The Rostrum Awards


The MGS newsletter, The Rostrum, is an award winning publication in regional and national competitions.


EFMLS Bulletin Editors' Contest


Each year, the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies (EFMLS) holds a Bulletin Editors' Contest for the newsletters of its approximately 150 affiliated clubs (total membership in excess of 10,000 individuals). The best material published in these bulletins is judged and awards are made in several categories. The Rostrum has done well in these competitions. Listed here are the awards won by the newsletter and its authors over the years in the EFMLS contest. Winning entries in the EFMLS contest are entered in the national newsletter contest of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS). AFMS awards are also noted in the list below.

AFMS Bulletin Editors Hall of Fame

  • Rick Smith, editor of The Rostrum, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018

2021 Awards (Publication Year 2020)


Original Education Articles
  • Jim Stedman, Second Place for “Sad State of Affairs for Conus Marylandicus” (V29, N1); this article received a Fifth Place award in the AFMS national competition
  • Jim Stedman, Third Place for “Julia Anna Gardner-A Life of Science and Service” (V29, N3)

Non-Technical Articles
  • Bob Farrar, First Place for “An Amazing Anti-Atlas Amethyst Adventure” (V29, N1); this article received a Second Place award in the AFMS national competition

Written Features - Adults
  • Bob Farrar, Trophy for “Featured Mineral: Native Copper” (V29, N2)
  • Bob Farrar, Second Place for “Featured Mineral: Cordierite” (V29, N3)

Poetry-Adults
  • Rick Smith, Trophy for “A Kayak Trip to the Maryland Miocene” (V29, N3); this poem received a Fourth Place award in the AFMS national competition

2020 Awards (Publication Year 2019)


Written Features - Adults
  • Bob Farrar, Fifth Place for “Mineral of the Meeting: Galena” (V28, N1)
  • Bob Farrar, Seventh Place for “Mineral of the Meeting: Apophyllite” (V28, N4)

2019 Awards (Publication Year 2018)


Written Features
  • Jim Stedman, Trophy Award for “101 American Fossil Sites You've Gotta See” (V27, N3)
  • Bob Farrar, Ninth Place for “Mineral of the Meeting: Corundum” (V27, N3)

Original Educational Articles
  • Bob Farrar, Fourth Place for “Common as Dirt: Moroccan Aragonite” (V27, N3)
  • Joy and Tom Piscitelli, Seventh Place for “Beach Re-Nourishment and a Renewed Focus” (V27, N1)

Poetry - Adult
  • Florence Jones Strean, Second Place “Old MacDonald Updated” (V27, N3); this poem received a Seventh Place award in the AFMS national competition

2018 Awards (Publication Year 2017)


Non-Technical Articles
  • Michael Hutchins, Fourth Place for “The "Ancient Seas" Exhibit at the Indiana State Museum” (V26, N6)
  • Eric Seifter, Honorable Mention for “Cape Fear River Trip: Exploring the Cretaceous Black Creek Group” (V26, N5)
Written Features
  • Michael Hutchins, Second Place for “Collecting Books on Paleontology” (V26, N6)
Poetry - Adult
  • Jim Stedman, Trophy Award for “He and She Among the Dinosaurs” (V26, N4) - Third place in the AFMS competition

2017 Awards (Publication Year 2016)


Junior Articles
  • David, Trophy Award for “A Man of Strata” (V25, N2) - Fifth Place in the AFMS competition
  • Brooke, Fifth Place for “Special Effects” (V25, N5)
Original Educational Articles
  • Jim Stedman, Trophy Award for “Why, When, and Where the Turtle Got Its Shell” (V25, N5) - Second Place in the AFMS competition
Non-Technical Articles
  • Michael Hutchins, Seventh Place for “Dinosaurs in Their Time” (V25, N3)

