General Membership Meeting of the Vernon Placer Miners Club

Met February 7 2023 at the Hall at 1204 30th Ave, Vernon BC. President Gerry Morrison opened the meeting at 7:00 PM. Note-taker was Cal Olsson. Theree was 16 members including one guest in attendance. The minutes of the last meeting were read.Louie Yonkman moved the minutes be accepted as read , seconded by Donna Smith , voted on, passed.

* *Old Business Arising out of Last Meeting’s Minutes:

-Discussed in last minutes about holding BC Open in 2023. All were in favor. Referred to steering committee that is to meet this week and work out details . Gerry Morrison, Attila Vasarhelyi, Jerry Stainer, Cal Olsson, and Donna Smith. The results will be given in the BC Open Report.

​**Correspondence: by Donna Smith and Gerry Morrison

-Many emails asking if we are going to hold the BC Open Gold Panning Championships this May long weekend.

-Call from Victoria at Enderby Creekside RV Park asking how many sites we’ll be reserving for the May long weekend.

-Email from Merv Mathers letting us know there is a place in Enderby where we can get trophy plates engraved.

​**Reports:

Membership Report by Donna Smith.

-24 families are currently paid up members in good standing.

-14 Life timers in good standing

-1 Honorary member in good standing.

There is a common dues due date of October first. Dues are $20.00 per year per family, Oct. to Oct.

Treasurer’s Report by Donna Smith

Income………. $______________ Expenses………..$__________ Balance……..$_____________, Moved to adopt by Attila Vasarhelyi, seconded by Louie Younkman, passed.

 

​**Birthdays

Attila Vasarhelyi  and Heather Montgomery.   Happy Birthday .

 

**BC Open Steering Comittee Report by (Gerry Morrison, Donna Smith, Attila Vasarhelyi , Jerry Stainer, Cal Olsson)

-BC Open World Gold Panning Championships to take place Saturday May 20, and Sunday May 21,2023. Set up on Friday May19th.

-BCOpen World Championship Gold Panning Expert Category will have first and second gold nugget prizes, honor of name engraved on famous trophy for first place winner, and take home momento.

-BCOpen World Championship Gold Panning Intermediate Category will have first and second gold nugget prizes, and take home momento.

-BCOpen World Championship Gold Panning Novice Category will have first and second gold nugget prizes, and take home momento.

-BCOpen World Championship Gold Panning Youth Category will have first and second gold nugget nugget prizes, and take home momentos. Age 11 yrs. and up.

-BC Open World Championship Gold Panning Junior Category will have first and second gold nugget nugget prizes, and take home momento. Age; toddler to 10 yrs. Can be helped by parent or other, but child must keep at least one hand on the pan at all times or be disqualified.

-10 filled panning tubs use as many of these as needed. Championship leveled; gold rush unleveled.

-Individual Membership fee mandatory but can get half year for $10.00 (For panning championships). ½ price for juniors

-Gold Rush game $5.00. junior kids under 10-  $2.00. Nugget prize.

-Learn to pan $5.00. (keep gold flakes)

-Dirt toss game $5.00, junior kids $2.00. Nugget prize.

-Coffee can raffle door prizes/ silent auction.

-Metal Detecting event on Saturday night only. Nugget for special marked item.

-No dogs in event area unless in pet carrier, but welcome at RV park.

Once Overall winner is found, their name will be engraved on silver plate that will be tacked on to the trophies at the Enderby Chamber of Commerce. Ken Montie said he will line up his neighbor who is an engraver to do the work.

-We need volunteers for this year’s BC Open Gold Panning Championships. Please consider giving a hand to help?

​**New Business:

-Gerry Morrison or volunteer designate to have Fire Chief Cliff 250-253-7828 lined up to fill up the panning tubs.

-Donna Smith volunteered to get as much advertising for the open as she can.

-Gerry Morrison or volunteer designate to check if Lion’s club would be putting on pancake breakfast.

-Attendees to book their own sites at Riverside  RV Park or make own arrangements for staying over; talk to Victoria.

Political Presentation:

 Report by Rick Peterson BCPMA attendeing from Vernon was outstanding.

Rick read us the minutes of the BCPMA Annual General Meeting of October 10, 2023, paraphrasing in spots due to time constraints. Get in touch with Rick at 250-681-0908 or email trimguy@live.ca for any questions,(This is from 2019 just before the Covid was let loose. The government was still active then.)

We were privileged on this evening to have Ministry Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources Permitting Inspector Mike Cloet come and talk to us. Mike encouraged us to write permits for anything we wanted to do. Many regulatory questions came up and were discussed. The Permitting Inspector answered many of the queries well, since he has a background in the forestry sector, yet he often knew how to dig the right end of the number 2 shovel into some pay-dirt.

Even though the presentation went on and on, driving the meeting into overtime some interesting questions came up. Just one example was the question whether an unsympathetic ministry used drones to keep watch on us? He confirmed that they had access to drones. Being an ex- bee keeper at first I pictured this as huge genetically engineered bumble bees. Like the police have trained dogs to chase perpetrators it seemed the mines ministry may have giant bees to hunt down prospectors and miners?

But no, no, these drones are small unmarked heliocopters like the ones Amazon is going to use to deliver parcels. I guess once the whirlybirds had run down a prospector or miner they would buzz down and drop a copy of the book; health, safety and reclamation code for mines in british columbia, on their heads. This could be dangerous though as the book weighs as much as a small cobble (400 gm). Only lawyers could make a book that heavy by taking the simple unwritten laws of nature; turning them into a written, heavy book of regulations.

Mike’s presentation was excellent! He concluded by telling us that talk was cheap, and that he and other MEMPR members were willing to talk over any prospecting/mining related things we were concerned about. To that end his card is included here.

Announcements.

-President Morrison to check on Lumby Days.

Donn Shusheski won the first nugget door prize, and Otto Breitreutz the second.

Bernie Klewchuck won the 50/50 draw $30.00.

The meeting adjourned at 8:55 PM.