President's Message

I’m back in Dryad’s saddle again
Back where a fungus is a friend

I am back again as president of MMS after three years, having served in that role in 1999 and 2000. It is certainly an honor to represent this fantastic organization once more. I only hope I can carry on the excellent leadership brought to the society by our former president, Bob Fulgency.

Bob was instrumental in bring about some positive changes for our society. Among them were having meetings during the winter months, expanding the MMS Board, and making available a cache of Audubon Field Guides for use at our meetings to aid in mushroom identification. During Bob’s presidency MMS hosted the NAMA Foray 2001 at St. John’s University. Bob and Anna Gerenday were the principal organizers of that huge event, and thanks to their Bunyanesque efforts, the foray was a whopping success. As if all of this were not enough, Bob is also serving as first Vice President of NAMA.

I am sure you all have appreciated Bob’s “President’s Messsage” over the past three years in which provided detailed and entertaining accounts of all our meetings and forays. I am amazed that he could retain all that information—and without taking notes.

Perhaps it is Bob’s legal skills that contributed to his efficient and organized leadership style. My style is a bit looser, as those who know me are aware, but I hope my enthusiasm for mushrooms will be sufficient to take up the slack as well as support from fellow officers and members.

Kudos And Welcomes

I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of our core group of dedicated members. Many thanks to:

• Janette Almi who, as recording secretary, took meticulous records of our board meetings for three years;
• Patty Bellino, corresponding Secretary;
• Peggy Laine, treasurer, who keeps our books and lugs books, t-shirts, mugs and assorted paraphernalia up two flights of stairs at every meeting;
• Lee Mollerman, intrepid foray leader, who leaves us a trail of cigar smoke to follow in case we loose sight of him in the woods;
• Maxine Bethke, Vice president, master quilter, and Chairperson of Mycophagy
• Adele Metha, loyal member, Amanita aficionado, and NAMA Trustee
• Will Ince, Webmaster, who has updated and tweaked our web site to its current impressive status, complete with many beautiful color images of folks and fungi;
• Anna Gerenday, past president, whose mycological expertise and organizational skills are an invaluable resource to our society;
• Rolf Engle, who introduced us to digital photography, created the wonderful DVD video “Ode to Minnesota Mushrooms”, and who has a record number of mushroom species growing in his yard;
• Dr. Dave McLaughlin, scientific adviser and curator of the University of Minnesota Mycological Herbarium;
• Dr. Tom Volk, scientific advisor, host of the best mushroom web site on the Internet, and who is about the most amateur-friendly professional mycologist you are likely to find;
• Glen Creuzinger, our new recording secretary and Red Wing morel rep.;
• Steve Netzman, our new corresponding secretary and editor of the Toadstool Review. Thanks for the great job on our newsletter and especially for the zany mycohumor of “Fungal Frolix.”

Missions and Goals

The mission of MMS is nicely stated on our web page: “To bring people and mushrooms together”. We should be proud that we have been doing just that for over 100 years. To our credit, we have been able to serve a diverse membership, offering plenty of technical rigor for those who have a scientific inclination as well as rewarding experiences for those who find mushrooms awe inspiring and beautiful productions of nature and who thrive on getting together with interesting and fun folks with whom to trek in the woods and indulge in exotic fruiting bodies—of course for many of us, there is considerable overlap.

In addition to promoting appreciation of fungi, MMS is dedicated to teaching people mushroom identification skills. This is absolutely essential in order to make it possible for people to safely eat wild mushrooms. By identifying mushrooms species in our areas, we can also contribute to the knowledge base of the science of mycology, providing data regarding the ranges and habitats of mushroom species. A number of our members have worked with professional mycologists on mushroom diversity projects.

Finally, here are some goals I would like to propose for the year ahead:

• Increase membership: We need to make the public more aware of the wonders of mushrooms and about our organization. This could be accomplished by announcements and stories in the public media; outreach to other nature orientated clubs; brochures in nature center, museums, etc; or perhaps sponsoring public events such as a “Fungus Fair”
• Keep people coming back: Let’s strive to be more newcomer/novice friendly so that these folks are not scared away by esoteric Latin names and mycological terms (“Wow, what beautiful set of cheilocystidia!”). One suggestion is to have a volunteer take newcomers aside and go over mushroom basics and provide a set of teaching materials. There is a NAMA video that might be suitable for this purpose.
• Good programs: Continue to have interesting and informative programs for our off-season meetings—presentations by professional mycologists, grad students, naturalists; NAMA educational programs; presentations by our members.
• Improving the format at our ID meetings: Better methods of sorting and labeling mushrooms brought in to the meetings
• Recruit a new Vice President: Our VP position is currently empty. We welcome nominations or a volunteer.
• Member involvement: Encourage greater member participation in society affairs; tap the talents and resources abundant among our members; and Ideas, Ideas, Ideas!!!
• Revitalize the Photo Contest: Let's have contest for 2004. Encourage everyone to get out and shoot lots of mushrooms. Welcome digital photography--in fact we may go totally digital, and eliminate the hassle of making slides.

Ron Spinosa
ronspin@juno.com