CENTRAL VIRGINIA GOLD PROSPECTORS UPCOMING MEETING MAY 20, 2006 AT BUCKINGHAM The May 20th meeting will be held at the leased Buckingham property, 10:00 AM. Everyone is welcome. DIRECTIONS TO LEASED PROPERTY IN BUCKINGHAM COUNTY: On A map find the intersection of route 15 and route 60 at Sprouse’s Corner. Go 1 ½ miles south on route 15. In curve you will see a sign for route 714—go to NEXT gravel road and turn right. It is across from two churches on left. After going through gate, go past trailer on right. When you come to a clearing on the left with a large oak tree you should bear to the right. This road will take you to the creek. You should not attempt to go any further than the creek unless you have an ATV or 4-wheel drive. Lunch will be provided for all attending the meeting. The proposed menu is BBQ, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, fruit salad, etc. If anyone wants to bring something, it would be appreciated—especially veggies, dip and desserts. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````` The April 15, 2006 meeting was called to order by the club President Ben Vaughan. The approximately 67 members and guests in attendance were welcomed by Ben. A moment of silence was observed in remembrance of two of our recently deceased members, Walter Carr, II and Earl Hartman. Both of these fine men were longtime members of CVGP and will be missed. Under old business the procedures for conducting the 1 ounce gold nugget and the Garrett Crossfire II metal detector raffles were outlined. The tickets for both of these raffles will be sold until September, at which time the drawings will be held. It should be noted that the person selling the most tickets for the gold nugget raffle will win a ¼ ounce nugget. There is no news on possible new properties in Buckingham. Ben will be contacting them before the next meeting to try and get some firm details about new properties. DREDGING: The major permit covering the whole club was returned from VMRC for us to obtain the landowners names on both sides of the water source. If you need an individual dredging form to complete, let us know and we will get you a copy. It is becoming critical that these be completed for any property where you have permission to prospect. After several years to trying to get dredging approved, we are finally getting there and now it is time for you to participate—so, SEND IN YOUR FORMS. FOR VIRGINIA RESIDENTS: It has been proposed that we contact our Virginia legislators to let them know what we want to do and ask them how we can accomplish this. Attached to this newsletter is a listing showing the names and contact information for the Virginia General Assembly (House and Senate).. This can only be done by Virginia residents, although the outcome would affect out-of-state people too. It doesn’t matter where in Virginia you live—all districts need to be contacted. You can telephone them, write a letter or send an email message. Some suggested talking points might be: Recreational Mineral Prospectors would like to be able to use the waters of Virginia just like fishermen. Prospecting is my hobby, and currently Virginia does not allow me to pursue this hobby. I would like to see Virginia have a license for Recreational Mineral Prospecting like other states. Will you help Virginia to get a Recreational Mineral Prospecting Program, so that I do not have to travel to North Carolina to enjoy my hobby. When I go out of state, I spend money there and not in Virginia. Other states have recreational mineral prospecting and it would be beneficial for me, as a prospector, to be able to practice my hobby in my own home state. Because there is no program