2016 Awards (Publication Year 2015)



Junior Articles
  • David, Trophy Award for “Fossiltastic” (V24, N6) - Second Place in the AFMS competition
  • Brooke, Second Place for “Garnets” (V24, N6) - First Place in the AFMS competition
Educational Articles
  • Jim Stedman, Fourth Place for “Lagodon: A Paleontological Puzzle” (V24, N3)
Original Non-Technical Articles
  • Michael Hutchins, Tenth Place for “'Spinosaurus: Lost Giant of the Cretaceous' Exhibit at the National Geographic Society” (V24, N2)
  • Michael Hutchins, Honorable Mention for “The Evolving Planet Exhibit at The Chicago Field Museum” (V24, N1)
Written Features
  • Gary Lohman, Trophy Award for “President's Message” (V24, N1)
  • Bob Farrar, Third Place for “Mineral of the Month: Diaspore” (V24, N1)

2015 Awards (Publication Year 2014)



Original Poems
  • Lyle Peterson, Trophy Award for “The Extraction” (V23, N3) - 7th place in the AFMS competition
  • Grady Frame, Third Place for “Time” (V23, N5)
  • Grady Frame, Fourth Place for “My Spot” (V23, N4)
Educational Articles
  • Jim Stedman, Third Place for “Caecum patuxentium: Following a Paleontologist” (V23, N2)
  • Bob Farrar, Fifth Place for “Mineral of the Meeting: Wulfenite” (V23, N3)
  • Rick Smith, Sixth Place for “The Genus Dallarca of the Family Arcidae” (V23, N1)
Original Non-Technical Articles
  • Bob Farrar, Trophy Award for “Hardscrabble Mining in Morocco” (V23, N3) - 2nd place in the AFMS competition
  • Michael Hutchins, Second Place for “Return to Wyoming, 2014: Rhinos, Oreodonts, and Hell Pigs” (V23, N4)
  • Michael Hutchins, Eighth Place for “Aurora Fossil Festival 2014” (V23, N4)
Editors of Large Bulletins
  • Rick Smith, Seventh Place
Written Features - winners of Third through Tenth Place Awards and Honorable Mention included:
  • Max Bovis, for “A Wee Little Reminder” (V23, N3)
  • Lyle Peterson, for “Henson Creek, June 2014” (V23, N5)
In addition, the EFMLS made Each One Teach One Awards to members of affiliated clubs who did outstanding service in teaching others about rocks, minerals, or fossils. Eric Seifter received the second place award in this category.

2014 Awards (Publication Year 2013)

Written Features
  • Don Greaves, Trophy Award for “John Wolf Memorial Field Trip” (V22, N1) - Honorable Mention in the AFMS competition
  • Luke Oman, Eighth Place for “Cruisin' For Fossils - Henson and Paint Branch Creeks” (V22, N5)
Original Poems
  • Grady Frame, Fifth Place for “Elusive” (V22, N3)
  • Lyle Peterson, Sixth Place for “Tour of Virginia or the Lost Fossil Hunters” (V22, N4)
Educational Articles
  • Garrett Cooper, Third Place for “3D Printing of Prehistoric Models” (V22, N2)
  • Bob Farrar, Third Place for “Trilobite Trouble” (V22, N2)
  • Bob Farrar, Fourth Place for “Mineral of Meeting: Hematite” (V22, N6)
Original Non-Technical Articles
  • Walter Castro and Gerald Elgert, Fourth Place for “Bear Valley and Swope's Pit” (V22, N6)
  • Tom and Joy Piscitelli, Seventh Place for “Fossil Hunting at North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina” (V22, N3)
  • Michael Hutchins, Honorable Mention for “Human Uses of Fossils in Ancient Times” (V22, N4)

2013 Awards (Publication Year 2012)

Original Poems
  • Jim Stedman, Second Place for “The Softer Side” (V21, N4)
Original Non-Technical Articles
  • Michael Hutchins, Honorable Mention for “Why Collect Fossils?” (V21, N6)
  • Bob Farrar, Honorable Mention for “Amethyst Country” (V21, N2)
Written Features
  • Rick Smith, Honorable Mention for “President's Message” (V21, N6)

