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BROWARD SHELL CLUB MINUTES APRIL 13, 2011

Elections were held and those chosen by the nominating committee were approved by the members attending the general meeting.

Members elected were:
President:  Linda Sunderland
Vice-President:  Sonny Ogden
Treasurer:  Ike Alvo
Recording Sec.:  Elaine Alvo
Corresponding Sec.: Carolyn Harvey
COMMITTEES:
Auction:  Bob Pace 
Membership: Heather Strawbridge
Membership Assistant.: Joy Stafford
Holiday Party: Carolyn Harvey & Toni Fisher
Hospitality: Doug & Toni Fisher
Library: Juan Marrero
Newsletter:  Richard Sedlak Newsletter Assistant: Richard Kent
Programs: Tom Ball
Raffle table: Richard Sedlak
Shell Show: Nancy Galdo
Shell Show Assistant:  Alice Pace
Web Page:  Richard Kent
Photographer & Club Historian: Violet Maas / Assistant: Kevan Sunderland
The COA Liaison, Custodian, Educational, Fieldtrips and Scholarship positions are being covered by the Board in general.

Unfortunately Violet is still ill.  We all hope for a full recovery soon. Attendance was really good.  Long time members showed up as well as new and newer members.  Heather mentioned Linda Ebeling and Sue and Ted (and others I can’t remember) as well as the 2 ladies I talked to quite a bit so you can see I am not good at names!   We are planning a bus trip to Sanibel Island to visit the Shell Museum and go to the beach.  Richard will drive.    Our speaker, Bob Janowsky gave a very well received presentation.  Many questions were asked and answered.  Everyone had good things to say about Bob.  We had over 50 members in attendance. The raffle table took in $50.00.  Thank you all.
Elaine Alvo    Recording Sec.

IN MEMORIUM

The club recently lost two long-time members.

Polly Fletcher and her husband, John were VERY helpful to me years ago when we had an enormous mailing list and it was assistance I had always appreciated.  Polly was quite active in much more than just the Shell Club, belonging to more than one of the local orchid societies and “who-knows” how many other organizations.  Her orchid collection was phenomenal.  She was not only remembered by our club at the April meeting, but also praised and fondly remembered at other venues such as the Fort Lauderdale Orchid Society (for which I was present).  We had not seen Polly for some time although she had made it to our last shell show.  Polly succumbed to cancer just before the April meeting.

The other member is one MOST of you would not remember and it will come as a shock to those who do!  Pat Armes had gone to hospital last month for some tests….but never came out.  Her husband Rod called me this weekend to inform me of this and said she succumbed to “organ failure”.  Pat was a Florida native hailing from St. Petersburg and she married Rod when he was with the Royal Air Force.  After working for many years in the Ft. Lauderdale area they moved to a small village near Lincoln, England for retirement.  Between the two of them they had an incredible shell collection, which “caught” the attention of the British Museum in London.  The museum negotiated with the Armes…..sent down several lorries (trucks – to us Yanks) to pack up the collection, which the Armes subsequently donated to the museum.  As we speak their collection resides in a special display room entitled “The Rod & Pat Armes Collection”.  A fitting tribute to a special lady and avid collector.

I will personally miss you, Pat!   You were a good and long-time friend. – Richard Sedlak.

SHELL OF THE MONTH MAY 2011

Murex pecten, Lightfoot, 1786, commonly known at the Venus Comb Murex is our shell of the month. The Venus Comb is not only a collectors favorite but a popular subject for both photographers and still life painters. The shell has over one hundred spines, which provide protection from predation, and prevent the snail from sinking in the soft mud where it is often found feeding on bivalves. Its range is extensive, across the the entire Indo-Pacific region. Perfect specimens are hard to find because of the fragile spines. It is also difficult to acquire specimens with the operculum.  Adult sizes are between 100 and 170mm but real large specimens aren’t found too often recently. Did you know that the flesh of this murex is edible? Our specimen came from Balicasag Island, Bohol, Philippines and was found by tangle net at a depth of 30-50 meters in 2008.

