Treasurer- Tom Ball said the paid the bills for both storage units and the state sales tax due from the 2012 Shell Show.
Library- Alice Lustig said she gave the old publications that were removed from the library to Jose Leal after his presentation at the May meeting. The publications will be added to the Sanibel Museum’s library.
Education- Richard Sedlak said that he would be at the Museum of Science and Discovery on May 31st and June 1st. COA- Nancy Galdo said that “drop dead” deadlines are beginning. These are various deadlines for activities required by specific dates by the COA. Linda Sunderland said the flier announcing the 2015 COA is due to the COA for approval during the first week of June. Mary Bukstel brought examples of COA programs for the board members to see. Tracy Dale will be overseeing the internet site for the 2015 COA. This site will include current information about the 2015 COA Meeting.
Club TShirts- Mary Bukstel said she has not been able to find any women’s scoop neck or v-neck tshirts that match the colors of men’s tshirts. The search will continue until a purveyor can be settled upon.
Civic Center Liason- Sonny Ogden said she had arranged for there to be a podium and microphone at all future meetings.
Hospitality- Patti Jenkins will be gone in June and July. Board members said they would bring snacks for the club’s regular meetings.
Newsletter- Richard reminded members to be sure to send submittals for the newsletter to BOTH RICHARD SEDLAK AND TRACY DALE.
Programs- Tom Ball said the program presenter scheduled for June is Bob Janowsky of MDM Books. The July and August programs will be presented by the club’s scholarship recipients.
Craft Club- Linda Laurin said the craft club has been doing well. The May activity was jewelry making which included demos on drilling shells and various other jewelry making tips. One of the funniest parts of the craft meetings each month is seeing the creations club members bring to share with others This always results in lots of “oohs and ahhs” as the members admire each other’s work. The June activity will be Club Picnic – John U. Lloyd State Park April 26, 2014 (Nancy Galdo) Bob Pace is judging the entries for the rarest shell of the day. Cindy Murfey was the winner! Meeting opened by Sonny Ogden, our newly elected president, at 7:10 pm. Sixteen club members were present.
Club Scholarships- The board agreed to fund all three applicants at $750.00 each. Checks will be sent right away to the recipients. Mary Bukstel is working on a grant application that would match the scholarship amounts funded by the club. Mary is waiting for a 501c(3) letter of determination from the IRS confirming the club’s nonprofit status which is required for the grant.
SPECIAL RAFFLE! Starting last month we began to sell tickets for a special raffle for a wonderful set of Liguus. There are about 100 specimens, some rare and some now extinct in the wild. This was set up by Bob Pace from shells procured by our president, Sonny. Tickets are $5.00 each and are available at the monthly raffle table (or you can contact Cindy Murfey at 954-797-2855 / dazeydragon@gmail.com). The drawing for this magnificent set will take place at the August meeting. making shell wind chimes or shell garlands. All members are encouraged to attend. It’s FUN and a good way to get to know your fellow club members better. Annual Budget- The majority of the board meeting was dedicated to developing the club’s 2014/2015 budget.
New Business- Board members said there have been some club members asking about the possibility of having their shells identified and getting answers to their shell collecting questions at the monthly meetings. Several board members said there used to be what they called “mini education” sessions prior to the regular monthly meetings. These sessions included fifteen minute discussions on various shell collecting topics. The sessions were given by the more experienced shell club members willing to share their expertise with newer club members. The board agreed to begin the “mini education” sessions at the June meeting. The first session will be given by Bob Pace, the club’s vice president. There will also be someone available to identify shells at each monthly meeting. A few board members were concerned about the time constraints that the club has been experiencing lately. One solution was to limit the monthly programs to 45 minutes. Another idea was to extend the two hour meeting to two and a half hours. Sonny Ogden, the club’s Civic Center Liaison, said she would inquire about extending the club’s meeting time and find out what the cost would be to do so.
Meeting adjourned at 8:40 PM. Meeting Minutes by club secretary, Linda Laurin.
For September we have a very special shell of the month from a family seldom available to collectors: Latiaxis japonicus Dunker, 1882 a member of Coralliophilidae, There are three genus, Coralliophila, Rapa, and Latiaxis in the family. Although the shells in each genus hardly resemble each other, they have much in common being carnivorous gastropods that live in corals and on sea fans, often in deep water and all lacking a radula. Lataxis is the largest generic group, found mostly in Japan and the Philippines, with many hundreds of species, that are in many cases extremely difficult to differentiate due to their small size (15-35mm), having shoulder spines and are white or whitish coloration. Latiaxis japonicus Dunker, 1882, an exquisitely sculptured pure white shell, is an exception – the triangular shoulder spines make it unmistakable. It is difficult to obtain a single specimen much less a growth series of three as we have here. One needs to collect a large specimen to complete this series, but for whatever reason very large ones over 32mm don’t ever seem to be available. Although it’s named after Japan, this growth series was collected earlier this year in the Philippines.
Broward Shell Club 
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