2012 Awards (Publication Year 2011)

Editors of Large Bulletins
  • Gerald Elgert, First Place and 10th Place in the AFMS contest
Educational Articles
  • Jim Stedman, Fifth Place for “In the Field with a 19th Century Fossil Hunter, and the Mystery of the Fossil Eel” (V20, N1)
  • Gerald Elgert, Eighth Place for “Out of Sequence: A Paint Branch Dilemma” (V20, N1)
Non-Technical Articles
  • Michael Hutchins, Second Place for “A Visit to Olduvai Gorge and the Ngorongoro Crater” (V20, N2)
  • Garrett Cooper and Gerald Elgert, Sixth Place for “A Week in Oklahoma” (V20, N5)
  • Bob Farrar Eighth Place for “The World's Greatest Tourmaline Mine” (V20, N6)
Written Features
  • Dick Grier, Jr., Fifth Place for “Background on the MGS Logo” (V20, N3) and Eighth Place in the AFMS contest
  • Gerald Elgert, Honorable Mention for “A Note on Sharing” (V20, N6)
Poetry
  • David Blondin, Second Place for “Fossil Dreams” (V20, N2) and Sixth Place in the AFMS contest

2011 Awards (Publication Year 2010)


Editors of Large Bulletins:
  • Gerald Elgert, Second Place and an Honorable Mention award in the AFMS contest
Educational Articles
  • Bob Farrar, Trophy Award for “Stromer's Riddle: The Predatory Dinosaurs of Morocco” (V19, N3) and a Third Place award in the AFMS contest
  • Bob Farrar, Fourth Place for “Mineral of the Meeting: Jade” (V19, N6)
Advanced Educational Articles
  • Michael Hutchins, Fourth Place for “California Miocene Dreaming” (V19, N2) and a Sixth Place award in the AFMS contest
Non-Technical Articles
  • Garrett Cooper, Honorable Mention for “The Thrill and Agony of Diving for Fossils” (V19, N2)
  • Donald Greaves, Honorable Mention for “On the Trail of Fossils: A Little Bowie, A Lot of Tucson and Arizona” (V19, N2)
  • Michael Hutchins Honorable Mention for “Fossil Collecting Along the Chickasawhay River, Mississippi” (V19, N6)
Written Features
  • Rick Smith, Honorable Mention for “President's Message” (V19, N2)
  • Gerald Elgert, Honorable Mention for “How to Build a Dinosaur” (V19, N2)

2010 Awards (Publication Year 2009)

New Editors of Bulletins
  • Gerald Elgert, Fourth Place
Educational Articles
  • Daryl Serafin, First Place for “A Close Encounter of a Different Kind” (V18, N5)
  • Lucy Kuizon, First Place for “Rare Speciman of a Late Paleocene Pinaceous Cone” (V18, N6)
  • Charles Dailey, Second Place for “Red Hill, Bear Valley and Swope's Pit in a Weekend” (V18, N4)
Non-Technical Articles
  • Gerald Elgert, Ninth Place for “Dinosaur Park Now a Reality” (V18, N6)
  • Michael Hutchins, Honorable Mention for “Michigan Petoskey Stones” (V18, N3)
  • Allison Yates, Honorable Mention for “Science Drive” (V18, N4)
Written Features
  • Gerald Elgert Seventh Place for “MGS Field Trips” (V18, N1)
  • Don Greaves, Tenth Place for “Swope's Pit” (V18, N4)
  • Dick Grier, Sr., Honorable Mention for “The Genesis Rock, Part I” (V18, N1)
Poetry
  • Jim Stedman, Trophy Award for “The Geology of Newsletter Editing” (V18, N6) and a Second Place award in the AFMS contest
Website Contest
  • Daryl Serafin, Third Place
Other
  • Rostrum editor Gerald Elgert also won an award in the EFMLS contest for an article published in the newsletter of the Gem, Lapidary And Mineral Society of Montgomery County (Maryland)