NEW BOOK – SHELLS OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

Shells of the Hawaiian Islands By Mike Severns

Finally after many years of hard work a new book is out. The new Hawaiian Marine shell book along with the Hawaiian Land Snail book is coming of the press’s this very moment. The new books will come as a set in a sleeve for both volumes. I have attached a brief forward from the Publisher showing a few details about the book. It will debut in Antwerp next month at the Antrwerp Shell Show. The Publisher is sending me books at the end of April. Anyone in the United States who wants a set can get one from me as soon as they arrive here in Hawaii. There may be places on the Mainland to get them but I am not sure. (MDM Books, see below) It may be less expensive to get a set locally near you than pay shipping from Hawaii. I have had the honor of assisting in the creation of this book. I know first hand the attention to detail that has gone into these books. I have seen it in finished form and it blows away anything on the market about Hawaiian shells or Land Snails. There are many new species and renamed shells in both books. Let me know if I can be of any help in getting a set.

Thanks and Aloha

JJ Jackson

The following text is from ConchBooks

To be published the 2nd of May 2011 by ConchBooks, Klaus & Christina Groh, Mainzer Str. 25, D-55546 Hackenheim, Germany – http://www.conchbooks.de – conchbooks@conchbooks.de – phone +49-671-68666 – fax +49-671-8963942

This monumental work is the result of more than three decades of (re)search and is offered in two separate volumes:

The Sea Shells The verifiable species and their described variants

562 pages, full colored illustrated with numerous text-figures and 2,828 images on 225 plates, section sewn hard-cover, A4-format (30 x 21 cm – 11,8 x 8,3 inch)

Price: 128 Euro net – approx. 179 US-$ – plus postage (economy-air parcel book-rate 19 Euro – approx. 27 US-$)

The Land Shells The endemic land and freshwater species and their described variants

459 pages, full colored illustrated with numerous text-figures and 3,117 images and 363 maps on 186 plates, section sewn hard- cover, A4-format (30 x 21 cm – 11,8 x 8,3 inch)

Price: 98 Euro net – approx. 137 US-$ – plus postage (economy-air book-rate 16 Euro – approx. 22 US-$) Or both volumes together in a solid slip-case

Price: 190 Euro net – approx. 266 US-$ – (save 36 Euro – approx. 50 US-$) plus postage (regular economy-air parcel 40 Euro – approx. 56 US-$)

Robert Janowsky of MDM Books supplied us this information:

Our shipment will be coming directly from the printer in the Czech Republic and should be leaving for Florida on or about May 6. I’ll be happy to let you know when they arrive and will have a better idea as to cost once I know the cost of shipping here.

GULF COAST SHELL CLUB SHOW

The Gulf Coast Shell Club is pleased to announce that after a gap of 9 years we are again holding a shell show.  The dates are 25-26 June (Set up on the 24th). The venue is the Senior Center on Panama City Beach, a large spacious facility located in the center of a summer tourist destination.  But what we would really like are your entries in the scientific and artistic categories.  Shell show forms and rules can be downloaded from our website at http://gulfcoastshellclub.weebly.com/ and click on Shell Show 2011 to get to the PDF.

SANIBEL MUSEUM TRIP – JUNE 11TH

Due to the popularity of the Sanibel Show trip AND by request the club is going to have a trip on Saturday, June 11th to see the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel. Director Jose Leal will be on hand to give us a special tour.

As per the Show trip we will meet at the Coral Ridge Mall (beneath the AMC Theater sign which fronts on Federal Highway).  Be there by 7:15 AM so we can get on the road.  We will return about 9PM.  The cost will be as before – $30 per person.  Cash is preferred or checks are acceptable, made out to me, Richard Sedlak, seeing as how the initial rental will come out of my account and not the shell club.  The admission to the museum is $7 per person which you can either pay in advance or at the door. We will do the museum, have lunch (most likely at Doc Fords) and then do some shelling and stop at a shell shop – or two. Bring a snack or drink if you wish, and probably some shelling gear. All that is asked is that once you commit, don’t cancel unless it is an emergency.  Sign up at the April and May meetings or call me at 954-296-5633 / sedlaki1@comcast.net.

SANIBEL SHOW TRIP….NICE!!