in Virginia, there is a lot of confusion among state agencies about where, when or how I can prospect in Virginia. Will you help with crafting legislation that will clear up this confusion? It has become apparent that of all the various Commonwealth of Virginia agencies that are involved in this issue, one doesn’t know what the other is doing—they are their own little entities and do not want to assume or share responsibility for making a decision regarding this. That is one of the reasons we feel it has become necessary for us to do some nudging of our representatives. Hunters and fishermen can get a permit to persue their recreational hobbies so why can’t gold prospectors do the same? Why are they making us jump through so many hoops as they try and apply the same regulations on us as apply to, for example, oyster dredgers. We are not harming the environment !! We only want to pursue our hobby. PROPOSED TRIP TO COTTON PATCH, NEW LONDON, NORTH CAROLINA: The proposed trip is being considered for the last weekend in September (the final date depends on when suits the most people). If there is enough interest, the number of days for the outing can be extended. Send your name and telephone number to Bob or Sandy Stowe if you are interested in going. Once we know how many people are interested in attending, we can find out what the cost would be. You can get more information about Cotton Patch by going to their website, www.cottonpatchgoldmine.com/ ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````````````````````````` Last but certainly not least, the drawings for the gold nuggets were held and we also had an Easter nugget hunt. Everyone in attendance drew an egg. Each egg contained something—candy, gold pans, snuffer bottles, etc. and one had a gold nugget in it. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the May 20TH meeting in Buckingham. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VIRGINIA SENATE To determine where to vote and who your state representatives are, visit the State Board of Elections Web site at www.sbe.state.va.us and click on the Where Do I Vote? option or call toll-free: 1-877-391-3228. JOHN H. CHICHESTER, PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE (804) 786-2078 SUSAN CLARKE SCHAAR, CLERK (804) 698-7400 LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION (804) 698-7410 Mailing address for members during Session: Senate of Virginia, P.O. Box 396, Richmond, Virginia 23218 For further information, visit the Virginia General Assembly Web site: http://legis.state.va.us/ DISTRICT NAME PARTY MAILING ADDRESS TELEPHONE FAX E-MAIL 22 BELL, 1. BRANDON. n (R) P.O. Box 2]485, Roanoke 24018 (540) 777-154] 772-0178 mail@senatorbell.com 14 BLEVINS, HARRY B. (R) P.O. Box 16207, Chesapeake 23328 (757) 546-2435 546-7346 HBB]evins@erols.com 4 McDOUGLE, RYAN T. (R) P.O. Box 187, Mechanicsville 23111 (804) 730-1026 730-1051 district04@sov.state.va.us 28 CHICHESTER, JOHN H. (R) P.O. Box 904, Fredericksburg 22404-0904 (540) 373-5600 373-5624 vasenate28@aol.com 29 COLGAN, CHARLES 1. (0) 10677 Aviation Lane, Manassas 20110-2701 (703) 368-0300 257-2856 district29@sov.state.va.us 37 CUCCINELLI, KEN, n (R) P.O. Box 6, Centreville 20122 (703) 766-0635 766-0637 district37@sov.state.va.us 25 DEEDS, R. CREIGH (D) P.O. Drawer D, Hot Springs 24445 (540) 839-2473 839-6306 district25@sov.state.va.us 34 DEVOLITES DAVIS, 1EANNEMARIE (R) P.O. Box 936, Vienna 22183 (703) 938-7972 938-1706 district34@sov.state.va.us 21 EDWARDS, JOHN S. (D) P.O. Box 1179, Roanoke 24006-1179 (540) 985-8690 345-9950 senatocedwards@roacoxmail.com 24 HANGER, EMMEIT W., JR. (R) P.O. Box 2, Mount Solon 22843-0002 (540) 885-6898 885-6777 