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Thank you to all our sponsors who support us in our educational mission!
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MONTHLY MEETING NOTICE
The JULYmeeting of KMGS will be held at the Pewaukee Public Library on Wednesday, JULY 15, 2026 at 6:30 PM.
**MEETING DATE CHANGE IN OCTOBER!
We were unable to reserve the library for our usual date, so the October meeting has been changed to October 14th, one week earlier. Still at 6:30 pm.
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July -Letter from President
As summer rockhounding is in full swing I thought I would give a list on rocks and minerals to put on you to find list. The following are the most common and plentiful in our state. Our goal for our 2027 show is to show case the rocks and minerals of Wisconsin to help educate the show attendees and our Midwest Federation conference guests. I know this list could be longer, my challenge is to find these and many others of our states riches to display as part of a Wisconsin display.
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KMGSJune Meeting Minutes 6-17-2026
(1) Meeting Called to order at 6:37 pm by VP Ashley Adair
(2) The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by 19 present, with 3 arriving later.
(3) Guests: No new guests are present.
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Upcoming Programs
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The July program will be Lee Turner giving a presentation on Big Horn Mountains.
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August - Mary presentation on Dino Tracks and Utah Sand Dunes.
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September is Pot luck and what you did on your summer vacation. Don't forget a dish to pass.
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Looking for programs for October and November.
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December is the Christmas Party and Trivia.
A heartfelt thank you to our amazing members who share their rockhounding adventures with the club! Your effort and dedication in creating and presenting programs truly enrich our community. Keep those stories coming!
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Are you into fluorescent rocks?
I’ve decided that the 2027 Show will be my last show taking care of the fluorescent display. After 25+ years, it’s time to pass the light to someone interested in taking it over. It would be nice to have a club member continue the tradition of organizing and developing the fluorescent display as an attraction for the show. If you are interested and want to work with me on the 2027 display, please contact me.
Richard Rosenberger
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Storage Shed work parties on HOLD until shelving is available
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CLUB SALES or CLUB MEMBER SALES?
Have you heard of us? We are part of your benefit of belonging to the club. These are similar in name but different in functions. Let’s describe both for clarification.
Club Sales:
These are items donated to the club for the purpose of being sold to benefit the club. The person donating the item does not get mone yback from the sale. People have donated parts of collections from family members that have passed. It also is a great way to reduce inventory at home but is not meant to be used to get rid of junk or scraps. If possible, we would like the items to be identified and a recommended value of the items as well. Donations are always accepted, but need to be, if possible, received by January of that show year, if not before.
Club Member Sales:
This area is for members to sell some of their items, parts of collections or such without having to pay for and man a booth of their own. Members volunteering or demonstrating can use this to sell items while they are busy.
The club member in the sales area is responsible for setting up your materials and needs to know in advance how much you are bringing. The show committee also needs to know if we are going to need more table space for the booth. If possible, this information is needed by January of that show year.
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All items need to be identified with your name and priced so that we can keep track of what is sold and for whom.
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All items will be sold as priced. Members must provide a list of what they have given us so that we can verify inventory as the show progresses. This allows us to verify that everyone selling gets what they are owed.
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Items to be sold here must be brought to the show on Friday morning and be picked up by the close of the show on Sunday. If the remaining items are not picked up by that time they will be donated to Kettle Moraine Geological Society.
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The club charges a 15% fee for using Club Member Sales booth.
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CLUB SPONSORED FIELD TRIPS!
All members of the club are eligible to attend! Check out what Wisconsin has to offer….besides cheese!
Please register for the field trips, as the club will provide buses if needed.
Exploring Cana Island in Door County
Saturday, July 11th, 2026
2pm - 4pm
Cana Island Lighthouse
8800 E Cana Island Rd
Baileys Harbor, WI 54202
Rockhounding Kenosha Beaches
Saturday, August 8th, 2026
10:30am 'till we get sick of it!
Starting at Simmons Island Beach House
5001 Simmons Island Road
Kenosha, WI 53140
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KMGS Annual Picnic - August 8, 2026
11:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Nixon Park Shelter #4 - near the playground
Hartland, WI 53029
We enjoy each other's company from approx. 11 - 4. There are picnic tables, but you may also want to bring a lawn chair. Bring whatever you want to eat + your own plates/utensils. Also, many of us bring something to share....a dessert, chips, salads, fruit, etc. John R. likes to grill, so bring meat to grill if you want.
What is fun: bring your summer "finds", stories of your travels, plans of where you are going next, anything of interest to any of us!
Rain or shine - we have a shelter - we haven't been rained on for many, many years. Did you know we have been having out picnic there for over 40 years.
Public washrooms are nearby.
If questions or more information, contact Janet Schmitt.
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Carolyn Caverns Exploration a Hit!
The KMGS Jr. Rockhounds club along with several adult members and community guests enjoyed an exciting cave adventure at Carolyn Caverns in June. Carolyn Caverns is a caving system managed by Wisconsin Speleological Society (WSS) located in Ledge View Nature Center in Chiton, Wisconsin. Since their discovery in 1986 the WSS has managed to excavate five different caves from sinkholes all connected by a series of small crawlspaces and tunnels.
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Jr. Rockhounds Club Wish List
Our generous members wondered what the Jr. Rockhounds Club might have on their wish list of supplies that might help us in our mission to educate kids about Earth Science. While there are many items that would be helpful to have access to for our programs, by far the most important item we have on our list is your valuable time.
