Membership Benefits

Membership to the Montgomery Gem and Mineral Society is open to anyone regardless of age or place of residence. Junior members, young people under the age of 18, must be sponsored by a parent, guardian, or member in good standing, and must be accompanied to meetings and on field trips by an adult member. You are joining an organization whose purpose is to promote the earth sciences, paleontology, and the lapidary arts within our membership and the community.  You may also participate in our earth science field trips to local sites of interest and collecting areas and occasionally to locations requiring overnight stays. We try to have our field trips during the fair weather months, weather permitting. During break time members enjoy refreshments while having a look at the show and tell and chatting with other members .  Our monthly meetings include an educational program, a business meeting, along with opportunity to win prizes, and enjoy a light snack and friendly conversation. As a member, you are able to participate in our many activities.

Membership includes lots of benefits

• Receive The Golden Nugget, our monthly newsletter with great informative articles.
• Attend club meetings with presentations and speakers with expertise in their field.
• Be a part of the very popular Gem and Mineral show in December.
• You will have access to our lapidary workshop, juniors (over 13) must be accompanied by an adult.
• Participate in rock collecting field trips.
• Attend our annual great picnic/field trip that is usually in August.
• Be able to play our Rock Bingo at select meetings and no one leaves without a prize.
• Have ample opportunities to meet and mingle with fellow rock hounds, gem enthusiasts, jewelry makers and earth science lovers.
• Access to our Facebook group titled “Montgomery Gem and Mineral Society”.
• Making new friends who share rockhounding and lapidary interests.
• Monthly meetings with great educational speakers.
• Access to Member Only area of website.
• Free Admission & Parking to the club Gem and Mineral Show when helping out.

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Membership in any organization works best when it works two ways, when you put something into it and when you get something out of it. Before applying for membership, join us for a meeting to be sure your interests and the society’s programs are compatible. If you decide to join, simply fill out an application for membership. Membership dues currently are $20.00 for individuals and $30.00 for a family for a year. Dues are renewable on January 1st of each year.

Members can earn points through various acts, such as attending monthly meetings or field trips. At the end of the year, members with 25 or more points are entered into a drawing for a scholarship to William Holland School of Lapidary Arts or Wildacres Retreat. Two names will be drawn as winners, and two names as alternatives, since the prizes cannot be carried over to future years. Please print the points sheet to see how points may be earned, and to keep up with your points.Winners will be responsible for their own transportation & cost of materials.  

Our lapidary workshop is open to you on weekends and weekdays (with a necessary appointment only) where you can take part in many activities. You can cut, grind, and polish stones. To help new  members learn the skills required for these projects, we also offer classes on an ad hoc basis.

The business part of the meeting starts with reports from the various committees and discussion of new business. Some meetings feature an invited speaker. if no speaker, it's usually Rock Bingo time. A popular feature of our meetings is our show and tell time. Each month a different theme is selected to feature at the next meeting. Examples are: agates, fossils, purple rocks, locally collected material, etc. Any club member may bring in specimens to share with the group. This inspires a lively sharing of information as rocks are passed around. 

Become a Member

To become a member, download our membership application and bring it to our next meeting. The current year's dues are listed on the form. 

Membership fees are yearly dues for the period January 1 through December 31st. Renewal of membership is due January 1st every year. For new members joining after July 1st, there is a discounted membership fee for the first membership year ending December 31st.

Once you are a Member

The extremely affordable membership dues barely cover the cost of printing and mailing. And since keeping the club afloat is crucial, our main funds intake is our annual gem show. As part of being a member, we ask you to help out and volounteer during this once a year gem show.  Another way is to donate door prizes to our monthly meetings. As a club member you are asked and expected to participate in our annual show by helping at the show and by donating to our fundraisers and committees.  We also encourage members to seek various positions in the organization and voice your ideas to help make us a better organization. Submission of your application further constitutes your willingness to abide by all the rules, regulations and by-laws now in effect or afterwards put into effect. In addition, we always need volunteers at our functions. The largest amount of help is always needed for the Gem and Mineral Show, but there are also many other occasions where members participation is needed.

We welcome you to the Montgomery Gem & Mineral Society.  Every member is here to help you if you have questions.

RENEWAL
Current members who want to renew their membership by mail can download the Membership Application and mail it with their check, or turn it in during the next club meeting.