there or headed home). I'm not suggesting that a mineral symposium can easily pick up and move every year, but maybe even such a radical proposition could be spearheaded by an organizing group thinking outside the box. Imagine going everywhere from Franklin, NJ to the Bay of Fundy or the mines of Quebec!

And a dump truck of fresh tailings from Mt. Mica to sweeten the pot!

I'll be writing up this news tomorrow for Friday's Sun Journal, and looking for local reaction from people who have attended the symposium, whether to sell, show, make presentations, or just for the fun and educational experience. My work email is tkarkos@sunjournal.com. Phone is 207-364-8728 ext 4205. Likely won't be in until noonish to 2 p.m. though, so email works fine. Sad to see this wonderful gem of a program go

Hi All

After 22 years of a job well done.....WELL DONE indeed....!! The MMS was absolutly outstanding in exciting,educating and futuring the knowledge of Maine minerals gems and our geology.

Thanks to Ray, Bob and Margaret, Woody and Louise, Van, Duane and Nancy, and so many others for their terrific contributions.

Thanks to the numerous speakers who helped enrich everyones experience.....it has contributed greatly to helping bridge the gap between the older members of the mineral collectors and the next generation.....who will help fill the ranks of this field.

Best regards to all of you who helped with the MMS, and for those who were "tired" from the rigors of MMS that you get restored and that you get on with working on your "bucket lists".

Best regards, and be well. Jim Mann

Thanks, Jim!!

Who could question that the standard has been set by the MMS, and should serve as a model for anyone
brave enough to endure the trauma of such an undertaking. I suppose in the course of anything, the baton must
eventually be passed, and I must say, that the baton has come with such a lead, that the persons, named and unnamed
in this discussion can not be praised enough. I must say that, perhaps, some of the events that led to the passing of the baton,
are rife everywhere within this hobby, and need to be addressed. What more can be said??

I would have come to more of them but when I was taking geology courses in college a few years ago it came just about the time that everyone was studying up for final exams.