About

THE NEW SOUTHEAST FEDERATION

The Friendly Federation - Founded in 1976 to serve

(FROM THE VERY FIRST SFMS NEWSLETTER)

This past September (1975) a ballot was sent out to the mineral clubs and societies in the southeast asking their opinion on a division of the Eastern Federation and to indicate if they would like to become members of a new Southeast Federation.  The majority of the clubs in the southeast voted to divide the Eastern Federation and join the new Southeast Federation. Only 11 clubs in the southeast voted not to divide the EF.  Some of the clubs or societies did not reply and others answered that they desired to wait and see if the new federation was organized and then they would apply for membership.

This is to announce that the new Southeast Federation has now been organized and again we want to extend to you an invitation to join and be a part of the new Southeast Federation.  We feel that we can have many advantages in the southeast with a federation that won't be so widely separated by so many land miles and expensive and time consuming travel time.  We can enjoy closer relationships and be expected to be visited by more federation officers.

The formation of the new Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc., was formally announced at the Executive Board Meeting of Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies, Inc., in session at Orlando, Florida on October 25, 1975.

The Executive Board of EF voted unanimously a resolution recognizing the legal existence of the new Southeast Federation and that its operation would be meritorious and complimentary to the activities of the Eastern Federation and offered the support and mutual assistance of the Eastern Federation in assisting and encouraging the growth of the Southeast Federation.  The Executive Board also recognized that the member clubs of the new Southeast Federation have been paying dues into the treasury of the Eastern Federation for many years and have a vested financial interest in said treasury and therefore a valid claim to its rightful share of the monies in the Eastern Federation treasury at the present time.  The Executive Board then voted to give $2,366.50 to the treasury of the new Southeast Federation to assist in its initial operations.

A charter has been prepared for the new Federation in the state of North Carolina.  The new Federation has more than enough clubs to apply for membership in the American Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies.

The Constitution and By-laws of the Federation will be forthcoming.  Included in our Constitution will be the list of societies and clubs that founded the new Federation.  Clubs or societies applying for membership before January 1976 will be listed among the founding societies.  Clubs and societies applying for membership after January 1976 and before our 1976 convention will be listed as charter members.

Send your annual dues to the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies instead of the Eastern Federation.  There will be no initiation fee for membership in the new Federation for any club that is a past member of the Eastern Federation.  Annual dues shall be reckoned on the basis of fifty (50) cents per capita for each individual voting member on the rolls of the society at the time the society makes application for membership.

I have been asked to serve in the capacity of Temporary Acting President.  The following have agreed to serve as temporary officers for the new Southeast Federation until our 1976 convention at which time you will elect whom you desire.

• • • •  President Frank Mayo (Cobb County, Georgia)

      •  Vice President Herbert Coe (Franklin, N. C.)

      •  2nd Vice President Elsie Ritch (Charlotte, N. C.)

      •  Secretary Elizabeth Lucas (Columbia, S. C.)

      •  Treasurer Sydney Shepherd (Charlotte, N. C.)

      •  Asst. Treasurer Jesse Schneck (Canaveral, Florida)

      •  Editor Alison Watkins (Canaveral, Florida)

All clubs are invited to submit nominations for the 1976 slate of officers, together with suggestions for committee heads and state regional vice presidents.  The Nominating Committee will be appointed by the interim officers and will include representatives from all the southeastern states.

The boundaries of the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc., will be as follows: All the states in the Southeastern United States south of the Mason-Dixon Line.  These will include Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana.  The same services offered by the Eastern Federation will be available and more.

The Southeast Federation Newsletter or Bulletin will be edited by Mrs. Alison Watkins, formerly the capable Editor of the EFMLS Newsletter.  Three bulletins will be mailed to each club and these bulletins will include less unessential committee and officer news and more needed features such as a swap and trade page for free use of members, program aids and information on where to obtain speakers.  An annual Bulletin Editors Contest will be held with special awards for junior writers.  Unusual field trips and field trip news will be published.  All clubs and their members are invited to send helpful suggestions, small or large, to me and they will be honored.

With our smaller geographical area, it is hoped that more clubs will have people serving as officers and on committees.  In this way, the new Federation can become your organization, serving you.  Send your list of volunteers to Frank Mayo as soon as possible so that we can start off the year with active committees in all fields.  This Federation will be organized on the club and society level and will be controlled as such.

I am asking for your full cooperation in this undertaking to make a great Southeast Federation.  THIS IS AND WILL BE YOUR FEDERATION!

If there are any questions or information you would like, please feel free to write me.

Sincerely,

                                                Frank Mayo

Temporary Acting President

3340 Wood Valley Road, N.W.

Atlanta, Georgia 30327

Lodestar August/September 2001, page 14-15