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Member of the Month - April 2018 - DevonianDigger

Kane

By Kane
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Kane Regular Member

Kane

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Spring, that lovely season of renewal and rebirth, is upon us. Although it may not look or feel that way for some, winter’s cold grip is weakening, turning many more of us outdoors to take stock of what mother nature has left us at our favourite honey holes. And with the month of April just beginning, it also means it is time to announce our Member of the Month!

 

:yay-smiley-1::yay-smiley-1::yay-smiley-1::yay-smiley-1:      DevonianDigger   :yay-smiley-1::yay-smiley-1::yay-smiley-1::yay-smiley-1:

 

I am honoured to fete Jay this month. Jay is a tour de force. Many of us who have collected at Penn Dixie will attest to how exceedingly helpful he is as the resident Educator, enthusiastically digging in the dirt with us, hauling out slabs like a pro, and always giving his all on site - and on the forum. 

 

I could tell many tales of digs with him, although such tales (and pictures, and lordy there are tapes) cannot be shared due to a non-disclosure agreement (although there is the ongoing rumour about him in a trilobite costume, for which he may be your private Palaeozoic dancer). Not long after Jay joined us back in the heady, halcyon days of June, 2016, he regaled us with stories of Penn Dixie and showed off his early preparation skills by McGuyvering an old tattoo machine. Since then, he has expanded his collection, developed his prep skills, and been the welcoming face and guide at PD. He may also sound like Willem Dafoe.

 

Jay, Thanks for all you do and contribute here on the Forum!

Congratulations Sir! Wear this Crown with joy as you earned it!

 

Well, you earned the crown, good sir. Care to play storyteller on how you came to the forum and detail your fossil odyssey thus far? I am very keen on hearing about all the raptor teeth you’ve pulled from the Windom shale. :D 

 

On behalf of the staff here on TFF, congratulations!

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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DevonianDigger Regular Member

DevonianDigger

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Wow!!! Thank you all so very much, this is actually really exciting for me, and a real honor!

 

Well, as @Kane mentioned, I have been on TFF since 2016, or as my wife calls it, "Fossilbook". I stumbled across the forum while I was looking for information about fossils that I had been finding at the site. I quickly came to realize that it was an incredibly awesome place to show off new finds, and to get insights from some of the most friendly and well-educated people I've been fortunate enough to meet.

 

As an employee at the Penn Dixie site, I have been blessed with the opportunity to have met many of our TFF members in person. Without a doubt there are few things bond folks like a day in the summer heat, ripping slabs of rock together. That being said, I consider many of the members of this site as not only screen names, but also as friends that I will have for life. TFF transformed me from a former entertainer with a budding interest in paleontology and a volunteer position at a fossil park into a full-blown victim of the fossil bug and lead educator at one of the most popular fossil parks in the world. I can honestly say that without TFF, I most likely would've run out of steam and would not be as passionate and committed to the field as I have become. 

 

When I first joined up, I didn't know much about fossil prep but I had a ton of fossils from the site that needed attention. Now, thanks to the guidance of the incredibly helpful membership of TFF, I have a full prep workshop where I am currently preparing Triassic cycads, Devonian trilobites, and Cretaceous dinosaurs. It's also worth noting that without the awesome folk on TFF, I would not have Triassic cycads, or Cretaceous dinosaurs to prep. The trades and connections I have made through the forum have made my entire collection possible!

 

Additionally, my wife would probably love to thank you all for the fact that our house has now become a museum. (Sarcasm implied, of course.) 

 

Now that I have achieved the honor of MoTM, the only task that remains is beating Kane in the Pokemon-style quest of being the first to collect them all. (Trilobites that is, not Pokemon. Pokemon are not real.)

 

Thank you to all of those who have come out to visit me at the site, and to the rest of you—I look forward to splitting some rocks with you!

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Jay A. Wollin

Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve

Hamburg, New York, USA

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Darktooth Regular Member

Darktooth

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Congratulations Jay! Hopefully I will meet you at Penn -Dixie this year!

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Dipleurawhisperer5.jpg          MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png

I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie.

 

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Monica Regular Member

Monica

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Congratulations, Jay!!!  I also hope to meet you at Penn Dixie this year - Viola and I will be there for Sunday's "Dig with the Experts" (can't wait!!!) :)

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Fossildude19 Regular Member

Fossildude19

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Congratulations, Jay! 
Well deserved award. 

Thanks for all that you bring and add to the Forum. :) 

 

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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doushantuo Regular Member

doushantuo

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Why does Jay only receive this now?

It's overdue:P

Jay,congrats,and keep on doing what you do best:reporting on your finds and communicating your unstintinting affection for, and dedication to, educating people about fossils and the art of hunting for them.

Now break out the bubbly stuff!!

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Max-fossils Regular Member

Max-fossils

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Woohoo, congrats Jay!!! Well-deserved award! :ighappy:

 

 

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Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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Tidgy's Dad Regular Member

Tidgy's Dad

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Pokemon are not real? :o

Congratulations, Jay ! ! ! ! !:yay-smiley-1:

Very pleased that you have won this, it's been fun getting to know you and am very excited about our exchange. 

Enjoy your month in the limelight! 

Adam. :)

 

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Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

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Miocene_Mason Regular Member

Miocene_Mason

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Well deserved! Congrats! 

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“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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Jeffrey P Regular Member

Jeffrey P

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Congratulations Jay. Thank you for your wonderful contributions to the Forum and for helping make Penn Dixie the great fossil site that it is. I plan to be there for my annual pilgrimage July 4th weekend. Hopefully I will see you then. 

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jcbshark Regular Member

jcbshark

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Congrats on MOTM :) it’s always fun to put faces to screen names and get to meet some of the folks who make up TFF:fistbump:

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Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there!

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digit Regular Member

digit

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Congrats, Jay!

 

PD is on my fossil radar and it is only a matter of time before we make it up there for a visit (hopefully, on a day when other TFF members plan a meet-up there).

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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Pagurus Regular Member

Pagurus

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Congratulations-Well-Deserved.gif.58d92231f5fe1f49611d979ea73b8c62.gif

 

Very well deserved, Jay! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and excitement with us here on TFF, and at Penn Dixie! Isn't it terrific to have a job you love?!   Congratulations!

Hopefully, this will be the year I finally get up there. :trilowalk: It would be great to meet you.

 

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Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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Sagebrush Steve Regular Member

Sagebrush Steve

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Congratulations, Jay!  I kept waiting to read “April Fools” at the end of @Kane‘s  tribute, but it wasn’t there so this must be real!  Great news, and someday I hope to get out to Penn Dixie myself.

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JohnJ Regular Member

JohnJ

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Congratulations, Jay!

:crab:

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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Ludwigia Regular Member

Ludwigia

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Congratulations, Jay! One of these days I hope to meet you in person if I manage to get down there again during one of my Canadian sojourns.

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Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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minnbuckeye Regular Member

minnbuckeye

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They picked a great representative this month. Well done Jay!!!

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