ACTIVITIES OF THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FOSSIL CLUB

Saturday, December 12th, 2009- we celebrated our annual Christmas Party. Everyone had a great time. Good food, good times and especially good friends. Photos

Sunday, August 9, 2009 - we had our annual picnic. We played shark bingo, had a fossil pit for the kids and enjoyed many other activities. Thank you to all who participated in making this a great activity for the club. Additional Photos

Saturday, July 11, 2009 Monthly Meeting - Roger Portell, Collection Mgr. Invert. Paleontology of the Museum in Gainesville, did a presentation about Fossil Hunting at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba. Additional Photos

Saturday, May 9, 2009 - One of our Lifetime Members - Terry Sellari was the guest speaker. His slide program was about Hunting and Diving for Fossils in Florida.

Monday, April 20, 2009 - approximately 23 members of the SWFFC went to CF Industries on a field trip. Photos

Saturday, April 11, 2009 - Our speaker was this year’s Vertebrate Scholarship Recipient, Catalina Pimiento. She is currently a graduate student in Biology at the University of Florida with a minor in Science Education. She works as a researcher-curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Photos

March 13, 2009 - Mark Renz, as usual, kept us all on the edge of our seats with wonderful photography and beautiful dialog which left us all wanting to pack up and go to Peru.

January 10, 2009 - Dr. Bruce McFadden, the Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History gave a presentation about collecting fossils in the Panama Canal. Photos

December 14, 2008 - we celebrated our annual holiday party as we always do - with lots of fun and lots of food. Photos

September 13, 2008 - Guest speaker Charles O'Connor discussed sharks - biology, shark and human interactions and giant Megalodon sharks. Fossil teeth were displayed, including pathologic and beautiful teeth from around the world. Photos

August 9, 2008 - Our annual picnic was held at Pioneer Park. Although the weather was a bit on the rainy side, we had a wonderful day with plenty to eat and entertainment which included Shark Bingo. Photos

July 12, 2008 - Our guest speaker at the July meeting was Frank Garcia. His program was on the White River Badlands formation of Nebraska. Photos

May 3rd & 4th - We went on a diving trip off of Venice Beach. Congratulations to Jeff Byard for the nice mammoth tooth he found on his first diving trip. Great job to all the other members who went on the trip. Diving Trip

April 14, 2008 - About 20 club members went on a trip to CF Industries. Representatives from CF gave us an introduction to the mine. We had many different finds - from meg teeth to whale vertebrates. CF Industries and April Meeting Photos

March 29th Dive Trip - We had a blast on our dive trip off Venice Beach. One of our members found a 5 3/8 inch meg tooth. More pictures and a story will be in our next newsletter. Dive Photos

2008 Annual Auction - was held on February 9th. Auctioneers Steve Wilson and Chuck Ferrara kept the excitement going all evening. There was a separate auction for the kids. We raised money for at least two $500.00 scholarships to Gainesville University - one to Vertebrate Paleontology and one to Invertebrate Paleontology. Auction Photos

Home Show and January Meeting - We had lots of volunteers and lots of people who stopped by our booth at the Home Show. At the meeting, Dr. Gordon Hubbell was presented a certificate for being a lifetime club member. Home Show and January Meeting Photos

25 Year Celebration - was held on December 8, 2007. It was a wonderful way to commemorate this special occasion 25 Year Anniversary Celebration Photos

November Meeting - Ollie Tipton demonstrated how to wire wrap shark's teeth into jewelry. Wire Wrapping Photos

Last trip to Quality Materials - Quality has been sold and we may have taken our last trip there on October 13, 2007. Quality Pit Photos UPDATE - We have talked to the new owners of Quality and the club will be visiting this site again.