New Members

Welcome to the
Midland Gem & Mineral Society

We are so excited to welcome you to the kaliedoscopic landscape of Gems & Minerals as seen through the eyes of the Midland Gem & Mineral Society.

Within Midland Gem & Mineral Society, we endeavor to provide you with the knowledge, skills, and tools to more fully pursue your love of gem’s & minerals through meetings, classes, shows, workshops, and mentoring.

THE ANNUAL CALENDAR OVERVIEW

The following is an overview of MGMS Annual Schedule & will help familiarize you with MGMS.
Dates are all tenative as they are subject to outside forces.

MEETINGS

  • GENERAL MEETINGS

    • The General Meeting is the 4th Thursday of each month (except for July, Nov. & Dec.) from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

      Location:

BOARD MEETINGS

  • The Board meeting is the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday of each month.
    The Board meeting is open to members only.

    • If you have any new or old business to bring before the board, please contact the current MGMS president so he/she may add you to the agenda.

      Location:

CLASSES

As you may already know, classes normally run (approximately) late January – early February through May. Summer is normally a busy time for many people and fall is dedicated fairs and our Annual Show (the 1st weekend in November).

  • Classes normally offered

    (subject to availability of Instructors)

    • Lapidary (required before any of the shop equipment can be used and before taking Silversmithing, Faceting, and Intarsia)
    • Wirewrapping
    • Silversmithing
    • Chainmaille
    • Faceting
    • Intarsia
    • Venetian Bead Work
    • Flameworking
    • Jewelry Construction
    • Beadweaving

Class dates and times are announced by the instructor during the meetings and in the Newsletter.
In most instances, signup sheets for classes are at the General Meetings.
If you have any questions about a class you have signed up for, just call the instructor or Class Chairperson.

EVENTS

    • SHOWS

      • MGMS SHOW is the first weekend in November

The Show season usually runs March through November.

    • SUMMER SOCIAL

      • The Summer Social in July is always lots of fun with plenty of activities to keep everyone busy.
    • WINTER SOCIAL
      • A Winter Social is in January.

As you can see,  there is a lot of workgoing into making our Society strong, interesting, and educational. Without the contributions of the MGMS members, none of this would be possible. MGMS has grown throughout the years due to the dedication & personal contributions of it’s members.

Their efforts make it possible for MGMS to be an important part of our community and to offer such a broad menu for our members to chose from.

As a New Member of MGMS, we ask you to consider sharing one of your skills to keep Midland Gem & Mineral Society strong and help ensure it’s continued growth.

If you are like most people, you are probably shaking your head saying to yourself, ‘I have nothing to offer.’
But…
Before deciding you have nothing, take a minute.
Read the following list and you may see that, Yes…
There are many ways you can contribute to our Society.

Just a few of the ways Members Can Contribute

  • An Officer
    (must meet minimum time requirements)
  • A Board Member
    (must meet minimum time requirements)
  • Chairperson
  • Instructor
  • Cook
  • Fund Raising
  • Entertaining
  • Entertainment
  • Organization
  • Creative Design
  • Graphical Design
  • Door Prize Donations
  • Technical Writing
  • Creative Writing
  • Photography
  • Ability to Travel
  • Design Display
  • Categorizing
  • Public Speaking
  • Data Entry
  • General Maintenance
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Building Maintenance
  • Networking
  • Community Development
  • Event Planning
  • Setup / Take Downs
  • Demonstrations
  • Grant Writing
  • Hot Shot
  • Ideas (Think Tank)
  • Reporting
  • Archival
  • Computer Programming
  • Internet Language
  • Web Building Skills
  • Database Language

This list is only a smattering of ways one can contribute to MGMS.
So, put on your thinking caps…
There are no limits to how one may be an active part of Midland Gem & Mineral Society.

Member Apparel

To help identify our members and advertise our Society, we ask all members to wear the signature Green Vest with the MGMS Patch and Name tag at all times during shows and demonstrations.

You can make your own vest or you can contact some of our members for someone to help you with it.

The patches are normally available at the General Meetings on the 4th Thursday of each month where you can also order your Name Badges, and pins (if so desired) from Daniel.

~
In Closing

Remember, do not hesitate to take your questions to any member.
If that preson doesn’t know the answer, it’s almost guaranteed they will know someone who does.