2009 Awards (Publication Year 2008)

Editors of Small Bulletins
  • Rick Smith, Fifth Place
Educational Articles
  • Bruce Hargreaves, Trophy Award for “Belemnites of the Chesapeake” (V17, N1) and a First Place award in the AFMS contest

Non-Technical Articles

  • Michael Hutchins, Honorable Mention for “MGS Field Trip to Calvert Cliffs” (V17, N5)
  • Bob Farrar, Honorable Mention for “Mineral of the Meeting: Spinel” (V17, N1)
  • Bob Farrar, Honorable Mention for “Mineral of the Meeting: Rhodochrosite” (V17, N2)
Written Features
  • Brady Hamilton, Seventh Place for “A Journey to Oklahoma” (V17, N2)
  • Christine Eddy, Honorable Mention for “Future Fossil of the Month - Jeff Sparks” (V17, N3)
  • Michael Hutchins, Honorable Mention for “Wyoming Fossil Odyssey” (V17, N4)

2008 Awards (Publication Year 2007)

Educational Articles
  • Gerald Elgert, Second Place for “The Science of the Patuxent River Agate – Part 2” (V16, N5)
  • Gerald Elgert, Seventh Place for “The Science of the Patuxent Stone – Part 1” (V16, N3)
Non-Technical Articles
  • Gerald Elgert, Second Place for “Catch and Release in Arizona” (V16, N6)
  • Bradley Grant, Honorable Mention for “Mineral Collecting in Valley Quarry” (V16, N5)
  • Bob Farrar, Honorable Mention for “Mineral of the Meeting – Sulfur” (V16, N5)
Written Features
  • Phil Schmitz, Fourth Place for “Dinosaur Days at the Maryland Science Center” (V16, N1)
  • Bob Farrar, Ninth Place for “Mineral of the Meeting – Topaz” (V16, N2)
  • Bob Farrar, Ninth Place for “Mineral of the Meeting – Apatite” (V16, N4)
Poetry
  • Matt Westbrook, Trophy Award for “Fossilimericks” (V16, N2) and a First Place award in the AFMS contest

2007 Awards (Publication Year 2006)

New Editors of Bulletins
  • Rick Smith, Trophy Award and a First Place award in the AFMS contest
Junior Articles
  • Caprice Alanna Roché, Trophy Award for “From My Backyard to Mars: A Rock Story” (V15, N3) and a Fourth Place award in the AFMS contest
Educational Articles
  • Gerald Elgert, Third Place for “The Middle Devonian in Western New York” (V15, N3) and an Honorable Mention award in the AFMS contest
  • Gerald Elgert, Eighth Place for “The Virginia Solite Quarry, Late Triassic” (V15, N2)
Non-Technical Articles
  • Glenn Roché, Honorable Mention for “One Cold Stone: A Rock of the Ages Story” (V15, N4)
  • Daryl Serafin, Honorable Mention “How It All Started” (V15, N2)
  • Daryl Serafin, Honorable Mention for “The Calvert Marine Museum” (V15, N3)
Written Features
  • Bob Farrar, First Place for “Mineral of the Meeting – Vivianite” (V15, N1)
  • Phil Schmitz, Second Place “The Maryland Science Center Person of the Month” (V15, N5)
  • Bob Farrar, Honorable Mention for “Mineral of the Meeting – Gold” (V15, N6)
Poetry
  • Rick Smith, Trophy Award for “The Dinosaur Hunter” (V15, N4) and a Second Place award in the AFMS contest
  • Rick Smith, First Place for “Fossils” (V15, N3)