This past March 5th a van full of our Broward members and other friends descended upon the hapless and unsuspecting population of Sanibel.  The weather was perfect (just a few passing showers…with a rainbow) and the itinerary kept everyone busy.  Our intrepid group included Tom Ball, Juan Marrero, myself (Richard Sedlak who drove everyone – literally and figuratively), Nancy Galdo, new members Kathie Bishop and Linda Laurin who were both like kids in a candy shop and also former member Ed Sossen and guest Mike Sposito, and Lorenzo D’Oria (whose truck always saves the day at Shell Show set-up).  Violet Mass was the first to sign up and was so eager to go, but ended up in the hospital with a pneumonia condition.  Hope you are feeling better!

We hit the beach (so-to-speak) running,  by arriving at their wonderful show – the 74th one this time.  One outstanding feature of their show is the craft section which is phenomenal.  The Sailors’ Valentines leave you breathless.  Also of note is the small area just outside where they have 6th grade students from Sanibel, oversee tanks with live shells and they explain the shells and their living habits to the visitors.  A nice educational touch from the Sanibel elementary school.  Of course like all the rest of us food is always an “option” so we (along with other Broward members who were already there) attacked the Island Cow located a one-minute walk right next door (I have dubbed it “The Mad Cow”).  They are efficient; the food is great – and tons of it!  We then waddled across the street, got back into the van and headed for Showcase Shells, Larry Strange’s shop and Anne Joffe’s “She Sells Sea Shells”.  All that shopping makes one thirsty so we hit the Dairy Queen ….on the way to our final destination, the beach at the Sanibel lighthouse.  We all found some shells though the weather conditions had not been conducive to allowing the piles of shells one could usually find on the beach at other times.

Of course the day did have to come to an end so we all piled in the van with our various treasures and discussed the day’s events.  One thing that was discussed was another trip back to Sanibel for seeing the museum. Soooooo…..

BROWARD SHELL CLUB MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

Just a reminder, Shell Club dues are due by April 30 in order to be included in the roster. Please advise the membership committee [ ME!] of any changes in your address, phone #’s and e-mail info so that our records will be accurate and up-to-date. This also insures corrections to the newsletter mailing list.  Annual dues remain the same:

Individual and family[at one address] $18.00
Student[up to high school] $5.00
International $20.00

Please make check payable to  Broward Shell Club

To expedite, send check to me

Heather Strawbridge
309 S.W. 20th Street
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl 33315

or

Broward Shell Club,INC
P.O. Box 10146
Pompano Beach, Fl. 33061

or

Better yet, join us at the next meeting! Enjoy a show, see old friends, make new ones and maybe win a raffle.  Doesn’t get better than that. …oh I forgot !…The Snack Table…
Always shell and tell,
Heather

A Chuckle

Ed Sossen, a past member-but-still-club-supporter wanted to share this with us.  Ed was recently at an antique show in Miami where he noticed a Tiger Cowrie – a common $1.00 “bin shell” on a dealer’s table with a price tag of $200!  When Ed asked why the high price the dealer replied….”well, just look at the quality, they don’t make them like that anymore”……

Buyer beware…..

 

March 2011 Meeting

THE ANNUAL BROWARD SHELL CLUB AUCTION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2011

At the Pompano Beach / Emma Lou Olson Civic Center
1801 NE 6th Street, Pompano Beach
Preview at 6:30 PM – Auction commences at 7:00 PM

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert  Pace (305) 386-3442 or Richard Sedlak (954) 296-5633

Auction items will include shells (common to rare), shell and nautical related gifts, books, jewelry, restaurant certificates and many other items….

Proceeds from the auction support the club’s educational scholarships.

Please note that this takes the place of the regular club activities for that evening.  In other words, the Library, Raffle Table and Sand Flea Market will not be operating, but refreshments will be served.

BRING YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, NEIGHBORS, CO-WORKERS AND ANYONE ELSE YOU CAN THINK OF, ALONG WITH CASH OR YOUR CHECKBOOK.  IT WILL BE A FUN EVENING AND A GREAT WAY TO INCREASE YOUR COLLECTION!