Hello Lovely CMS Members,

Another month in, another month closer to getting past this pandemic. While the social distancing has put a damper on foraying for fungi, it’s just as well considering the sweltering heat we’ve been through. There are going to be very few mushrooms of interest out. So for the forays that are planed, keep your eyes out for these on the CMS calendar, and PRAY FOR RAIN! We should be entering the monsoon season in the next few weeks.

As for the challenges, lemonade can be squeezed from lemons. The downtime and isolation has afforded us the chance to consider some exciting opportunities.  We’ve continued to hold video society meetings via Zoom, with some fascinating talks by local and remote speakers.  You can catch up on these videos by going to your Facebook Page. At some point we’ll get around to posting these on YouTube as well.

Because we have the opportunity to broadcast through the internet, we’re working on the logistics to have our annual Mushroom Fair broadcast over the internet.  Even though we cannot provide in-person displays to the public, we still can provide learning opportunities in a variety of mycology-related subjects.  We’re working on assembling a lineup of speakers and topics, and hopefully we’ll be able to livestream about mushrooms that are fruiting in Colorado, as well as present video on the wonderful mycological resources that are available through Denver Botanic Gardens.  Hopefully you will find this event as exciting as we do.

Another exciting opportunity is the potential to make a CMS promotional video.  For this we would like to ask our member and foray participants to shoot some video of their mushroom hunts and finds. We would love to use your video to help advertise the joy of connecting with nature through mushrooms. So, next time you’re out and about, pull that camera phone of yours out and shoot some footage. Your mushroom adventure might just make it into the glittery and glamorous world of YouTube.

This month we were originally scheduled to have our meeting on Monday, July 13th. It was also supposed to be on the subject of a Mushroom ID workshop.  Like everything else, we’ve had to make some adjustments. One is that we’re (=I am) pushing back this month’s meeting another week, and instead of an ID workshop we’ll provide more details about the mushroom fair happening next month, followed by a fun round of mycological triva that everyone can participate in.

So if you have questions about the Fair, or questions about the rest of the season and future of CMS, please attend the NEXT meeting on Monday July 20th at 7pm.

Otherwise, I hope you are staying safe, sane, and studying your mushrooms.

Cheers,

Andy…