President's Message

The SFMS is celebrating its 50th anniversary and our Nation's 250th Anniversary. To commemorate this, we want to create a SFMS T-Shirt. We’re going to give our members the chance to come up with the logo design. First we’ll have a logo design contest, picking a winner for a free Scholarship to a SFMS Federation week, including a free T-Shirt of the winning design. After that we’ll start awarding yearly Scholarships based on proceeds from T-Shirt sales. So the more we sell, the more scholarships we can give out.

Design contest rules:

·       Email submissions to me (email ddress below) 

·       Capture the essence of the SFMS, use your imagination.

·       Beautiful designs can be Black and White, gray scale, or in Vibrant colors.

·       Image size needs to be Large enough to create a clean logo design without pixelation.

·       Can be any shape or style. Front pocket design would be nice, but not necessary.

·       Must list who we are, “Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies”.

·       Must list that this is the, ”50th Anniversary 1976 – 2026”, somewhere in the design

·       You can submit as many different logo designs as you want.

·       Image format can be BMP, JPG, GIF, TIF, PowerPoint, MS Word, or PDF.

·       Deadline for submissions is June 20th. 

Logo design ideas: Gems, Minerals, Fossils, Lapidary creations, Maps or outlines of SFMS states and Boundaries that make up the SFMS, Interesting logo shape ideas and designs. What will people want to see as a design representing the SFMS? Unity of individual clubs that support and make up the SFMS. Preserving and growing Gem and Mineral Societies. Map Showing a Pinpoint of every club in the SFMS. The top 5 winning designs will be selected by the SFMS board and will be announced in the July Lodestar along with an order form for T-Shirt sales. Below are designs I came up with for my home club as examples to spark your imagination for your submissions. Opportunities like these can help bring your organizations closer together.

Please pass this message about this contest to all members of every SFMS Member Club; the goal is to be as extensive and inclusive as possible for this opportunity!!!

Moving forward, I want to meet you at the next SFMS Meeting. The SFMS State Director for each SFMS member state and the president of every SFMS Member club should attend every meeting of the SFMS. If the president of your club can’t attend, the president can send an appointed liaison in their absence. Right now, we're planning a summer meeting in Helen, GA. Dates and host hotel information will be announced on the website within the next week or two.

If you attended the March SFMS meeting in Live Oak, FL, you were treated to The Friday Night Free All you can eat Taco Social. After the dinner, we had a 1.5 hour long round table discussion on "How SFMS can help Strengthen your Club". I have to say, it was very inspiring!!!. The 8th Annual SFMS Rockhound Roundup was awesome. If you haven't attended one of these SFMS Rockhound Roundups you are really missing out, both patrons or vendors/tailgaters. The Rockhound roundup was fashioned after the Florida State Rock swaps from the late 60's, early 70's. These Rock Swaps lasted for a week and attendees would tailgate the rocks they wanted to swap. At the SFMS Rockhound Roundup you'll be amazed at the abundance of rough material, specimens, fossils,  finished jewelry, tools and lapidary equipment. This event is held at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park and Campground, located on the historic Suwannee River. They have Cabins you can rent, RV hookups and Camping sites available. Fishing, Hiking, Canoe/Kayaking and Nature watching (The Evening Bat flyout is so cool!!! Stay tuned next January for the 9th annual Swap.

Respectfully, Jason Hamilton President