[meteorite-list] Stimpson, Haviland, Greensburg Fundraiser

From: Bill <glixard_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 21:48:48 -0800
Message-ID: <08A10D4C432.00000730glixard_at_inbox.com>

Hi Mark,

I'm not going to point out all the negative, adjectives. Please give us a brief synopsis of this post. Life on the fence can be short and unproductive.

Bill




> -----Original Message-----
> From: thebigcollector at msn.com
> Sent: Mon, 09 Jul 2007 22:52:14 -0500
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Stimpson, Haviland, Greensburg Fundraiser
>
> Hello all,
>
> Hope everyone is doing alright tonight. I made my way to the Meteorite
> Festival the other day and have since been busy with family and the like,
> but I figured I would comment towards recent e-mails.
>
> I will note, on the article, the decision to not allow the giving of a
> check
> at the festival was completely Don Stimpson's. While he did claim it was
> a
> committee decision, the timing between my communications with him on the
> subject (minutes) simply did not make this possible. But I now have a
> history I guess with Don so that was expected.
>
> I first met Don years ago although I don't think he remembers it. Jerry
> met
> his as well, from efforts of going door to door in Greensburg asking
> about
> the meteorite. Don was pleasant, we picked up a few leads on meteorites
> in
> town that never panned out and that was that.
>
> The next time I met Don it was at the 1st meteorite festival. Don was
> set
> up in his own little room with a few neat displays and some cool
> Brenhams,
> along with a few small pieces of other meteorites. Jerry offered Don a
> Kansas Meteorite Society hat and an honorary membership, Don complimented
> me
> on my website and shook my hand. We invited him over to our set, but he
> never made it over.
>
> I played a small role in the festival forming, which is why I was part of
> it. When the mayor first thought of it, he mentioned it lightly to
> Steve,
> who mentioned it lightly to me. I then starting talking with the mayor
> and
> encouraging him to go with it, to "jump of the band wagon of publicity"
> from
> the finding of Steve's stone. I also called several of the city council
> members (who would have to vote on funding) and the Greensburg mayor/city
> council members. I had hoped both towns would celebrate it together, and
> it
> would have been nice it the meteorite pulled the two, previous fighting
> towns together (rather then the tornadoes) but that was not to be. The
> Greensburg mayor did like the ideal of a meteorite museum and for a while
> we
> were looking at converting an empty gas station (destroyed by the
> tornado)
> along the highway as the location.
>
> The Haviland mayor did later thank me for pushing him a little and
> welcomed
> me to do such in the future. We actually wrote a few letters back and
> forth
> and I was saddened to see him, understandly step down.
>
> After the festival I sent letters to the meteorite guest, one of which
> was
> from my college, and the American National History Museum's Dr. Able, who
> was quite pleasant, thank them for there efforts.
>
> I was the only one to post information to the meteorite list about the
> event, afterwards I posted photos and gave it rave reviews. Don is kind
> of
> local meteorite guy, and so strangely I felt like I was on good terms
> with
> Don at this time, and not long ago.
>
> Then Don starts blocking all the Kansas Meteorite Society members from
> bidding on his auctions and tells the Wichita Gem and Mineral Society,
> which
> we all belong to, that we are one of the reasons he would not be willing
> to
> set up at the display we offered him. (Later I would find out he offered
> to
> display, but only if he had the main display, and then backed out
> completely
> when he found out Steve was invited).
>
> So I call Don up and I am like "What the heck Don?" So Don first denies
> everything. So I'm like your saying all the KMS members and the Wichita
> Gem
> and Mineral Society members are lying to me. And I am like "Look Don, I
> am
> not your enemy, nor have I done anything against you." So we go around a
> little while and then he admits he did say that to the Wichita Gem and
> Mineral Society, and basically explains how Steve Arnold controls the
> IMCA,
> the Kansas Meteorite Society and the Meteorite List, and that he does not
> have a problem with me, just all these other things. So I am like, look
> Don, I founded the KMS, was in the IMCA since the beginning and I am one
> of
> the more common posters on the list (although not so much anymore I
> guess).
> And Don then accuses me of being an employee of Steve Arnold and tells me
> to
> prove I am not. Prove I not, what the hell are your talking about. So I
> let things cool down and call him back in an hour. Don is then
> apologetic
> and is sorry for acting like a dick.
>
> Don a little later does a talk with the Kansas Geological Survey, Jerry
> uses
> his connections to get an invite. At the talk Don is nice to Jerry.
>
> So Don is still selling meteorites (which strangely is one of the
> problems
> he said he had with me) and one of the KMS members e-mail him, as Don
> still
> has him blocked. Don answers, "I can't talk about it," and now he is
> talking bad about us to common people we know.
>
> Then comes with Wichita Gem and Mineral Society show. Don manages to
> squeeze in, using part of the Greensburg Big Well table. The Big Well
> people are nice and Karen, the manager there has always been friendly
> with
> us. (Interestingly, she e-mailed us the day of the tornado.) A few KMS
> members buys some meteorites from Don, Brenham made into Cabs.
>
> And later Don makes a few complaints to the Wichita Gem and Mineral
> Society
> president, such as "They sold the meteorites I sold them." Don left
> before
> Steve showed up Sunday, but not before he asked the WGMS president, "Why
> don't the Kansas Meteorite Society members like me?"
