Sarah
 
That taffy is going to be mighty hard, just a bit different then when you get it
at the beach.
 
On the satellites for the schools, the hook up doesn't degrade the satellite, so
once accomplished no sweat.  Then if just one student gets fired up and uses them
it is probably worth it.  I do agree the best way would involve a class and
dedicated time - but just wait - you never know.  A teacher at the brand new high
school here (built for the city by Intel) wanted to try an astronomy class.  The
principal said, "Okay, but only if you can get at least 25 kids to sign up."
Well, something like 200 students signed up.  When a local astronomer heard about
this he gave them his telescope - a huge thing worth hundreds of thousands of
dollars.  Then helped them get some government surplus observation domes.  The
moral being it just takes one spark.
 
No classes on conchology though.  Something about the distance to the ocean.
However, I do believe the "one spark" deal applies to shell collecting and an
interest in mollusks.  I have given all of my excess shells - those with no data
and usually F- - to the local natural history museum.  The idea came originally
from Paul Monfils who offered some shells for this purpose.  I added mine to
Paul's (thanks again Paul), plus some from Mark Bethke (the ferret & finch guy -
thanks again), and some from John Bernard of Shelloak (thanks also - from me and
the club).  These are now USED (instead of sitting in a closet because I find it
hard to part with any shell) by volunteer teachers and teachers on field trips to
introduce a bunch of desert kids to the world of seashells.  Maybe we can strike
that single spark.  The neat thing is these kids get to handle these shells -
where they wouldn't normally be allowed to even view the museum's shell collection
unless part of it was on display behind glass.  I love seeing shells in display
cases and I enjoy pictures of shells, but to really know a shell you have to feel
it.
 
I have a beautiful Cypraea cervus that I bought from a diver years ago in Key
West.  He had several for sale and some were quite a bit bigger than the one I
bought (145mm).  But mine was dark, dark, dark...  A striking shell.  Well I know
if I really want to keep it dark I will have to keep it in a dark place - but I
can't.  That shell has always been in my display cabinet and it is quite a bit
lighter now than when I bought it.  It is where I can see it and I find that
almost every time I open the cabinet to do something I end up holding that shell.
Maybe someday I'll find another but the fading color has been more than equaled by
the pure enjoyment of that shell.  Of course the cabinet is full of my favorite
shells; 50 cent shells right next to grocery budget shells.  I'm hoping maybe we
can spark something like that with the shells in the museum program and maybe the
high school you were talking about, Sarah can do the same.
 
I apologize for sounding preachy, must have been the green chile on the pizza I
had for lunch.  A pure New Mexican style.
 
Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA