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MMS Meetings and Lectures
The Next Few MMS General Meetings:
(All regular club meetings are held on the second Monday of the month - All are welcome to attend to see what the club is about.)
Nov 11th - MMS Auction night at Cranbrook
Dec 9th - Club Meeting Via Zoom on Michigan Greenstones
Meeting Location:
Cranbrook Institute of Science
39221 Woodward Ave,
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Event(s) begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
What do We Meet and Discuss?
Evolution &
Fossils
Geo-Earth Sciences
Discoveries & Knowledge
Cosmic Events
Science &
Research
Locations &
Cultures
Elements & Physics
Chemistry & Reactions
Collecting &
Prospecting
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General Calendar of Events
All club meetings are held at Cranbrook Institute of Science except January, July, August, and October.
Doors Open at 7 pm with Program starting at 7:30 pm
General Club Itinerary:
January ......................................... Banquet Night (TBD)
2nd Monday of February ............... Club Meeting
2nd Monday of March ................... Club Meeting
2nd Monday of April ...................... Club Meeting
2nd Monday of May ...................... Club Meeting
2nd Monday of June ..................... Club Meeting
3rd Weekend of July ..................... Annual Picnic (TBD)
Summer Field Trips ...................... TBD
Month of August ............................ No Meeting
2nd Monday of September ........... Club Meeting (Cranbrook Library)
2nd Weekend of October............... Annual Show (Macomb Expo)
2nd Monday of November ............ Annual Auction
2nd Monday of December ............ Club Meeting
Past Meetings Log:
September 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 9th -
Meeting at Cranbrook with Brad Zylman on Glacier National Park in Montana.
June 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 10th -
Meeting at Cranbrook with Dr. Sarah Brownlee on color effects in gemstones.
May 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 13th -
Natalie Sowinski from the Miner's Den came and enlightened us on Lab vs. Real Diamonds and the jewelry industry trends.
April 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 22nd (Delayed because of the Eclipse) -
We met over Zoom with Kent Ratajeski, curator and director of the Buce Dice Museum in Grand Rapids, to visit the museum virtually.
March 2024: Annual Swap and Social Night at Cranbrook.
February 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 12th -
Zoom Meeting with Nathalie Brandes on "Mining throughout the Ages".
January 2024 Club Banquet: Saturday the 13th
Our Annual Club Banquet at the Management Education Center
December 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 11th
Larry Atkins spoke to use on the field collecting of meteorites.
November 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 13th
Our Annual Auction Night at Cranbrook
October 2023 MMS Show: October 13th, 14th & 15th
Our Annual Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show at the Macomb Expo Center.
September 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 11th
David K. Joyce spoke to us about Morrocan mineral collecting in a hybrid meeting in the Cranbrook Library.
August 2023: Summer Recess
July 2023: Summer Picnic
June Club Meeting: Monday, June 12th
Club members Todd Wethy and Patti Graves-Wesolosky entertained us on their exploits in Antarctica.
May Club Meeting: Monday, May 8th
Richard Grinstein spoke on Jewelry and Gemstone Art History and Style.
April 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 10th
Radioactive minerals and how to collect them by Rick Strapple.
March 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 13th
Club Swap & Social Meeting
February 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 13th
Western Michigan Univerity Professor Tom Howe gave a personal talk on the Minerals and Geology of Tasmania.
January 2023 Club Meeting: Saturday the 14th
Annual Banquet where Ph.D. Fisher from the University of Michigan gave a presentation on his lifelong research on Mammoths and Mastodons.
December 2022 Club Meeting: Monday the 12th
A Zoom hybrid meeting on the Matilda & Karl Pfeiffer Museum. We were shown wonderful Arkansas minerals and native artifacts.
November 2022: Annual Auction at Cranbrook
October 2022: Annual MMS 77th Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show
September 2022: Ph.D. Ralph Conti spoke on Rare Elements and how they are formed and came to Earth from the stars.
August 2022: Summer Recess
July 2022: Summer Recess
June Club Meeting: Monday June 13th 2022
A hybrid presentation from Ph.D John Rakovan on Crystal Forms and calculating Miller indices.
May Club Meeting: Monday May 9th 2022
A pre-recorded hybrid (online and in-person) presentation on Pegmatites by Tom Campbell
April Club Meeting: Monday April 11th 2022
A hybrid Zoom and in person meeting with Ph.D. Robert Hazen to speak on Mineral Evolution, classification and visualization with cutting edge science.
March Club Night: Monday March 14th, 2022 - Annual Swap meet at Cranbrook
February Club Meeting: Monday February 14th 2022
Zoom Meeting with the MSU Planetarium in East Lansing Michigan. A Science museum that features all the Meteorites that have hit Michigan!
January Club Meeting: Monday 14th, 2022
We met with Ph.D. Chris Stephano to learn about the unique Minerals of Maybee Michigan.
December 13th Club Meeting 2021
A wonderful presentation by Ph.D. Andrew Gangidine on how we might find traces of life on Mars.
November Club Meeting 2021: The annual MMS Auction!
September Club Meeting: Monday, September 13th, 2021
Peter Russell of the University of Waterloo spoke on Mastodon and Mammoth Fossil finds.
