October 2024 General Meeting - Kitty Elvin and Dan Tischler "Mushroom Etiquette and Free Advice"

Please join us for our October meeting at the Harvey West Scout House. 

The evening will start at 6:30 pm for those who would like to socialize, snack on Bob Wynn's fantastic spread and chat with fellow mycophiles before the main meeting. Bring in any mushrooms you would like to show off or need help identifying.

The business part of the meeting will start at 7:00 pm. We will announce club events and discuss plans for the upcoming 51st Santa Cruz Fungus Fair.  The talk for the evening will be given by Dan Tischler and Kitty Elvin, our Local and Long Distance Foray Ministers.

"Mushroom Etiquette and Free Advice"

Our foray ministers will discuss some of the rules, etiquette and finer points of collecting and appreciating mushrooms on public and private lands.  They will advise a bit about where to collect, what to collect, and how much is too much.  They will also give tips for taking photos for ID purposes,  gripe about some of the ID requests that come to our social media groups, and discuss iNaturalist and other online resources.

Kitty Elvin is a long time FFSC member, club minister, and volunteer.  She is currently the minister of Long Distance Forays, has served as minister of Propaganda and been a major contributor to keeping our website and Facebook up and running.  Kitty is a passionate forager and foodie and travels the world in search of wild mushrooms and epicurean experiences.

Dan Tischler managed to keep a low profile in the FFSC beginning in 1990, volunteering and collecting for the fair and attending monthly talks. But he was unwittingly elected minister of Local Forays in 2017, a position he still holds.  In addition, he is the co-minister of Propaganda, current owner of the FFSC googlegroup, club Zoom host, and a member of the Fungus Fair committee.  Dan collects edible wild mushrooms, but is also an avid mushroom macro-photographer and is  interested in understanding fungal relationships in nature and fungal phylogeny.