[meteorite-list] Stimpson, Haviland, Greensburg Fundraiser

[Bill]

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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