district24@sov.state.va.us 19 HAWKINS, CHARLES R. (R) P.O. Box 818, Chatham 24531-0818 (434) 432-9672 432-8577 districtI9@sov.state.va.us 17 HOUCK, R. EDWARD (Edd) (D) P.O. Box 7, Spotsy]vania 22553-0007 (540) 786-2782 891-8805 ehouck@adelphia.net 32 HOWELL, JANET D. (D) P.O. Box 2608, Reston 20195 (703) 709-8283 435-1995 senhowell@aol.com 9 LAMBERT. BENJAMIN J., ill (D) 904 North First St, Richmond 23219 (804) 643-3534 643-3535 district09@sov.state.va.us 2 LOCKE, MAMIE E. (D) P.O. Box 3006, Hampton 23663 (757) 825-5880 825-7327 ]ockesenate03@msn.com ]8 LUCAS, L. LOUISE (0) P.O. Box 700, Portsmouth 23705-0700 (757) 397-8209 966-9671 senlucas@aol.com 16 MARSH, HENRY L., ill (D) 422 Ea.t Franklin St., Ste. 301 232] 9 (804) 648-9073 648-2I16 district16@sov.state.va.us II MARTIN, STEPHEN H. (R) P.O. Box 700, Chesterfield 23832 (804) 674-0242 674-7241 martindistrict@comcast.net 5 MILLER, YVONNE B. (D) 555 Fenchurch St., Ste. 403, Norfolk 23510 (757) 627-4212 627-7203 senatorybmiller@verizon.net 23 NEWMAN, STEPHEN D. (R) P.O. Box 480, Forest 2455] (434) 385-1065 522-2452 snewman@senatornewrnan.com 3 NORMENT, THOMAS K., JR. (R) P.O. Box 6205, Williamsburg 23188 (757) 259-7810 259-7812 district03@sov.state.va.us 26 OBENSHAIN, MARK D. (R) P.O. Box 555, Harrisonburg 22803 (540) 437-3126 437-3101 mobenshain@nte]os.net 39 O'BRIEN, JAY (R) P.O. Box 5, Clifton 20124 (703) 750-0936 750-1183 district39@sov.state.va.us 27 POTTS, H. RUSSELL, JR. (R) 14 N. Braddock St., Winchester 2260] (540) 665-2092 665-8399 rpotts @sov.state.va.us 38 PUCKETT, PHILLW P. (0) P.O. Box 924, Tazewell 2465]-0924 (276) 979-8181 979-8383 district38@sov.state.va.us 36 PULLER, LINDA T. (Toddy) (D) P.O. Box 73, Mount Vernon 22121-0073 (703) 765-1150 765-9243 tpuller@aol.com \3 QUAYLE, FREDERICK M. (R) 3808 Poplar Hill Rd., Ste. E, Chesapeake 23321 (757) 483-9173 483-3924 district I 3 @sov.state.va.us 6 RERRAS, NICK (R) 1518 Springmeadow Blvd., Norfolk 23518 (757) 855-7044 855-7048 dan@nickrerras.com 20 REYNOLDS, W. ROSCOE (0) P.O. Box 404, Martinsville 24114-0404 (276) 638-2315 638-2315 district20@sov.state.va.us 15 RUFF, FRANK M., JR. (R) P.O. Box 332, C]arksville 23927 (434) 372-0551 (800) 994-7310 ruff@kerrlake.com 35 SASLA W, RICHARD L. (0) P.O. Box 1856, Springfield 22151 (703) 978-0200 978-1221 vasenate35@aol.com 8 STOLLE, KENNETH W. (R) 210 I Parks Ave., Ste. 700, Virginia Beach 23451 (757) 486-5700 486-8020 vasenate08@kenstolle.com 12 STOSCH, WALTER A. (R) 4551 Cox Rd., Ste. 110, Glen Allen 23060-6740 (804) 527-7780 527-7740 senator@walterstosch.com 30 TICER, PATRICIA S. (D) City Hall, Ste. 2007, 301 King St., Alexandria 22314 (703) 549-5770 739-6761 patsy@tidaIwave.net 7 WAGNER, FRANK W. (R) P.O. Box 68008, Virginia Beach 23471 (757) 671-2250 244-7866 district07@sov.state.va.us 40 WAMPLER, WILLIAM C., JR. (R) 510 Cumberland St., Ste. 308, Bristo] 24201-4387 (276) 669-7515 645-6722 district4O@sov.state.va.us 10 WATKINS, JOHN C. (R) P.O. Box 159. Midlothian 23113-0159 (804) 379-2063 794-7238 Jnwatkins@aol.com 31 WHIPPLE, MARY MARGARET (D) 3556 North Valley St., Arlington 22207 (804) 698-753] 698-7651 district31 @sov.state.va.us I WILLIAMS, MARTIN E. (Marty) (R) P.O. Box 1096, Newport News 23601 (757) 599-8683 873-8723 districtOl@sov.state.va.us 33 Undetermined at press time REGISTER YOUR OPINION AT 1-800-889-0229 - OPERATIONAL DURING GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION 2006 Legislative Guide / Page 13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ FOR A COMPLETE LISTING OF THE VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES, GO TO THE WEBSITE http://legis.state.va.us/ or call 1-877-391-3228 (Toll Free) to find the name of your delegate.