Auckland Shell Club

October Meeting
We celebrated our 80th Anniversary where it all began - with a visit to the Auckland Museum.
Wilma Blom and Margaret Morley took us behind the scenes to view the molluscan collection. We selected the shell families, and they found them for us. Many families were viewed including Volutidae, Pectinidae, and Epitonidae.
We also enjoyed a wonderful anniversary supper - Margaret made an 80th birthday cake and Wilma a delicious lemon cake.
Thank you Margaret and Wilma for a very informative and entertaining evening.

Auction
Last weekend's auction was most exciting.
Up for grabs was a huge range of quality lots containing many rare and amazing shells, and as expected this led to some spirited bidding.
There were some great bargains - sometimes for the buyer, and sometimes for the seller!
Many thanks to our auctioneers Jack Grant-Mackie and Selwyn Bracegirdle, to the usual crew of Peter Poortman, Gladys Goulstone, Heather Smith, and Luen Jones, and also to the many participants who made the day such a success.

Next Meeting
202 Gillies Avenue, Epsom at 7:30pm on Tuesday 9th of November (doors open at 7pm)
Margaret Morley will be chairing the meeting in Heather's absence.
She will present a range of topics including an update on Pleurobranchaea maculata (the toxic seaslug), an old Manukau Harbour survey, and molluscs from fish-gut.
During the evening we will also be given a quiz on identifying common shells, with a prize for the winner.
Peter will bring in his best NZ volutes, and give some tips on their identification.
Also our librarian Gladys Goulstone will bring a selection of our best library books.

Please bring to the meeting ...
- any NZ volutes that you are having trouble identifying
- any other NZ shells that you want identified
- a selection of shells that you won at the recent auction

New Zealand Shell Show 2011
The Wellington Shell Club invites you to the next New Zealand Shell Show in Wellington at the Lower Hutt Town Hall from 12th to 13th February 2011.
The show will cater for most classes of molluscs and levels of collector. Dealers are very welcome and sales and trading tables will be available at the venue.
Shell show program, classes, rules, and entry form, as well as some information on transport and accommodation is now available from the Wellington Club's website at: www.clublist.co.nz/sites/wellingtonshellclub.aspx.
For assistance or information please contact the Wellington Shell Club secretary Deirdre Standish at deirdre.standish@clear.net.nz, phone 64-4-9041080, or write to: 4 Sharda Grove, Paraparaumu Beach 5032, New Zealand.

Club Library
We have an extensive collection of books, magazines, and scientific publications available, as well as a biological microscope.

Other Club News
. We will need a new Treasurer and a new Porieria Editor next year. Please support your club - if you have the time and the skills for either (or both) of these positions then we would like to hear from you.

. Items of interest for the monthly newsletter are always welcome - email to petermwp@gmail.com, or post to 26 Pendlebury Street, Green Bay, Auckland 0604.

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