August 2021: Summer Recess
July 2021: Summer Recess
June Meeting: Monday, June 8th, 2021
It was an honor to have a Ph.D. Jaszczak spoke to us about the discovery and his hand in identifying the new mineral Merelaniite.
May Club Meeting 2021: Cancelled due to the Pandemic
April Club Night 2021:
Brad Zylman on Color in Gemstones - The Conundrum of Corundum! The presentation is on the member's only page.
March Club Night 2021
"Paleo Joe" to speak on Wyoming fossil collecting via Zoom. Meeting at 7:00 pm
February Club Night 2021: Fabian Wildfang presents his amazing collection via Zoom. This meeting is planned to start at 12:30 pm.
January: Meeting Cancelled.
December Club Meeting 2020
A fine presentation by Elijah Cornish on his mineral collecting.
November Club Meeting 2020
Bob Ruby Spoke on his personal collection, collection documentation, and mining paraphernalia.
October Club Meeting: Monday, October 13th, 2020
VP Brad Zylman to present Mineral Habits - A Common Language. This was an online meeting and the presentation is stored on the Members only page.
September Club Meeting: Monday, September 14th, 2020
Ph.D.Ralph Conti spoke on Fossil cleaning and liberation in an online presentation. Thanks, Ralph!
August: Summer Recess
July: Summer Recess
June Meeting: Monday, June 8th, 2020
Presentation on the Dana 8th edition classification of Minerals and the numbering system behind the internationally used system.
May Club Meeting: Cancelled due to the Pandemic
April Club Meeting: Cancelled due to pandemic
March Club Meeting: Monday, March 9th, 2020
MMS Swap & Social Night - Great food, great conversation, and lots of eye candy! Bring your gems, minerals, and fossils to sell or trade.
February Club Meeting: Monday, Feb. 10th, 2020
Speaker John Yellich spoke on the historic lake water levels and gave us a lot to think about how we are all interconnected.
January: Our Club Annual Banquet - January 25, 2020
Our Annual Banquet Night for our Club Members. 4 Billion Years of Great Lakes Geology.
December Meeting: December 9, 2019, THE AUCTION!!!!
Come prepared for an entertaining night of collaboration and bidding upon some fabulous auction items!
November Meeting: THE AUCTION was canceled due to the weather.
September Club Meeting: Sept. 10th, 2019
Club member Ph.D. Ralph Conti Spoke on the Optical effects of minerals and why some minerals look the way they do.
August: No Meeting
July Club Event: Monday, July 22, 2019
The Annual Picnic at MarshBank Park.
June Meeting: June 10th, 2019
Dr. Michael Cherney came and spoke on the new University of Michigan Natural History Museum and the Ice Age extinctions of Mammoths and Mastodons.
May Meeting: May 13th, 2019
Please come for an interesting night where we will be discussing Michigan's energy future from coal to fossil fuels and current plans for a greener state with special guest Robert Elliot.
April Meeting: April 8th, 2019
We hosted Steve Lehto who will be enlightening us on the life of Douglas Houghton. Look up his book Michigan's Columbus...
March Meeting: March 11, 2019
MMS Swap & Social Night - Books, Shells, Coins, Minerals, Fossils galore!
February Meeting: February 11, 2019
We will be hosting Ph.D. Christine Clark as she speaks on February 11th to combine the understanding of the tourmaline-mineral group with the petrology of the environments in which these minerals form.
January Meeting: Banquet Night
Our Annual Club Banquet Night - We learned about Gold Mining and a Gold/Zinc mine opening in Michigan.
December Club Meeting: Monday, December 10th, 2018
Matthew Shrenk from MSU will be speaking on mineral catalyzed reactions and microbial clues to the early evolution of life.
November Meeting: November 12, 2018, THE AUCTION!!!!
Come prepared for an entertaining night of collaboration and bidding upon some fabulous auction items!! We will have the BEST specimens available to our membership to be auctioned off. You will not believe the specimens which could go at a fraction of their worth.
September Club Meeting: Sept. 10th, 2018
Club member Rick Strapple will be speaking on the 7 known groups of Silicate Minerals. It was an excellent presentation!
August: No Meeting
July Club Event: Monday, July 22, 2018
The Annual Picnic at Drayton Plains.
June Meeting: Monday, June 11th, 2018
Club Vice President Brad Zylman spoke on how to make the leap to a digital archive of your collection. He presented several examples of software and shared ideas on affordable ways to document your collection for generations to come.
May Club Meeting: Monday, May 14th, 2018
Explore our current understanding of the origin of the solar system and the remarkable new evidence for conditions on the early Earth with Cranbrook's Science Museum Curator - John Zawiskie
April Club Meeting: Monday, April 9th, 2018
Come and listen to Richard Fox discuss Viking Sunstone and Optical Calcite.
March Club Meeting: Monday, March 12, 2018
MMS Swap & Social Night - Great food, great conversation, and lots of eye candy! Bring your gems, minerals, and fossils to sell or trade. Everyone is welcome!
February Club Meeting: February 12th, 2018
We hosted Ralph S. Conti, Ph.D. Physics, as he presented his collection of radioactive minerals with an emphasis on those collected by his family from the Bancroft, Ontario area. The talk covered the basics of radioactivity, followed by a description of collecting in the Bancroft area from 1958-1975.
January: Our Club Annual Banquet - January 13, 2018
Our Annual Banquet Night for our Club Members.