Winter 2010

Glow-in-the-Dark Mushrooms Discovered
‘As if teensy night-lights were dangling from tree trunks and branches, glow-in-the-dark mushrooms illuminate the forests across the globe. Now, scientists have discovered several species of such radiant 'shrooms.’

View MSNBC Article   Submitted by Stacey Zorn.

 

Risk Management Survey of North American Mushroom Clubs

Bill Miknis participated in this survey for our club.  The results of the survey are of interest to all club members and are now available to all in the article "Risk Management Survey of North American Mushroom Clubs" in the Fall 2009 edition of Fungi Magazine.  It is also accessible through the magazine’s website: http://www.fungimag.com.

Club News:

New Meeting Location:
We will be holding our winter meetings in
Lancaster County at the
Boettcher House Museum
 at 10 AM on Saturdays
. For a picture of the facility and a sketch of its history, see http://www.manheimtownship.org/museums.htm
Directions to the museum are in this newsletter as part of the schedule.

 

Club Membership Dues: 
With the new year, it is time to remind members that 2010 club dues ($10/member or family) are now payable.
  Please send checks to our treasurer, Bill Miknis, 3119 Parker Drive, Lancaster, PA  17601. 

 

Helen Miknis Memorial Foray Date:
  Please mark the dates for next year’s Miknis Foray at Kings Gap on your 2010 calendar.  In order not to conflict with the 2010 NEMF foray (to be held Sept. 23–26 at Kerhonkson,      New York in the lower Catskills), the Miknis foray will take place the weekend of Sept 10–12.


Baked Sausages with Apples,
Oyster Mushrooms and Cider:

This recipe was prepared by Carol Watkins for our summer tasting event.  She writes that it is a traditional British recipe for a classic casserole of sausages and oyster mushrooms cooked with apples and leeks in cider flavored with sage.  It is also a good choice for individuals who experience gluten intolerance. Carol serves this with wild and mahogany  rice cooked in gluten free vegetable broth.

Oyster mushrooms

Cider

Cider vinegar

Chicken sausage with no casing or gluten

Granny Smith apples

Fresh basil

Brown sugar

Leeks

Exact quantities of ingredients are up to the cook.  Brown sausage in skillet.  Combine ingredients and bake at 350 degrees until all ingredients are cooked through.

   
 

Eastern Penn Mushroomers Winter Meeting Schedule 2010

 

January 16, 2010 - 10AM to 12PM -“Introduction to Polygenetics and DNA” Glenn Boyd

Glenn is a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable mushroomer from the New Jersey Mycological Association (NJMA).  He will explain this interesting subject to us, and teach us about how DNA helps us learn more about mushrooms and their origins.

 

February 20, 2010 - 10AM to 12PM “Widespread Agaricales of North America Part V: Puffballs, Clubs and Corals

This program includes species both in the Agaricales as well as species that have traditionally been included in these groupings but are now considered parts of other orders. Thus traditional puffballs, large and small, are discussed along with desert stalked puffballs, Scleroderma species and bird's nest fungi. Ramaria species are included with Clavaria species and other club and coral mushrooms. (CD - 60 minutes)

 

March 27, 2010- 10 AM to ?  Mushroom Growing Workshop

Dr. Gene Varney of the NJMA will give a short introduction on mushroom cultivation. This will be followed by a workshop where you will have the opportunity to make an oyster mushroom kit to take home with you.

 

IMPORTANT!!!! NEW MEETING PLACE: We will be holding our meetings in Lancaster County at the Boettcher House Museum at 10 AM on Saturdays. For a picture of the facility and a sketch of its history, see http://www.manheimtownship.org/museums.htm . The Museum is in Landis Woods Park, which can be reached from Route 30 north of Lancaster by heading north on Route 501 (Lititz Pike) and turning onto Meadow Lane in the village of Neffsville.  The park is the first right.  See also http://activerain.com/blogsview/143235/manheim-township-pa-landis-woods-park-boettcher-house-museum

Winter 2010 President’s Message

 

It is time to remind everyone that election of officers will take place at our meeting in January.  This event will occur prior to the presentation by Glenn Boyd (which I have seen, and highly      recommend).  Please advise me or one of the other current officers if you would be willing to be  a candidate for any position.  In particular, I have been president for a very long time now,  and I would welcome someone else taking over.  In addition, no one presently holds the  position of Director at Large, whose duties, as described in our club’s bylaws, are:

“to provide assistance to other officers for specific projects” and

“to provide general assistance and counsel”. 

Please let me know if you would consider serving the club in that appointive, rather than elective, role.

 

Our club has recently purchased liability coverage, which should allow us more flexibility in booking sites for meetings and forays.  Details will be given at the business meeting in January, as part of the treasurer’s report.

 

Also on the agenda for determination at the January meeting is whether our club should take out a “business membership” in the Graystones Preserve.  Information about that preserve was given in the last issue of the newsletter, but some clarification  of their policies has taken place since then, which may affect our decision.  Please try to attend to voice your opinion on the matter. Please notify me prior to the January meeting of other items that should be brought up then.

 

Finally, on a sad note, I wish to extend condolences to Chris and Kathy Snyder, whose Chesapeake Bay retriever Orion (affectionately known as “Ri”) was recently diagnosed with bone cancer.  To spare him further suffering, Ri was euthanized Thanksgiving weekend, to the great sorrow of the Snyders and all of us who had grown fond of Ri in our encounters with him at club forays and tastings.  His presence will be sorely missed.  Messages of condolence may be sent to the Snyders by email at cwsnyder@frontiernet.net, or by regular mail to their home address, 5879 Wanner Road, Narvon, PA  17555.

 

2009 NEMF foray at Eastham, Massachusetts on Cape Cod

        Cheryl and I were pleased to participate in the Northeastern Mycological Foray last month, and to represent EPM at the trustees’ meeting there.  I only regret that no other club members were able to join us.  Despite having to contend with a nor’easter that hit the Cape that weekend, collecting was good, and there were a number of very interesting workshops, including a microscopy session on ascomycetes that I attended, a presentation by Sue Hopkins on identification of tooth fungi, and a show of projected stereo photographs of mushrooms (viewed through polarized glasses, as at IMAX presentations).  The accommodations for the event were excellent, and attendance was an all-time high.  For the first time ever, registrations had to be closed.  Matters discussed at the trustees’ meeting were for the most part routine, but looking ahead to the future, our club’s turn to co-host the NEMF foray (in collaboration with the New Jersey Mycological Association) will come around in 2012, one year earlier than had previously been scheduled, so it is time now to begin long-range planning for that event.

New Year’s Resolutions:

With the collecting season soon to wind down, it is time to look ahead to next year (with visions of morels dancing in our heads).  As the holidays approach, I like to reflect on the accomplishments of the past season and to resolve to do certain things in the coming year to expand my appreciation and enjoyment of matters mycological.  So here are my resolutions for 2010:

           

1. Get better at tree identification, so as to more productively search for particular mushroom species.

2. Pay more attention to lichens. 
(I have the necessary references. I just need to devote more time to their study.)

3. Visit more Pennsylvania State Parks.

4. Explore mycological web sites and DVDs in greater depth.

5. Take more stereo photos of fungi, and make more and better use of lighting equipment
(strobes, reflectors, diffusers) in my photographic endeavors.

 You can draw up your own list, tailored to your own interests and weaknesses.  Best wishes for 2010!

                                                              John Dawson