Houston Conchology Society The Epitonium

www.houstonshellclub.com Volume XXIX, Issue 1 September, 2021

The Epitonium

Houston Conchology Society

HCS meetings We hope to resume Sunday afternoon meet-ings at the Weekley YMCA before long. Plans were made to do it in September, but the COVID surge has caused it to be canceled. Maybe we can meet in October. Stay tuned for further developments.

HCS Auction Please mark your calendars for Saturday, March 19, 2022. The pandemic has caused so many can-celations and postponements, that we hope to re-sume some sense of normalcy by having our auc-tion in March. It will be at our usual site the Im-manuel Lutheran Church in The Heights. We have a lot of great shells and shell related items that need good homes They are tired of residing in the storage room.

Jamboree/Shell Show Unfortunately, the events were postponed again because of COVID. Mark your calendars for Octo-ber 14-16, 2022. It is still scheduled for the Ban-quet room at the Lake Jackson Civic Center. De-tails will be posted on the HCS website and will be in the newsletter when they are available.

President's Message by Leslie Crnkovic

Welcome to the HCS 2021-2022 Club Year!

Thank you for allowing me to be your HCS President for another season; I hope to serve you well.

It was good seeing many of you at the COA convention in June, and at the Katz’s Deli gathering in August.

This fall we had hoped to return to a sem-blance of normal with meetings starting in September, but due to logistical issues it will be postponed. Perhaps we can meet in Octo-ber. Unfortunately, I may be unable to join you due to other obligations.

I look forward to a time when we can all meet together safely.

Stay well!

P.S. - my cell number has changed. My new cell is my old home number in the directo-ry. Feel free to call or text anytime

September Meeting Canceled

HCS Membership Directory Plans are under way to provide members with a new directory. The booklet format that we have used in the past is very time consuming to organ-ize and has been a large expense for the club, so the officers have decided that the new one will be sent to members via email in a PDF format, and they can save it on their computer or print out a copy for themselves. Those who pay extra for a printed newsletter will receive a printed copy. It will only be available to members, but if you do not want any of your information included, please tell Lucy Clampit at [email protected]. It should be available by November.

Congratulations, Angie! Long time HCS member, Angie Marsland, is spotlighted by the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum. “Our volunteer spot-light this month is An-gela Marsland! Angie has been volunteering with the Museum since 2018, but visiting since the Museum’s opening in 1995. She is one of our Great Hall Docents, and she also volunteers in the Collection De-partment. Angie’s pas-sion for volunteering stems from her life-long love of shells, and today she is a part of numer-ous shell clubs, includ-ing one in the U.K! Interested in joining our volunteer team? Pick up an application at our front desk or download at ShellMuse-um.org/volunteer.”

PAGE 2 THE EPITONIUM VOLUME XXIX, ISSUE 1

Visit HCS online at

www.houstonshellclub.com

President: Leslie Crnkovic

Vice President: Angela Doucette

Treasurer: Angie Haneiko

Recording Secretary: Rusti Stover

Corresponding Secretary: Lucy Clampit

CALENDAR 9/19/21 HCS Meeting Canceled

10/17/21 HCS Meeting

11/19/21 HCS Meeting

6/31–7/4 2022 COA in Galveston

10/14- 2022 Texas Jamboree &

3/19/22 HCS Auction

HCS Dues 2021-2022 A big thank you to every-one who has paid their dues. If you have not paid, and you receive a paper copy of the newsletter, a form is included in this is-sue. If you read the news-letter on the website, you will receive an email re-minder. If you plan to con-tinue to be a member, please fill out the form completely and send it to Angie Haneiko ASAP, so we can get a new member-ship directory completed.

Thank You, Rusti ! The pandemic pre-vented the HCS from having an auction, yet the bills kept coming. Rusti Stover stepped up and of-fered to sell some of the club’s shells on eBay. She raised more than $2,000, so the club is in reasona-ble financial shape at this time. At the banquet, President Dave Green presented Rusti with a gift for her efforts.

Thanks, again, Rusti.


THE EPITONIUM VOLUME XXIX, ISSUE 1

Annual Banquet Fortunately, the pandemic slowed down enough for 20+ members and friends to gather at Mon-ument Inn for our annual banquet on May 22. Everyone enjoyed the wonderful food and had a good time catching up. We celebrated Angela Doucette’s and John Haneiko’s birthdays, and outgoing president Dave Green passed the president’s gavel to incoming president Leslie Crn-kovic. It was great to see each other again!

(Pictures by Rusti Stover.)



COA Convention 2021 Several HCS members journeyed to Melbourne, Florida for the June convention. More than 135 people braved the pandemic to attend the event chaired by Alan Gettleman and Phyllis Gray. As usual, the preconvention field trips, programs, auctions and Bourse did not disap-point. And, of course, we had a chance to catch up with friends that we haven’t seen in a couple of years.

This writer’s favorite program was “Rediscovering Sea Silk – it’s been here since antiquity” pre-sented by Joyce Matthys from the Sanibel and Oregon shell clubs. She collected byssus from pen shells, cleaned it, and made a tiny piece of fabric which she passed around for us to see and touch.

Congratulations go to our own Leslie Crnkovic and Dave Green. The 2022 convention in Gal-veston will mark COA’s 50th anniversary. A contest to design a pin to commemorate the event was won by Leslie. Dave’s snail won Snail of the Show in the Snail Parade.

Carved by the late Phil Schneider.



August Social Traditionally, the HCS begins its new year of meetings with a social. Nine members, and Rusti’s daughter Andrea, braved the pandemic to attend the gathering at Katz’s Deli on August 4th. Everyone had a great time and some enjoyed the yummy 7-layer chocolate cake. (Pictures by Rusti Stover.)

COA Convention 2022 The convention scheduled for May 31-June 4, 2022 at Moody Gar-dens in Galveston is fast approaching. As details become available, they will be posted on the HCS website and the COA 2022 Galves-ton Texas Facebook page.

The HCS has received donations of multiple copies of the book En-cyclopedia of Texas Seashells. At least 2 will be donated to the COA auction. It would be nice to include some TX shells with the books. If you have good TX shells, with collection data, that you would like to donate, please contact Lucy Clampit at [email protected].

HOUSTON CONCHOLOGY SOCIETY Lucy Clampit, Corresponding Secretary 10532 Hammerly Blvd. Houston, Texas 77043

The Epitonium is published monthly September through May and is an official publication of the Houston Conchology Society. Items of interest concerning shells and shelling are welcome for publication. Credit will be given to contributors when known unless anonymity is requested. Permission is granted for reprinting articles, provided credit is given to The Epitonium, the writer, and the Houston Conchology Society and a copy of the reprint is sent to the editor of the newsletter. Editor: Lucy Clampit 10532 Hammerly Blvd., Houston, TX 77043 E-mail: [email protected] The Society holds regular meetings on the third Sunday of September, October, November, January, February and April. There are seasonal events and a yearly shell auction scheduled in the other months. During the pandemic, all meetings have been canceled until further notice. VISITORS WELCOME!!! Membership year extends from June 1 through May 31. Annual membership dues: Family $20; Single $15; Junior (under 18) $6. Make checks payable to Houston Conchology Society and send to Angie Haneiko, 11407 Blackhawk Blvd., Houston, TX 77089.

Documents

Houston Conchology Society The Epitonium