Martin, and anyone else who needs to make vacation plans:
 
The 1999 COA Convention will be held Sunday June 27 through Thursday July
1, with an optional field trip on Friday July 2. There is a possibility of
an activity on Saturday July 26 also.
 
The convention rates at the Galt House Hotel on the River (Ohio) will be in
effect for several days before and after the convention for those who wish
to extend their vacation. There's a lot to do in the area.   Kentucky has
wonderful fossiling, fresh water musseling, and land snails galore, and if
you're tired of shells (yeah, right!) you can go antiquing to your heart's
content, eat yourself into oblivion in our many really fine restaurants,
ride riverboats on the scenic Ohio, win a bundle on one of the nearby
Riverboat Casinos, check out Churchill Downs, visit the Museum of the Bat,
the Louisville Slugger, that is. Want something out of the ordinary?  We
have one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the country. The list goes on.
Or, if you want more about shells, you can visit Gene Everson's fantastic
collection (I hear he's planning tours), and/or  you can go right on to AMU
at Pittsburgh the following week. . . it's just about 6 hours away by car.
. . .
 
Tightwad Convention Chairman Gene Everson vows it will be one of the most
reasonable conventions in many years. He's already hassled the hotel
convention staff down to a great price for a room, and has other
cost-cutting ideas too.
 
Well, folks, I'm getting ahead of things. We have a glorious convention at
Walt Disney World coming up in just one month.  If you haven't registered,
get busy!  Dig out that registration form! Time's getting short.   If
perchance you aren't a COA member but are interested in attending to see
what all the fuss is about, please, oh please feel welcome!  You don't have
to be a member to attend. But you are likely to become one after you do.
The darn things are addictive!  And this one is going to be a fantastic
one! All the shells you'd ever want, all the shell talk, all the shell
folks and friends, and you get Mickey Mouse and a Conch-L gathering too!
Come join us for fun in the sun and Discover the Magic of COA 1998.
 
Questions about either convention?  Write me and I'll direct you to the
information you need. Please note that there is a lot of information about
the Walt Disney World Convention 1998 up on the Conch-Net WebPage at
<http://coa.acnatsci.org/conchnet/coaconv.html> Look for Louisville 1999
Convention Information to start going up at that same location in August or
September.
 
Lynn Scheu