Membership Information
Please see our membership page.
Contact Information
The quickest way to contact us is to send us an
For those without access to email, the clubs' mailing address is
Aiken Gem, Mineral and Fossil Society
PO Box 267
Aiken, SC 29803-0267
Officers
The officers and committees for the 2018 year are as follows:
President: Walt Kubilius
Vice President: Debbie Baer
Secretary: Ken Glass
Treasurer: Kathleen Wallis
Newsletter Ed: Barbara Fenstermacher
Field Trip/DMC: John Kolmar
Membership Chair: Barbara Fenstermacher
Webmaster: Patti Bennett
Federation Liaison: Barbara Fenstermacher
USCA Liaison: Walt Kubilius
Affiliations
The Aiken Gem, Mineral and Fossil Society is associated with the following regional and national organizations:
Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies (SFMS)
The SFMS was organized in 1976 to bring about a closer association of Clubs and Societies devoted to the study of Earth Sciences and the practice of Lapidary Arts and Crafts in the Southeastern part of the United States. It is composed of 80+ clubs and societies mostly in the southeast region of the U.S.
American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS)
The AFMS was founded in 1947 and is a nonprofit organization composed of seven similar regional organizations. Both the Southeast Federation and the Eastern Federations, described above, are members of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies.
History
The Aiken Gem, Mineral and Fossil Society (AGMFS) was founded September 16, 1962 with eight members. By the end of 1962 the society had 40 charter memberships and 53 people attended the first field trip to the Allendale, SC area on Nov. 17, 1962. Many things have changed since then, the meeting locale has been moved from The Pet Milk Co. on Hwy. 215 to Banksia (original location of the University of South Carolina at Aiken (USCA)) and now to the science building on the campus of USCA. The club has continued with monthly meetings, publishing a newsletter ("The Hound's Howl") and has sponsored many field trips throughout the southeast. The AGMFS has hosted a gem and mineral show since 1963 and has been co-host with the Augusta GMS since 1988. The show is presently held at the Julian Smith Casino in Augusta, Georgia.
The presence of the Savannah River Site and the University of South Carolina at Aiken along with many interesting club members has provided the club with many excellent programs. The club maintains an extensive library of books and periodicals on geology, mineralogy, fossils and lapidary that are available to the members. In addition, the club donates both a scholarship to the geology department at USCA and to the Ruth Patrick Science Center to help fund Earth Science programs. The club also participates in Science Education Enrichment Day (SEED) at the university, Aiken Kids Earth Day in April and provides an annual display at the Aiken County Library. For a complete list of South Carolina clubs go to: www.rockhounds.com/rockshop/clublist.html.