What a great subject! As a 40 year veteran of shell clubs, Active in 4, I
can honestly say that field trips are not it, programs or lack thereof are
not it, size is not it and whether you have a shell show or some other
public venue is not it. The decline is not due to no young people or
distance from others with the same interest. It is not due to declining
shelling spots or increasing restrictions  (quoted from Carole Marshall"



I'm sorry you are Incorrect. Carole.   When we had monthly field trips, our
club was booming.  Not many places to collect in Florida now!  Declining
shelling spots, of course, influences our clubs.   If you can't collect, how
do you share your interest and get together for I.D. sessions, etc?  Field
trips bring club members closer as they spend time together.

Programs definitely draw members to the meetings depending on their
interest.  Especially if you promote meetings in local newspapers.

Shell Shows bring in LOTS  of new members.   We manage to gain 6-12 members
every year from our shell show.

We used to have a Jr. Club that met every month and our members took turns
educating them and playing games with them and donating free shells for
them.   All young people are being told "DO NOT TOUCH A LIVE SHELL"... "DO
NOT TOUCH THE REEF"....DO NOT DISTURB ANYTHING".  If parents or teachers are
not educating our children on mollusks, who will???

Young families are so busy now with both parents working.  Children doing
homework all evening or involved in sports.  My grandson has 3-4 hours of
homework every evening!
Our daughter a teacher spends all evening doing paper work.

I know all this first hand...having been very active in two shell clubs in
the last 43 years!

You MUST have some interest to draw new members in!

Jim and Bobbi Cordy
Merritt Island, Florida
Space Coast Shell Festival Jan. 21-22 2006
 in Melbourne
ATSC Sponsors "It's Better In the Bahamas Shelling Trips"

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------