>
> I started communication with the Meteorite Festival Committee, a day or
> two
> after the tornado hit. The head of the Committee, Jackie Robinson was
> nice
> was did not seem against it all. However, after Don took it over he
> e-mails
> me, saying "You should have communicated with us," and tells the same to
> others I know. I confront him, he admits he has the e-mail, then tries
> to
> charge me $200 for a table...mind you tables should run about $40, so I
> am
> pretty sure he was trying to play me there.
>
> Also, all this time I was previously invited to this Festival, both by
> the
> mayor, now stepped down, and by Don, who had promised me a better
> location.
> So now I am uninvited and need to pay $200, only Don does not tell me I
> am
> uninvited, I just am. I politely e-mail him a couple times (I don't
> really
> have a choice he was made in charge at the last minute) and he insults me
> several times in replies. So I guess that is that. When the reporter
> called me, I did answer his questions and I even forwarded all
> communication
> I had saved on this to him.
>
> I arrived in Haviland during the morning of the festival a little before
> the
> parade, which made me a little late in meeting the Haviland State Bank
> president in front of the bank. I would not be setting up at the
> festival.
> None of the KMS members wanted to attend, as they were all kind of
> uninvited
> as well, so I was alone, but had a friend in tow. The parade cut off the
> bank section the street, and the friend had kid....which made it
> impossible
> to get past the clowns.
>
> Anyway, Stan Robertson at the bank was very nice and friendly. Stan led
> me
> to believe that our contribution, might be their biggest from any source,
> or
> at least he made it sound like it was bigger then most. He actually
> seemed
> a little impressed.
>
> I am surprised the big check is such a concern to some of you. Here in
> Wichita, Greensburg charities is local news and I have seen dozens on the
> daily news. Many times it is just a Boy Scout group that was washing
> cars
> or Girl Scouts who had a bake sale. And most of the times, they present
> a
> "big check" with their $150-200 contributions. Our local news goes out to
> 1.5 million people (?) in the Kansas area, and many times the news does
> help
> raise funds, or gets someone to fix the person in need story. While a
> check
> that cost $10-15, when you are presenting a couple hundred doesn't seem
> that
> smart on the surface. If spending $10-15 at Kinkos, can bring the Girl
> Scouts a good chance at several hundred in further donations....that's
> not a
> bad deal.
>
> The only Greensburg resident that did bring up the check to me, mentioned
> she (Karen, Big Well) had wished I presented it to them, with the media.
>
> I did not think it was bad ideal, and that it might help undue a little
> of
> damage done to meteorite collectors in the region, which goes back to
> Haag?s
> Brenham, and was furthered by poachers and to some degree, Steve and Don
> competing for land leases.
>
> At the Festival I recognized 30-35 people, which surprized me. And while
> I
> felt a little bit like I was enemy territory at first, since I seemed to
> know some many, and since Don just happened to leave about the minute I
> got
> over to the meteorite area, I looked around a little. Don had a nice
> display
> of Nininger photographs and Brenhams along with a guess the weight of
> this
> big Brenham contest. I would guess it was ~115 lbs. The friend with me
> put
> $5.00 in Don's jar for the Haviland State Bank fund, and his kid made a
> meteorite-space scene on paper with glitter, paper and the like.
>
> The McPherson College had a very nice display. It was Nininger's college
> and is worth a visit to the region if you are here in Kansas.
>
> I was sad to the see the lack of attendance at the festival....and darn
> it,
> no funnel cakes, but I managed to visit with several of the locals I
> wondered about but had not had the chance to touch base since the
> tornado.
> (I didn't know any of those that did die), and had some nice barbeque.
> Several people knew of the fund raiser (imagine that) and many thanked us
> for our efforts. One person with Don experience, suggested that they
> have
> an intervention, which I found funny. Never heard of an intervention to
> stop someone from being.....complicated.
>
> Anyway, I hope at some time Don and the KMS can call some truce or the
> like,
> and perhaps even work together in the future. Such as making the olivine
> from the pallasite meteorite the state gem stone, a common interest.
>
> Also, I likely owe the list an apology for having some of my dirty water
> being aired out, so for that I am sorry.
>
> I do appreciate the help from my fellow fundraisers, the donations from
> list
> members in meteorites or funds, and it will go to a good need.
>
> Looking at all of this on the outside, perhaps this was a good thing. The
> Haviland State Bank does not yet know what it is going to do with the
> funds
> it is raising. To be honest, the locals do not really know what all the
> State and Feds will pay. As the raffle did not happen last week, and
> there
> is a need for suitable public place, the best location appears to be
> Denver
> Show. This will give us a couple more months, and a chance to sell
> tickets
> at the Denver show. So in the long run, we should raise another $2-3
> thousand per chance? You know, those raffle tickets are not a bad
> investment, prize - ticket sold ratio wise.
>
> Anyway, our fundraiser will not rebuild Greensburg on it?s own. As
> someone
> pointed out they will need 100's of millions. But you take our
> fundraiser,
> add it to the 100?s of others and then the State and Fed aid and
> Greensburg
> will be back.
>
> Clear Skies,
> Mark Bostick
> Wichita, Kansas
>
>
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Received on Tue 10 Jul 2007 01:48:48 AM PDT