Maryland Free-State Treasure Club Meeting Minutes, April 30, 2015: The meeting was conducted at the Victory Villa Community Center, 404 Compass Rd., Baltimore, MD 21220, 410-887-0258. Minutes were submitted by Dave Miller.

Call to Order: At 7:12 p.m. the meeting was called to order by the President, Mr. Gary Pennington. Gary introduced the club officers; Howard Shettle, vice president (who also oversees the Contest Board); Steve Cunningham, treasurer; and Dave Miller, secretary. Thank you to Nicole Venker for taking photos of our club meetings which are posted on our website under "Photos > Club Meetings 2015."

Treasurers Report: Mr. Cunningham reported the M.F.S.T.C. has $2915.59 in the bank and $196.72 petty cash in coins and bills. Gary Pennington reports the M.F.S.T.C. currently has an account balance of $85.00 in the Recreation and Parks account.

Attendance: Brad Johns, et al, agreed on a count of 47 members, guests and family members present at this meeting.

Free Raffle Tickets: Every attendee to our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket for one of three silver coins just for showing up!

Refreshments: Mike, Renate (pronounced ren-AH-tae) and Gina Stinemire presented the members with, at first glance, too much food: Sloppy Joes; condiments; vegetables; all kinds of chips and finger food; beverages and more. The spread was two-tables wide and something to behold. Alas, the amount of food was consumed like a swarm of locusts had visited.
     The Stinemire family has volunteered to do right by our refreshments and have set a standard for volunteerism for all to consider. Sure beats cold tasteless pizza.

Raffles: Bill Hill and Leo Pollock manned the silver round and 50-50 raffle tickets and kept track of the furious accounting at break time. Nancy Jelich walked away with $54 for winning the 50-50, and Tom Ferrell won the silver round.

Merchandise Table: Gina Stinemire oversaw sales of t-shirts, bumper stickers, club patches and gloves.

Swap and Sell: George Venker is doing well with the swap and sell table. This meeting saw the sale of two pinpointers and two metal detecting shovels. If you have any extra metal detecting equipment laying around, bring it in to sell or swap.

Outside Mini Hunt: This popular event was up and running starting at 6:30 p.m. Many of our members looked like robins pecking at the grass with their pinpointers. We gave away three silver half-dollars to those who found the three tokens.

Members-Only Treasure Hunt: Saturday, May 2. What a day! Perfect weather, 1000 silver dimes cast into the grass, $3000 worth of silver coins and silver dollars, four detectors, two pinpointers, other prizes, the nicest people on the planet, and plenty of food. Thank you to Bill Hill for lugging his high-quality gas grill to the event. Photos and video have been uploaded to our website. Thank you Beverly Pennington for taking the photos. Congratulations to Kurt Franz, Frank Ziemski, Ed Burgee and Gene Dixon for winning the detectors. And thank you Gary Pennington for organizing the Members-Only hunt and getting the food right.

October Double-Barrel Treasure Weekend: The Maryland Free-State Treasure Club (M.F.S.T.C.) is hosting our open treasure hunt Sunday, October 11 with the western theme "Old Dakota Mining Town." Information and Registration forms are linked from the home page of our website and will be available at our meetings.
     The Maryland Artifact Recovery Society (M.A.R.S.) is hosting their "Silver Frenzy II" open hunt on Saturday, October 10. Visit marsdetecting.org to download the registration form.
     Both are serious competition hunts with lots of valuable prizes at stake and open to the public.

Merit Badge for Coin Study: Bob Taylor, our resident metal detecting dealer and member of the Bel Mar Coin Club in Harford County, announced that he is now qualified to certify Boy Scout Coin merit badges for numismatic studies.

Meet the Member - Bill Wise: Bill owns Bill's Custom Seamless Gutters, Inc., a quality commercial and residential gutter installation and repair business and uses a Garrett AT Pro and Minelab E-Trac depending on conditions and mood while detecting. He won Find of the Year on 2013 for a large bronze New York City medallion. Bill is experimenting with "magnet fishing" - dredging in streams with a rare-earth magnet on a rope. While home, Bill walked a little too close to his stove causing the magnet to slam into the appliance creating a dent (wife was not happy).

Club Outing April 18: A splendid day for detecting drew fifteen of our members with some guests to a local park. Eric Heilman (with young adults, Brady and Justin), Dave Franz, Kathy Pine (with Mark Dickerson), Chris and Wade Wisnom, Kurt Franz, John Vice, John Manzari, Mike and Gina Stinemire, Bill Pfaff, John and Kellie Gaver, Ed Burgee, John Curtis, Mike McCullough, and Brad Johns attended.
     The park had a lot of fill dirt which made detecting a bit frustrating. Some buffalo nickels and wheat pennies were found.
      A fundamental problem was discovered: those present wandered all over the place. This is not the best practice. Our future club outings will be directed to a certain area and we will stay in the area until a vote to move on is made. More treasure might be found if we take the time to grid areas for thorough searching. A deep coin might not beep while walking in one direction, but might if approached from different angles.

April Program: Steve Cunningham came dressed for metal detecting to show the necessary equipment used while in the field. Sandy beaches require a sand scoop and pinpointer, sunscreen, hat, water, snack and any conveniences desired.
     Land hunting requires a bit more: Sweatband or hat, a fisherman's vest with multiple pockets and suspenders are handy, a pouch or apron for dug-up trash, a belt pouch to hold accessories, a water spritzer and soft toothbrush to clean finds, gloves, pinpointer, all-metal detecting shovel and digging tool, a drop cloth for excavated dirt, pruners if you are digging in the woods or around trees, knee pads, waterproof shoes or boots, extra batteries and a small first aid kit. It's up to the detectorist to determine the conditions of an outing and bring the proper equipment. City and county parks require a metal detecting license. On really hot days plenty of water and some ice in a cooler are recommended for the early symptoms of heat exhaustion. A cell phone is recommended in case of emergency. Clothes treated with Permethrin will ward off ticks.

Contest Board Winners:
Coins: 1st: Brad Johns; 2nd: Andy Cooper; 3rd: John Vice.
Relics: 1st: John Vice; 2nd: Brad Johns.
Club Favorite: John Vice for his Civil War U.S. buckle and breastplate.
Leg-of-Gold - Bud Lamb

Adjournment: The April meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. when members helped stow the folding chairs and tables.

Next meeting: Thursday, May 28 at 7:00 p.m. (Mini hunt starts at 6:30 p.m. outside weather permitting) May 28 Topic: TBA - Check our website occasionally for updates.