The AAPG Foundation Trustee Associates just concluded the group’s 42nd annual meeting in Kohler, Wisc., and as always, the event provided a great opportunity for fun, fellowship and getting up-to-speed on Foundation business.
What wasn’t “the same as always,” though, was its unique geologic setting and exceptional field trips that gave participants a chance to enjoy some distinctive scenic splendor.
The meeting was held in mid-October at Kohler’s historic American Club Resort, a hotel originally used as a home for local families and housing for immigrants arriving from Ellis Island coming to settle in the area.
Kohler is centrally located in Wisconsin – sitting beside the shores of Lake Michigan and with Lake Superior to the north, it is in the Glacier Country of the last Ice Age. The glaciers carved out the Drumlins and Kettle Moraines that create the spectacular landscapes along the coast on “Whistling Straits” and in the glacial tree-lined valleys of “Blackwolf Run,” where TA golfers played.
Rivers (like the nearby Sheboygan River) can be found between the numerous glacier lakes, flowing through the glacier valleys into Lake Michigan. In other words, TA fishermen had plenty of opportunity to test their skills on the Sheboygan, which was teaming with rainbow trout and giant red salmon making their way up the river from Lake Michigan on their final quest to spawn.
Despite a blustery fall day, we had an amazing field trip – led by Dave Mickelson, Bill Morgan, Charlie Byers and Shanan Peters – that led us to Late Wisconsin Laurentide Ice Sheet landforms, including spectacular drumlins of the Lake Michigan and Green Bay Ice Lobes, and world-class eskers and moulin kames of the adjacent Kettle Interlobate Moraine.
The trip also included a stop at a Silurian dimension stone quarry about 25 miles west of Sheboygan, close to the Niagara Escarpment, the western edge of these mostly shallow-marine, warm water, Silurian deposits. Rounding out the day’s activities was a talk on glacial deposits as petroleum reservoirs at the Henry Reuss Ice Age Visitor Center in the Kettle Moraine.
Other highlights included:
- TA officers Larry Jones (chairman), Martin Shields (vice chair) and Bill Monroe (secretary-treasurer) led us through two business meetings.
- TAs got updates on the current state of the Foundation with reports from Trustee Chairman Jim Gibbs, Executive Director David Curtiss and Geoff Hall of Vanguard.
- AAPG President-Elect Rick Fritz provided a brief report on the Association.
The meeting concluded with our Farewell and Awards Dinner in which John Silcox was presented with the 2019 Chairman’s Award in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the growth and success of the Foundation. John has been a member of the Trustee Associates since 1990, serving as Trustee Associate chair (2001-02) and vice chair (1999-2000).
Please make plans now to join us next fall for the 2020 Trustee Associates meeting at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pa.