GMS Field Trip December 2021

GMS Field Trip
Various Rocks and Minerals in Georgia
Saturday, December 4, 2021

On December 4th, Jason Leatherwood and Juergen Poppelreuter led a field trip to collect various minerals. GMS had extended invitations to some of the smaller clubs in Georgia to join us on this trip. In total 41 members, representing GMS, NE Georgia, Athens, Rome, and Knoxville attended. The weather was absolutely perfect for collecting - sunny and 73 degrees, not bad for beginning of December. After filling out the necessary paperwork, we opened the gate at 10 o’clock and collected until 4 o’clock. We had a mix of experienced rockhounds, first timers to this particular location, and new members on their first rockhounding trip - ever. Charles and Lori Carter were in attendance and got to relax and enjoy collecting and leave early as they were there not in their usual leadership role. Although the bounty collected was not as plentiful as in trips past, everybody found something and a good time was had by all.

It has been exactly a year since I started helping out as a field trip lead and I would like to share some of my observations. Due to the pandemic, we had changed from just announcing most field trips and see who shows up, to requiring registration and confirmation. This made it easier to manage capacities for the individual sites, and actually led to waiting lists and repeat trips due to demand. The list of attendees made it easier for me to check in members at the site and see who was missing.

We ask all members who sign up for a trip, in the event that they can’t make the trip, to inform us ASAP. If a waiting list exists, it allows other members to fill the spot. If we get informed the night before or the morning of, that of course is impossible, but we still like to know. It makes check in so much easier.

During the field trips, I did not have to remind anybody to follow the safety rules or tell them to not collect in out of bounds areas. Nobody got hurt, and I got lots of positive feedback.

Thank you all for a wonderful time, and I will see you on a field trip soon

Juergen Poppelreuter
On behalf of Charles Carter, Field Trip Chair
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