CMS 2016-2017 Year in Review

Published · Updated

The 2016/2017 Cascade Mycological Society Year in Review

If you measure the Mushroom Season in poundage of mushrooms (especially edibles) the 2016/2017 Mushroom Season was not the best. We actually found more Chanterelles after the June rains last summer than we did in October or November. But, if you just enjoy getting out in the woods and enjoying the fabulous diversity of mushrooms we have here in Oregon, then every mushroom season is great. Plus, no matter what the season is like, CMS always offers plenty of informative speakers at our meetings, an array of foray opportunities, some educational classes, field trips, and culinary events. Below is a round-up of the CMS happenings for 2016/2017.

CMS Meetings – Amazon Community Center, 3rd Wednesday of the month, open to the public

  • Total attendance of 290 persons for September 2016 thru May 2017
  • September: Skye Weintraub, Tasty or Toxic
  • October: Patrick Bennett, Swiss Needle Cast Fungus
  • Mushroom Festival: Ari Rockland, The Delectable Edible Mushrooms of Vermont
  • November: Steve Carpenter, Mushrooms of Mary’s Peak
  • December: Ryan Stevens, Truffles: The Mycorrhizal Hitchhiker
  • January: Dr. Jeff Stone, Fungal Pathogens of Forest trees and Ecology of Western Forests
  • February: Dr. James Trappe, Truffle Hunting Through History (Part 1)
  • March: Dr. Robert Deal, Ecosystem Services
  • April: Oregon Lyme Disease Network
  • May: Daniel Thomas: How Scientists are re-learning to see a world connected by fungi

 

CMS Forays

  • Scheduled 10 forays from October through June
  • 4 forays in October – 2 to the Coast and 2 to the Cascades
  • 2 forays in November to the Cascades
  • December Candy Cap foray was canceled due to snow
  • 1 winter foray in February
  • Morel weekend foray to Southern Oregon in May
  • Spring Bolete weekend foray in June
  • Foray attendance for the year: 182 adults and 15 children
  • Unique attendance: 86 adults, our top forayer was Lee Yamada with 7 forays, Glenn Neal and Wonderful (Frank Svejcar) both attended 6 forays

 

 

Community Forays & Classes (through City of Eugene Parks & Recs)

  • Family Foray to Hendricks Park in October – Harriet & Pavel enjoyed chatting while fighting against the wind and dodging falling tree limbs, but no one who registered was crazy/brave enough to show up during a storm
  • 38 people attended the Wild Mushroom ID class in the fall of 2016
  • 15 people attended the Mushroom Foray to the coast in November
  • 24 people registered for the Mushroom Gardening Class that was presented in May 2017.

 

Mount Pisgah Mushroom Festival Highlights

  • Total # of species – 393  (2nd best to our 2013 record year of 404)
  • The number of new species – 69 (the most ever!)
  • Attendance was 3627 and the total receipts broke a record for bringing in funding for the Mount Pisgah Arboretum

 

 

Other Classes and Events

  • From mid-September through October of 2016 CMS sponsored a Mushroom Art Show at Morning Glory Café featuring 15 artists and included: drawings, paintings, photography, clay sculptures, needle felted mushrooms, and mushroom dyed fibers
  • Farm Tour of Fungi for the People last October
  • A Winter Potluck in December
  • In March we offered an intense 2 day Fungi Identification and Microscopy Class that was attended by 8 persons. The class was taught at LCC by Ron Hamill and Susie Holmes

 

 

Scholarships

  • $1000 to Daniel Thomas for “Exploring the microbiome of old growth Douglas-fir leaves in the HJ Andrews Forest
  • $250 to sponsor 2 LCC students to attend the Fungal Identification and Microscopy class

You may also like...