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About NMS |
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Our Purposes
Our purposes, as set forth in our Articles of Incorporation, are education and
encouragement of interest in the field of mineralogy and the earth sciences.
We go about achieving our purposes through a variety of activities:
Nittany Mineralogical Society, Inc., is a member of EFMLS, the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies, and therefore an affiliate of AFMS, the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies. Our links page leads to more information about the federations. We contribute to scholarships and other projects of the federations, and benefit from their newsletters, educational resources, conventions, connections to other clubs, arrangements for insurance, and more. HistoryOur society was founded in 1994. Some of our members had been part of an earlier club in town with a lapidary emphasis, the Nittany Valley Gem and Mineral Club. Others had participated in mineral clubs elsewhere and were looking for the same activities in State College. The Penn State Mineral Museum provided a nucleus, and a Friends of Mineralogy - Pennsylvania Chapter symposium held here in 1993 brought some of the key players together. The society was founded in January 1994, and chose the third Wednesday of the month for its meeting night. The first meeting was held on February 16, 1994, in Steidle Building on Penn State's University Park campus in State College. This web site provides a complete list of past meeting programs. Among the major projects in the first decade were a series of seven (not counting the one before NMS formed) symposia for mineral collectors, generally featuring a full day of talks by experts, an auction, a banquet with keynote speaker, and a full day field trip. We incorporated as a non-profit in Pennsylvania prior to our first Nittany Gem and Mineral Show in 2006, and in early 2008 we received 501(c)(3) status from the IRS, retroactive to our incorporation in 2006. We held a series of four Nittany Gem and Mineral Shows, which included dealers, children's activities, a speaker program, field trips, and more. We have not held the show since 2009 because of the cost and difficulty in scheduling local venues. Our longest-term project, other than monthly meetings, has been our annual Minerals Junior Education Day for children and their parents. Children go to about eight different stations, each with a different topic on minerals, gems, fossils, or earth science. Each station includes a demonstration, display or activity and a discussion with trained personnel, and each provides a specimen related to the topic for them to keep. Join Us! Please come to one of our meetings and get to know us. Visitors and guests are always welcome.
We hope you'll join - benefits of membership and a membership form are available here>.
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