Dear SCAN members,
It is a new year, with lots of special information for you in this newsletter. Planning a new year is stimulating, but 1997 was fun and rewarding as well. The last field trip of 1997 was fossil hunting at the Martin-Marietta Quarry near Cross, SC, on December 13th. We thank our hosts for allowing us to have access to their property. While the skies had cleared, it was a cold windy day for the 12 members and one guest who tackled the wet limestone piles and ankle-deep mud to look for goodies from the past. Despite the rain, not too much new material had been exposed. We have a short but worthwhile list from some of the members. If others have additions please let the secretary know, and an addendum will be prepared. One non-fossil highlight was seen by Lynn Smith at the entrance to the quarry, where upon arrival she had to stop for a big turkey gobbler in the middle of the road, then observed about 8 companions of his in the woods just a few feet off the pavement. Thanks to Alex Ciegler for setting up the trip, and for finding the nice nearby areas to bird after the fossils.
Dues are due! Everyone’s membership is up for renewal for 1998 on January first! Please fill out the enclosed renewal form and return with your dues to the SCAN Post Office Box, or bring it to the annual meeting. Because of limited time at the meeting, the secretary and treasurer really appreciate the early bird renewals in the mail. Please make out your check and envelope with at least the word “Naturalists” is spelled out, so that the postal employees are less likely to put in a Scana Corp. box instead of ours! Please do it now!
Nominating Committee Report: The nominating committee will nominate the following people as SCAN officers for 1998. Note that there is one major vacancy…Secretary. Lots of folks have said no. The position is a very important one, but it has been split to make it easier to handle. Please consider tackling this one and volunteer. You get custody of the SCAN computer which comes with its own computer desk as well as a complete written set of instructions and lots of back up help from previous secretaries. Once you become ‘an officer’ you’ll find you get even more out of an organization. [End of lecture.]
| President | Ken Boni | Regional Directors | |
| Vice-president | Dee Hope | Northern | Charlie Williams |
| Sec’y for f/f list | Jan Ciegler | Eastern | Julie Finlayson & Sandy Elliott |
| Secretary- Recording, Newsletter | HELP | Central | Alex Ciegler |
| Treasurer | Bill Carter | Southern | Mary G. Douglass |
| Historian | Virginia Winn | Western | Ted Cottingham |
| Parliamentarian | Lynn Greenlee | ||
SCAN ANNUAL MEETING, January 24, 1998
This year’s annual meeting will have a different schedule. This is a result of the usual meeting room, the Vista room, having been reserved by Girl Scouts for an overnight. I requested the room in October but the Girl Scouts request preceded mine by 3 months. The morning portion of the meeting will be in the State Museum Auditorium. The schedule for the meeting is:
| 10:30 | Prof. John Morse on caddis flies and aquatic insects in South Carolina |
| 11:30 | Lunch and exhibit set-up in the Vista Room |
| 1:00 | Association registration and viewing exhibits |
| 1:30 | Prof. Ed Ruppert on Evolutionary Origin of the Vertebrate Kidney |
| 2:15 | Prof. John Morse on the Biodiversity Initiative and the Museum of Natural History at Clemson |
| 2:30 | Lynn Smith – Review of 1997 slides |
| 3:30 | Business meeting including election of officers for 1998 |
Exhibits for the Annual Meeting
All members are invited to bring exhibits of what they have been doing this year. Hopefully, the change in time for setting up the exhibits will not cramp people’s enthusiasm for providing exhibits.
Election of Officers
The slate of officers generated by the nominating committee is published in this issue of the newsletter. Nominations will be accepted from the floor at the annual meeting provided that the nominee has given permission to be nominated.