CENTRAL VIRGINIA GOLD PROSPECTORS Report on December 8, 2007 Meeting MEETING LOCATION: The next meeting will be on January 19th at Lovin Gold Prospecting Supplies store, 1082 Main Street (Route 15) in downtown Dillwyn at 10 AM. Bring a lawn chair. BE SURE TO LOOK AT THE END OF THIS NEWSLETTER FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE UPCOMING MEETING SCHEDULE FOR THE 2007-2008 SEASON. The December 8th meeting was called to order by the club president, Ben Vaughan. Everyone was welcomed--there were approximately 50 members and guests present. The Secretary gave the report for the October meeting and the Treasurer gave his report. OLD BUSINESS: Alaska Trip raffle-You have to be on the CVGP member roster to participate. In other words, if you receive this newsletter, you are eligible. The tickets are $10 each and can be purchased by mail. Contact Kathy at (434) 983-1300. The trip includes 1 GPAA membership for the year, roundtrip ticket from east coast and 4-wheel rental for 1 week. The trip is scheduled for July 20-27, 2008. The winner can extend the trip for a second week at his/her expense. We need to sell a minimum of 300 tickets to at least break even on this endeavor. The drawing will be held at the March 15, 2008 meeting. Be sure to get your ticket(s) by then. Properties-Do not dig in banks, do not dig a hole and try and camouflage it, if you see someone doing something against the rules please advise them of what they are doing wrong and then notify a club officer. In this way, we protect the entire club and help ensure the availability of our being able to continue to lease and use these properties. During hunting season properties 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 are closed except for Sundays. The other properties are open all week. Be careful where you park when at the properties-make sure you are on club property.. Some of these properties we only lease 104 feet on each side of the creek and that is where you need to park. Properties 2, 5 and 6 are in this situation. Miner's Safety Class was filled to capacity-24 attended and received their certificates. We will be holding another of these classes and will let you know the details. We are also contemplating a first-aid class. We are trying to locate a certified instructor to conduct the class. Property marking and road clean-up session on properties 4 and 7 is being scheduled. This is one of the terms of our lease agreement. We need everyone that can to participate in this. Dredging-Ben outlined what transpired at the October meeting and then told us about the letter of clarification we received from VMRC (Head of Habitat) on this subject. The VMRC interprets the regulation as us being able to use dredges, man portable (easily transported) and outside diameter is 4" or less. Ben then contacted Harvey Morgan, a representative in the Virginia Legislature about that letter. Mr. Morgan contacted VMRC and they advised that inside dimension is 4" or less and the outside diameter is no more than 4 1/2", in other words, 4 inch dredges are OK-if you want to use a bigger dredge at locations other than club leased properties, then you MUST complete the LONG application that is required by VMRC. After a lengthy discussion on dredge size and where we can use what, it was decided that the subject would be tabled until the next meeting. Your opinion either by email, telephone or at the next meeting will help us make a decision about the club policy. NEW BUSINESS: Guests at Properties: Any guest to a leased property must be registered prior to the visit. This was brought about because of the necessity for people on the property to have signed a waiver of liability for the landowner. Guest visits will be for one time only !! If you want access to the land more than one time, then they must become a club land fee member. Claim 8 - last week in February this property will be closed to ALL club members. They have a big turkey shoot and lots of alcoholic beverages-this is not a good time to be in the area !! Events Coordinator: Still need someone to help arrange and direct some of the events where we participate. It was decided that we would again have a raffle for an ounce + nugget. This raffle will begin at the March meeting. There will also be a nugget awarded to each of the top 3 ticket sellers (1/4 ounce, 1/8 and 1/16 approximate sizes). The tickets are $5 each. SCHEDULE FOR 2007-2008 SEASON: Each month the meeting will be on the 3rd Saturday of the month with one exception--the September meeting will be September 13th. There will be a meeting in November and also a meeting in December which will be a Christmas party. All meetings will be held at the Lovin Gold Prospecting Supplies store in Dillwyn. ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` EASTERN GOLD PROSPECTORS ASSOCIATION ??????????? Attend the January meeting for details about this. Raffle and door prize drawings were conducted. The meeting was adjourned with wishes for each and everyone to have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !! Hope we will see lots of you at the January meeting when the club will make a significant decision regarding dredging on the club's leased properties.