Congrats to my friend Mike

[Shellseeker]

A couple of years back, I had an opportunity to meet @minnbuckeye and go on hunting trips to the Peace River and tributary creeks in Bone Valley with a few other TFF members ( @jcbshark Right from the beginning, I enjoyed being with him, his generosity, his humor, and love of life. He is easy to like.  Plus , I seem incredibly lucky whenever I am with him.  For example,  right after we took this photo (when Mike donated some of the fantastic fossils he had found to the yearly auction of my local fossil club auction),  I went out hunting (by myself) and found the Mastodon tooth.  Ever since I considered Mike my good luck charm.

 

Fast forward to this year.  Mike PMed me in early March to offer some fossils for the upcoming Fossil Club of Lee County (FCOLC) March 17th (another lucky day) annual auction.  I naturally accepted and as soon as the fossils arrived, transferred them to the FCOLC Secretary, who added many as auction items.

 

I went to the Auction last Thursday, even though my muscles and back were hurting from a day of hunting in a creek. Mike's generosity resulted in many hundreds of dollars donated during the auction that goes to Kthru12 outreach,  funding to Paleontology students at University of Florida,  and better fossils in the Kids Digs. I got lots of Kudos and thank yous at the Auction from people who know me, but those Kudos were mostly due to Mike.

I thought about how I could get something that might recognize Mike generosity and help my local fossil club. and the answer appeared ... I could bid on the next item #34 coming up for Auction... and send it back to Minnesota in tomorrow's mail to let him know I appreciate his role as a fantastic Ambassador of the community of Minnesota fossil hunter.  Thanks Mike...

 

[digit]

We are blessed with a really great membership here on the forum who continuously impress me with their generosity.

 

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

 

[Fossildude19]

Well done, Mike!

Thanks for sharing this with us, Jack!

 

Mike once sent me an oddball from his hunting grounds as he knew I like fish material.
He wouldn't even consider any kind of reciprocity.  Mike is good folks. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I agree. 

Mike, (minnbuckeye) is a diamond geezer. 

I would love to meet him in person one day. 

[Misha]

We have some very fantastic and generous people here on TFF who are eager to share not only fossils but the wealth of information they know as well. I have really enjoyed being part of this community.

Mike has been really generous to me, he sent me some incredible Ordovician fossils from Minnesota which I cherish very much.

[Ludwigia]

I just love this community. Yet another great example of comradeship developed in real time.

[JohnJ]

Well done, guys.

 

[jpc]

I have good memories of when he popped and visited me here at the office.  Way ta go, Mike. 
 

[minnbuckeye]

Jack,  

Today was the first time looking at a computer in over a week and to my surprise, I was the subject of your post. Let me be very clear, I love to distribute my finds to good causes like your fossil club auction. But my generosity is also repayment for the time and effort that you put in to providing  unbelievable  Florida fossil hunting experiences for me.

 

  It is coincidental that I saw your post today, my first day after returning from sudden trip to Florida. To be honest, I thought of contacting you over the last 7 days but just couldn't.  My son, who is triple vaccinated, broke with Covid and required hospitalization. I needed to provide care for his blind diabetic dog and to be close by if the disease progressed. He has now been released and thankfully, is slowly recovering. But I just couldn't justify a trip on the Peace under the circumstances. I now know first hand how lonely Covid patients and their families feel due to the required and necessary isolation. Even on his  release from the hospital, I could not be near him and only communicated in person from a distance of 20 feet, DOWN WIND! 

  

Thank you, Jack, for your generosity. And I will be looking forward to the mail being delivered!!! 

 

Mike

[jcbshark]

Two great guys who compliment and represent the type of folks who make TFF what it is Folks like Mike and Jack make me proud to be a member here. Thanks to both of you and all those like you on here

[minnbuckeye]

@jcbshark, you are another member to be proud of! Are you up to a group hunt with Jack. I will be returning to Bradenton April 6th through April 21st. If interested, why don't you and Jack tell me where and when!

