Events Calendar

SOMA Monthly Meeting - IN PERSON at the Sebastopol Grange Hall
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
6:30pm PDT Presentation by Britt Bunyard

Sebastopol Grange Hall #306 - 6000 Sebastopol Ave, Hwy 12, Sebastopol, CA 95472

Or watch remotely on Zoom: CLICK TO JOIN at 6:30pm on May 9th

Topic: A Resilient Planet Needs Fungi NOW!

Overview: Fungi are weird, fungi are cool, and fungi are beautiful. But how much do we really know about them? For starters, they do much more than just rot things. They control pretty much all life on our planet and are everywhere.

Britt Bunyard’s lecture will present fascinating stories and beautiful photos of amazing fungi featured in his new book, The Lives of Fungi, A Natural History of Our Planet's Decomposers published by Princeton University Press. Discover the crazy, wonderful life that goes on all around us, mostly hidden in plain sight. For general audiences, no knowledge of mycology required.

Bio: Britt Bunyard, PhD, is the founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of the mycology journal Fungi.
A popular evangelizer on all things fungal, Britt has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, PBS’s NOVA and Wisconsin Foodie television programs, and in The Atlantic, Vogue, Forbes, Saveur, Women’s World, and others.

He serves as Executive Director of the Telluride Mushroom Festival. He co-authored Amanitas of North America (2020; The FUNGI Press), Mushrooms and Macrofungi of Ohio and Midwestern States (2012; The Ohio State University Press), and The Beginner's Guide to Mushrooms (December 2020; Quarry Books).

MSSF will have our own SOMA Board Member Patrick Hamilton as their speaker for May.

MSSF meetings are at the Randall Museum in San Francisco - 7:30 pm PST
Or join via MSSF Zoom Link

• Talk Title: Pay-for Forays


Patrick’s Wild Mushroom Adventures

• Meeting date and time: 7:30 pm PST, Tuesday, May 21st, 2024
• Individuals may attend in-person, beginning at 6:30pm, for mushroom ID, refreshments and social interaction in the Buckley Room of the Randall Museum Virtually: At 7:30pm, Patrick Hamilton will be joining the group from Sebastopol for the evening's presentation.
  Join the Zoom Meeting - Meeting ID: 891 8438 9640 - Passcode: 608192

Patrick asks: Your Thoughts About Pay-for Forays?

• Positive: Yes, No?
• Negative--Yes, No?
• Whatever?

There has been a lot of discussion recently on the pluses and minuses of the explosion in the mushroom world of folks charging to take others on forays. I will address that. I've done over 200 of them.

I teach my forayers how to identify mushrooms. I teach about the habitat, including trees, plants, and even geology if some are interested. These people rarely want to join a mushroom club to learn. They want to know only one thing on their day with me: Can I eat this?

Let's talk about these forays. (My very first organized foray was when I went on a pay-for foray over 30 years ago with David Arora and the Late Great Larry Stickney.)

SOMA Scholarship Applications are due by May 31st!

SOMA has $25000 available for scholarships this year
Please encourage Graduate and Undergrad students to apply for an Academic Scholarship
As well as Community Science projects to apply for a grant>

Mycological Society of San Francisco

Links: Calendar - Annual Membership is $20
Meetings: Third Tuesday of each month from September thru May
Culinary Dinners: First Mondays, 6-9pm, Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park
Events: Mendocino Woodlands Camp Foray: Veterans Day weekend
MSSF Fungus Faire: December 16, (new location) El Camino High School,
1320 Mission Rd, South San Francisco CA 94080.

Mycological Society of Marin

Links: News - Foraging Calendar - Annual Basic Membership is $40
Meetings: Third Wednesday of each month from September thru May
“WILD IN MARIN” Fungus Festival in Jan 6, 2024

Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz

Links: Events Overview - Annual Membership is $20
Meetings: Third Wednesday of each month from September thru May
Events: Alaska Foray - Probably August.
Albion Field Station Forays - Dec 1-3, 2023, and Jan 19-21, 2024
FFSC Fungus Fair - JANUARY 12-14, 2024

Mendocino Coast Mushroom Club

Links: Calendar - Annual household Membership is $20
Meetings: Second Tuesday of each month from September thru May
Events: Mushroom ID for beginners - Virtual Lecture & Field ID Walk, usually Mid-December
Wild Mushroom Exhibit Ford House, Mendocino - Nov 1 to Dec 31

Humboldt Bay Mycological Society

Links: Calendar - Annual family Membership is $20
Meetings: Third Wednesday of each month from September thru May
Events: Annual Mushroom Fair online: A 5-part Webinar Series with Maria Morrow and Christian Schwarz Tuesdays 10/19 to 11/16, 7:00-8:30pm PT with Q&A to follow

Oregon Mycological Society

Links: Calendar - Annual family Membership is $35
Meetings: Second Monday of every month except July and December
Events: OMS Fall Mushroom Show — Cancelled
International Fungi & Fibre Symposium 2020 - Cancelled