CENTRAL VIRGINIA GOLD PROSPECTORS THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD AT SMALL COUNTRY CAMPGROUND, LOUISA, VIRGINIA ON MARCH 17TH, 10 AM. Registration for the March 2007 through February 2008 season will begin at this meeting. In order to make it easier for the members and those keeping the records, the sign-up will begin one hour prior to the meeting and will be continued after the meeting. DIRECTIONS: From Richmond Area: Interstate 64 to exit 143 (Rt.208-North)...go 2.5 miles and turn LEFT at small sign onto 640 and go 150 yards and turn RIGHT at small sign on 649. Go 2 miles (bearing left on 649) into Small Country Campground. Campground entrance will be on the right. As you drive up the dirt road, pavilion is on right. From Harrisonburg Area: Route 33 East- go through Ruckersville, Barboursville and Gordonsville to Trevillians-at intersection of Routes 33 and 22 turn left onto Route 22 then take immediate RIGHT onto Rote 613 - go to Route 649 and turn LEFT - go 2 miles (bearing left on 649) into Small Country Campground. From Manassas Area: South on Route 29 to Route 15 South. Take 15 South through Orange to Gordonsville - turn LEFT onto Route 33 - take 33 to Trevillians - turn LEFT onto Route 22 and immediately turn RIGHT onto Route 613 - go to Route 649 and turn LEFT. Go 2 miles (bearing left on 649) into Small Country Campground. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` The February 17th meeting was held at Teresa’s Restaurant in Dillwyn—upon our arrival at the restaurant it was almost standing room only but everyone seemed to be enjoying the breakfast buffet and a chance for conversation with other members. While everyone was having breakfast, Kathy took attendance and gave out door prize tickets. John, Buddy and Ruth were busy selling club raffle tickets and merchandise. Ben called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone. The first item for discussion was our new website www.centralvirginiagoldprospectors.com The site is getting lots of hits and has some great club activity pictures. Of course, our original website www.infiltec.com/cvgp is also still operational with information about our group and prospecting in general. Next, Ben talked about his and Kathy’s trip to Arizona,--sounds like they found the trip beneficial. He told us we are the largest chapter belonging to the GPAA and that there were 15 chapters represented at the workshop. A survey form for the 7 rented properties was handed out to be completed by the members. These will help us determine which properties to renew in August. If you haven’t already returned your form, please return it by the next meeting. It was also requested that if you are a GPAA or LDMA member please put your membership number on the survey form. LAND FEES: The land fees for the upcoming season of March 2007 through February 2008 will remain at $100. The rules are still the same and will need to be adhered to. If you want to be a land fee paying member but can’t attend a meeting, it has been agreed that other arrangements can be made to by-pass this requirement. If you cannot attend a meeting but agree to volunteer a minimum of 4 hours (4 hours for the prospective member and 4 hours for the sponsoring member), then you and the person sponsoring you need to contact an officer. There was a lively discussion as to ways that we could carryout this sponsorship. There are certain responsibilities that go along with being a land use participant and that is the reason for sponsorship. We feel that we should know whether a perspective member is going to be an asset to our organization. `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Bob Stowe gave us some information about a group in Oregon who have a court case going regarding dredging and are asking for help. They are asking for help to raise money for their legal fees. They have a raffle going for a 4-wheeler. If you are interested in purchasing any raffle tickets you can go to their website at www,waldominingdistrict.org to get more information. You can also print ticket forms from their website or from the CVGP site. The membership voted on an amount to donate -- $500 –1/2 to purchase raffle tickets an1/2 as a donation towards their legal expenses. `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` It was decided that we will once again have a raffle for an ounce nugget and the prize for the person selling the most tickets will be a Ľ ounce gold nugget. Raffle and door prize drawings were held and there were a number of happy winners. After the meeting was adjourned, a number of those present went on to the different properties to help in the workday. I heard that every last morsel of the Brunswick stew was consumed. NOTE: The April meeting will be held at the Buckingham Property No. 1. There will be a Boy Scout troop from Annandale joining us for an outing and to learn about prospecting.