PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Another Minnesota spring is underway. The lilacs are about to bloom, and visions of morels are dancing in our heads. So get together your trusty pocketknife, mesh bag, compass, extra-strength tick repellant and prepare for the hunt. This year you just might find the Mother Lode!

MMS will be sponsoring three morel forays this spring, including an overnight at Elba, MN, near White Water State Park. See the Events Calendar for the details. Some of our world-class morel hunters are predicting that it is going to be a good year! MMS will be having a “Celebration of the Morel” at our May 9th meeting.

MMS is very pleased to have a special guest, Leon Shernoff, at our May 23rd meeting. Leon is the editor of the fine publication, “Mushroom, The Journal of Wild Mushrooming”, and he is also the Webmaster for the Illinois Mycological Society. He will be speaking to us on the topic, Strange American Mushrooms. Who could ask for a better follow up to Dr. Gail Celio’s presentation, Fungi of the X-Files, at our last meeting?

I would like to call your attention to some important changes coming to our web site. Will Ince, our Webmaster, has been working tirelessly working on implementing a MMS member data base, which will be going online. The new system will make it possible to easily send out email announcements. We will soon give members the option to receive our newsletter via e-mail in either html or PDF format. We encourage members to consider this option, since it will result in considerable savings for the society on the cost of printing and postage. Another new feature will be the ability for members to renew their membership online through PayPal.

MMS will once again participate in The Minnesota Bioblitz on June 10th and June 11th. What is a bioblitz?

BioBlitz (bi-o-blits) n. 1. an intensive 24-hour survey to find all the plants and animals at a specific location. 2. a 24-hour survey where the public can help scientists find different plants and animals. 3. A neat place where you can catch, see and learn about cool bugs, spiders, mushrooms, worms, snakes, birds, flowers, bats, trees...

This year the natural area for the Bioblitz survey will be the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The Bell Museum of Natural History, the Minnesota DNR, and the Friends of the Minnesota Valley are the sponsors. MMS will be working with Dr. Dave McLaughlin and his grad students to collect and identify fungi in the study area. Last year’s Bioblitz at Tamarack Nature center was very rewarding for all participants. We need your help to collect mushrooms and to lead forays for visitors. Don’t miss this exciting event! Please visit the Minnesota Bioblitz web site at: http://www.bellmuseum.org/bioblitz/ You will see a photo of mushrooms that we collected at last year’s BioBlitz!

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Please note that the William O’Brien State Park foray that was scheduled for June 11th has been cancelled, so that members can participate in the BioBlitz. We expect to schedule that foray for a later date.

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Ron Spinosa
President Minnesota Mycological Society

For more information or to submit articles for the MMS Toadstool Review, please contact the Newsletter Editor - newsletters@minnesotamushrooms.org