[jcbshark]

3 hours ago, minnbuckeye said:

@jcbshark, you are another member to be proud of! Are you up to a group hunt with Jack. I will be returning to Bradenton April 6th through April 21st. If interested, why don't you and Jack tell me where and when!

I'm always interested Mike Let me see how my schedule goes . Would love to get out with you guys for sure

[fossilhunter21]

Well done, guys! We are very blessed to have such amazing forum members as, Mike, and Jack. The forum (and world) would not be as nice as it is if we did not have people like Jack, and, Mike. 

 

Thank you for sharing, Jack! 

[stats]

Congrats, Mike!   Didn't I meet you at the Mazon River outing last summer?

 

Cheers,

Rich

[minnbuckeye]

@stats.  Yes I had the pleasure of meeting you, all be it a short visit. A bit coincidental hearing from you today in that I processed my last nodules from that trip just yesterday! The freeze thaw cycle in Minnesota is coming to an end and my wife doesn't like rocks in her refrigerator. So I took a gentle hammer to the remaining rocks and was pleasantly surprised that most split without damaging the fossil within! Microfractures must have existed from previous freeze cycles to provide the precision splits encountered.

[minnbuckeye]

@Shellseeker, your generous offering was delivered today! Thanks so much. Are these all Moroccan?

[Shellseeker]

35 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

@Shellseeker, your generous offering was delivered today! Thanks so much. Are these all Moroccan?

Yes, I do not think there is an easy way to open the Display case. The only item I could have added was some of our local Carcharias taurus,  quite rare around my part of Florida. 

They are all Moroccan...  I Think... @Tidgy's Dad would know...

[Tidgy's Dad]

On 3/24/2022 at 7:52 PM, minnbuckeye said:

@Shellseeker, your generous offering was delivered today! Thanks so much. Are these all Moroccan?

 

On 3/24/2022 at 8:31 PM, Shellseeker said:

Yes, I do not think there is an easy way to open the Display case. The only item I could have added was some of our local Carcharias taurus,  quite rare around my part of Florida. 

They are all Moroccan...  I Think... @Tidgy's Dad would know...

Yes, this is a Moroccan selection box featuring specimens that all seem to be from the phosphate mines at Khourigba from just before and just after the K-Pg extinction event. I had a couple of similar ones from other time periods and had great difficulty in smashing them open! 

The fossils are glued to the backing with a rubbery sort of glue which is annoying but not too difficult to peel off. 

[Shellseeker]

14 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

 

Yes, this is a Moroccan selection box featuring specimens that all seem to be from the phosphate mines at Khourigba from just before and just after the K-Pg extinction event. I had a couple of similar ones from other time periods and had great difficulty in smashing them open! 

The fossils are glued to the backing with a rubbery sort of glue which is annoying but not too difficult to peel off. 

Interesting !!! You are educating me, my friend..

This box was donated by a fossil enthusiast to my local Fossil Club Auction. I thought that  the craftsmanship on box was excellent.

I was even more impressed by the number of fossil teeth I was bidding on. Now I am even more pleased to have found such a fine gift for my friend Mike.

Edited March 25, 2022 by Shellseeker

[Tidgy's Dad]

2 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

Interesting !!! You are educating me, my friend..

This box was donated by a fossil enthusiast to my local Fossil Club Auction. I thought that  the craftsmanship on box was excellent.

I was even more impressed by the number of fossil teeth I was bidding on. Now I am even more pleased to have found such a fine gift for my friend Mike.

Yes, many people seem to think all the Moroccan material is fake, high priced or poor quality, but we know that there are lots of great quality, genuine and reasonably priced Moroccan fossils easily available. Your gift to Mike is an excellent one and he certainly deserves it. 

[Shellseeker]

55 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Yes, many people seem to think all the Moroccan material is fake, high priced or poor quality, but we know that there are lots of great quality, genuine and reasonably priced Moroccan fossils easily available. Your gift to Mike is an excellent one and he certainly deserves it. 

You have added to the value of Mike's gift by telling him, where these fossils came from and which age they were deposited.   Thanks !!!