Our club is growing and our growth includes reaching more and more people, young and old, who are interested in learning about Earth Science, geology, paleontology and all things ROCKS! That means that we rely on volunteers from our knowledgeable membership to donate their time hosting programs, guiding hikes and organizing outdoor rockhounding explorations. Many of you have really interesting places you like to visit, or have traveled the world collecting and documenting specimens our juniors would love to learn about. We'd love for you to share your knowledge with us!
We all have wonderful gifts of knowledge to share... Please reach out to me if you are interested in contributing to our educational mission by donating your time conducting a program or project for the group. The Jr. Rockhounds meet on the second Saturday or every month, so we have many spots to fill! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Other things that help the club? Every holiday season we hand out goodie bags of specimens I've collected over the season from our generous members. So we love to gather cool rocks, minerals, or scraps for this purpose. If you have ideas about other items you're looking to replace in your rockhounding tool kit or collection of lapidary related tools please reach out. We may be able to put things to use in some of our monthly classes.
Thank you in advance for all your kind support of the Jr. Rockhounds Club! We certainly wouldn't be where we are if it wasn't for our awesome membership!!
Ori-Anna Ramsey
KMGS Jr. Rockhounds Club Administrator
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.kmgsjrrock.weebly.com
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Upcoming Junior Rockhounds Events
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2 Field Trips Left!
Remember, the KMGS Jr. Rockhounds is not only for our young rock enthusiasts, it's for the young-at-heart as well. Be sure to register soon as some of these opportunities will fill up fast!
Our group plans trips and meetings on the second Saturday of the month so you can plan ahead and not miss out. Here's what we have in store!
Exploring Cana Island in Door County
Saturday, July 11th, 2026
2pm - 4pm
Cana Island Lighthouse
8800 E Cana Island Rd
Baileys Harbor, WI 54202
Rockhounding Kenosha Beaches
Saturday, August 8th, 2026
10:30am 'till we get sick of it!
Starting at Simmons Island Beach House
5001 Simmons Island Road
Kenosha, WI 53140
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SPREADING T H E L O V E
OF ROCKS!
Crack the News, the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies’ newsletter is out now - for kids and teens, written by kids and teens!
In this edition, juniors from around the country wrote about their favorites, including sunstones, fossils, ammonites, fluorescent minerals, and graptolites. See their stories about mining for gold and collecting in Central Oregon. And enjoy the Art Gallery featuring Kansas shark teeth, dinosaurs, and crystals. The last page features a geology radio star from Michigan.
Contribute to the next edition of Crack the News. One topic we would like to see from juniors is an article about why he/she likes your juniors club, plus any artwork, poems, and stories. Details about submitting your article, poetry, artwork, or photos are at https://www.juniors.amfed.org/juniors-newsletter.
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8 Rock Finds To Look for On Lake Michigan Beaches
This story about Lake Michigan beaches previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Story by Sara Jordan-Heintz.
(Editors note: This links to a free article at Rock & Gem website. While the article references the Great Lakes around Michigan, many of the rock finds can also be found on Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shores.)
Lake Michigan beaches are home to the nation’s longest freshwater coastline (3,288 linear miles). Michigan is surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie), making hunting for beach finds a rockhound’s dream. Michigan’s coasts are varied with sandy beaches and dunes, wetlands and rocky cliffs and bluffs. There’s always something new to see.
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Traveling this summer? Check out the Regional Rock Shows country-wide!
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July Rock & Gem Shows in the Midwest
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THE LAST WORD
See you all at the Pewaukee Public Library, July 15, 2026 at 6:30PM
Please send all comments, submissions and ideas for articles to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ori-anna and Regina, Co-editors
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The Kettle Moraine Geological Society (KMGS) was organized in 1960 for the purpose of gathering and disseminating knowledge of geology and the earth sciences.
Our meetings are held at the Pewaukee Public Library on the third Wednesday of each month at 6:30 PM. Guests are always welcome. Persons interested in becoming members can obtain an application form from any of the officers. Visit our website at www.kmgsrocks.com and like us on facebook.
The Kettle Krier is the official publication of KMGS and is published each month. Articles for publication must be submitted no later than the second weekend of the month prior to publication.
KMGS is a member of the Midwest Federation of Mineralogical Societies and the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies.
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2026 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
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PRESIDENT
Tim Perrin
VICE-PRESIDENT
Ashley Adair
TREASURER
Don Shervey
Dave Derrick, DEPUTY
SECRETARY
John Rettler
KETTLE KRIER
Regina Kapta, EDITOR
Ori-Anna Ramsey, DEPUTY EDITOR
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TECH/WEBSITE
Javier Benitez
SHOW COMMITTEE
John Rettler, CHAIR
Tim Perrin, CO-CHAIR
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Mary Nettesheim
FIELD TRIP COMMITTEE
POSITION OPEN
SUNSHINE COMMITTEE
Marlene Ilecki
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EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Mike Andrysczyk
JR. ROCKHOUNDS COORDINATOR
Ori-Anna Ramsey
TRUSTEES
Regina Kapta,
Trustee-ad-Litem
Javier Benitez, PAST PRESIDENT
NOMINATION COMMITTEE
Mary Nettesheim
Dave Elftman
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