The Paddlefish

Cypress Basin Chapter – Texas Master Naturalist Newsletter Vol. 9 No. 9 S ept ember 2017

THE PADDLEFISH

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Mushrooms 2 Snippets from Stella

Meeting Minutes 3 GREETINGS!

Meeting Minutes Cont 4 POT LUCK THIS MONTH!! YIPPEE!! Let’s gather a little before 6:00 pm to set up

Invasive Earthworms 4 the room and food so we can begin eating at 6:00 pm.

Financial Report 5 Annual Meeting – (1) We still have time for you to bring items you would like to

Officers 6 donate to the silent auction or enter into the contests. Lin, Ted and I will be transporting your items. Don’t HAVE to have them at this meeting because we will Calendar 6 have an October meeting prior to the annual meeting, but would be nice. Lin is the primary person on this and she’ll be checking your items for “compliance” with the submission guidelines. (2) Additionally, the Corpus Christi Omni hotel is holding a food drive during the meeting for their surrounding areas. If you’d like to participate, please bring your non-perishable foods to this meeting and the Upcoming Events: October meeting. Ted and I will transport. Having spent the last 18 months with the Caddo Lake Recovery office, I can tell you that anything you donate will be  Sept 11 – Meeting (Potluck) appreciated for months to come.  Sept 16 – Work Day Volunteer Opportunities –  Sept 16 – Avinger Wine Festival  September 16, Avinger Wine Festival. 3 shifts. Linda is the lead so reach

 Oct 9 – Meeting out to her with your availability  October 28, Moonvie – Who would like to be on that committee?  Oct 14 – Work Day  Ongoing – there are 3 plant containers at the refuge visitor center. They  Oct 28 - Moonvie look pretty pitiful. It would be easy volunteer hours to plant a native plant or two in them and then take care of them.  Nov 13 – End of Year Celebration  Ongoing – Bird Blind maintenance  Near Future – construction of walking trail as part of the NFWF grant.  Nov 18 – Work Day Officer Elections - Please be considering the officer elections and if you would like to be on the ballot, email Carl Turner, Jill Wright or Linda Richtsmeier with your wishes. We will hold elections in October (I think…need to check on that) November is our last scheduled meeting for 2017. See you Monday, September 11, 6:00 pm for food and fun!

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Mushrooms popping up all over

With the relatively cool, wet summer we are having, I’ve been finding mushrooms popping up all over the woods around my home. Many of these I have never found before, so with help from my field guide and more importantly, David Lewis of the Gulf States Mycological Society, I am busy identifying the more interesting (tasty) specimens. The field guide I use is Texas Mushrooms, A Field Guide, by Susan and Van Metzler. Note: Our next chapter mushroom foray with Mr. & Mrs. Lewis is on Sept. 6th .

The two best edible species I’ve found so far are Oyster Mushrooms and Amanita Jacksonii. The Oyster Mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus, usually grow on the side of dead and decaying tree trunks. This white mushroom has a mild taste and produces lots of quantity. The ones pictured below would be considered quite large.

Amanita Jacksonii, pops out of the ground in clearer areas of the woods where it is not chocked out by undergrowth and gets a little more sunlight. When first emerging, this beautiful mushroom looks like a bright reddish/orange thumb coming out of a whitish sack. As it grows, the cap retains its color and flattens out to the typical mushroom shape. I found its taste to be the best I have yet experienced with wild mushrooms. CAUTION, Amanita Jacksonii can be confused with several toxic cousins, including Amanita muscaria (Fly agaric), the poster child for poisonous toad stools. The specimens pictured below are the good guys.

Submitted by Roger Geiger

THE PADDLEFISH page 3

Meeting Minutes August 14, 2017

ATTENDING: 30 members - Kristi Thomas, Mickie Moore, Tammi White, Jill Wright, Sue Simmons, Susan and Steve Sedberry, Stella and Ted Barrow, Roger Geiger, Darrell Hudson, Ellen and Floyd Anderson, Jane Reynolds, Kim Delony, Lisa Egner, Pam Andrews, Linda Richstmeier, Karen Tromza, Kay Lowery, Todd Dickinson, Tom Walker, Nancy Rheay, Sandra Hooker, Diane Mabus, Phyllis Wilson, Pam Watts, Lin Rhys, Pam Adams, Charles Gillis, and sponsor Vanessa Neace.

WELCOME - Stella called to order at 6:30 p.m.

PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES - approved with motion by Linda, second by Nancy, unanimous approval.

TREASURER REPORT - no meeting in July, no receipts no expenses. Charles refreshed for June. Floyd motioned, Linda seconded, unanimously approved.

 GENERAL ITEMS: o Annual Meeting: ▪ Lottery - no one except Stella and Ted going. Too far. Regional would be a good idea.

▪ Silent Auction items - either for silent or for contests. Have ready by early October.

▪ Competitions: photo, drawings, etc. - Lin has taken on 20th anniversary project. Lin will reach out to some to do some video taping, why you are TMN, what you have enjoyed about it, not long. Could also be audio. What about putting new bird blinds? Yes. Pete Wright will submit as this year’s chapter project.

o Next meeting is Pot Luck!

 MYCOLOGY CLASS – September 6, 2017 - Becky Gullette in classroom - workday is Saturday, so if you’d like to do that, she will be there at 9:30 and will need one or two to help inside. By 8 a.m. if doing walking trails. o Could use 2-3 volunteers to set up the community center for lunch and clean up. Won’t be AT b/c will be same presenters. SB will nail down and send details, would like to start earlier this session than last.

o MOONVIE (Movie and Moon Gazing) – Tentative dates 10/7, 10/14, 10/28  October Sky - Barbara Judkins bought a big screen and we hope to use her screen. Moon shape would be good. Avinger Wine fest 9/16 - Linda and Pam will do.

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Meeting Minutes cont. August 14, 2017

 ADVANCED TRAINING:

o Roger Geiger – River Birch Tree

o Kay Lowery – “After the Fire”

 ADJOURNMENT

o Volunteer Time - .25 hour

o Advanced Training Time - .75 hour

Submitted by Kristi Thomas

I nvasive Earthworms Contribute to Sugar Maple Decline

You may not realize that in the Upper Midwest, there have not been any native earthworms since at least before the last Ice Age. All earthworms found there are non-native invaders. A new study suggests that these non-native worms are eating up the litter on the forest floor that would otherwise have accumulated, contributing to sugar maple (Acer sacharrum) die-back and perhaps harming other forest dwellers. Because ninety percent of a sugar maple's roots are within the top few inches of soil, removal of the leaf litter increases the likelihood of water stress in the maple. Read more at phys.org.

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Financial Report for August 2017

Beginning Bank Balance, 08/01/2017 (note 1) $8,457.16

Add: Receipts Amazon Smile 11.58

Less: Expenses Flotilla $ 31.79

Repair Skins & Bones 8.49

New Class Expense 50.85 -91.13

Ending Bank Balance, 08/31/2017 $8,377.61

Dedicated Funds – Regatta $5,664.96 Undedicated Funds 2,712.65 Ending Bank Balance, 08/31/2017 $8,377.61

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Note 1: Ended balance on the July Treasurers Report was $8,457.16, not $8,475.16, as I reported (transposition typo).

Charles Gillis

Treasurer

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OFFICERS: 2017 Meeting and Work Day Calendar Stella Barrow President MONTHLY MEETING DATES WORK DAYS Susan Sedberry SEPTEMBER 11 – Potluck SEPTEMBER 16 Vice President OCTOBER 9 OCTOBER 14

NOVEMBER 13 – End of Year Celebration NOVEMBER 18 Kristi Thomas Secretary

Charles Gillis Treasurer

Jill Wright New Class Director Hurricane Harvey Volunteer Time Tami White 2017 Class Rep. The CBTMN Board approved a VMS category for those of you that are

Linda Richtsmeier volunteering to assist the recovery from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey. This may expand to cover other survivors and recovery if Irma affects our neighbors. Membership Director

THANK YOU FOR YOUR BIG HEARTS AND HELPING HANDS!! Vanessa Adams Neace SB Advisor

Doug Weir Advisor

The Texas Master Naturalist 18th Annual Meeting is NOW accepting proposals for presentations! The Texas Master Naturalist Program welcomes your proposals as contributions to our agenda! Individuals wishing to present are invited to submit their proposal on the Texas Master Naturalist Annual Meeting Call for Proposals website: http://www.regonline.com/TXMN2017CallforProposals

The deadline for submissions is Thursday June 1st, 2017. Guidelines for submitting a proposal can be found here: Call for Proposals 2017 TMN State Reps 2017 Annual Meeting Guide