2006 Awards (Publication Year 2005)

Editors of Small Bulletins
  • Bob Asreen, Jr., Fifth Place and a Seventh Place award in the AFMS contest
Educational Articles
  • Bob Farrar, Eighth Place for “Mineral of the Meeting: Azurite” (V14, N4)
  • Bob Farrar, Tenth Place for “Mineral of the Meeting – Quartz” (V14, N2)
Non-Technical Articles
  • Grady Frame, Seventh Place for “Hunting the Virginia Side of the Potomac River” (V14, N2)
  • Phil Schmitz, Honorable Mention for “MGS May Program” (V14, N4)
Written Features
  • Glenn D. Roché, Trophy Award for “Of God, Fossils and Feathers” (V14, N6)
  • David Blondin, Fourth Place for “Muddy Creek May Not Have Set a Good Example!” (V14, N3)
Poetry
  • Rick Smith, “Astrodon johnstoni, the Maryland State Dinosaur” (V14, N3) won a Second Place award in the AFMS contest

2005 Awards (Publication Year 2004)

Editors of Small Bulletins
  • Bob Asreen, Jr., Fourth Place
Educational Articles
  • Phil Schmitz, First Place for “Screening for Treasures” (V13, N3) and a Tenth Place award in the AFMS contest
Non-Technical Articles
  • Phil Schmitz, Third Place for “July 18th Program” (V13, N5)
  • Rick Smith, Ninth Place for “The Maryland State Gem – The Patuxent River Stone” (V13, N3)
  • Phil Schmitz, Honorable Mention for “May 16th Program” (V13, N4)
Written Features
  • Bob Farrar, Honorable Mention for “From the Ugliest Holes Come the Prettiest Gems” (V13, N4)
  • Rick Smith, Honorable Mention for “Finding the Poet Within” (V13, N6)

2004 Awards (Publication Year 2003)

Editors of Large Bulletins
  • Bob Asreen, Jr., Second Place and an Honorable Mention award in the AFMS contest
Non-Technical Articles
  • Don Miller, Honorable Mention for “What’s in a Name?” (V12, N2)
Written Features
  • Phil Schmitz, Honorable Mention for “January Program” (V12, N2)
  • Glenn D. Roché, Honorable Mention for “More than Science” (V12, N2)
Poetry
  • Rick Smith, Trophy Award for “The Projectile Point” (V12, N2)
  • Rick Smith, Sixth Place for “Miocene Treasures” (V12, N3)

2003 Awards (Publication Year 2002)

Editors of Large Bulletins
  • Bob Asreen, Jr., Third Place and an Honorable Mention award in the AFMS contest
Educational Articles
  • Terry Cirrincione, Eighth Place for “Focus on Fossils: Dinosaur Fossil Fallacies” (V11, N4)
  • Terry Cirrincione, Honorable Mention for “A Brief Revelation of Early Dinosaur Thoughts and Discoverers” (V11, N4)
Non-Technical Articles
  • Mel Hurd, Honorable Mention for “Megalodon - Hunting the Hunter” (V11, N4)
  • Timothy P. Price, Honorable Mention for “The Foundation of Geology - The Map that Changed the World” (V11, N4)
  • Timothy P. Price, Honorable Mention for “To Make an Omelette…” (V11, N2)
Written Features
  • Paul R. Murdoch, Jr., Trophy Award for “Articulated Porpoise Skeleton Excavated at Calvert Cliffs, Part 1,” (V11, N2) and a First Place award in the AFMS contest
Feature Articles
  • Phil Schmitz, Honorable Mention for “September Program” (V12, N1)
  • Eric J. Woody, Honorable Mention for “Muddy Creek Coprolites” (V11, N2)
Poetry
  • Rick Smith, Trophy Award for “Fossil Shark Tooth Addiction” (V12, N1) and a First Place award in the AFMS contest
  • Terry Cirrincione, Third Place for “Ceratopsian” (V11, N4)
  • Rick Smith, Fourth Place for “A Bridge Across Time” (V11, N4)

2002 Awards (Publication Years 2002, 2001)

New Editors of Bulletins
  • Bob Asreen, Jr., Third Place
Educational Articles
  • Terry Cirrincione, Second Place for “Focus on Fossils: Dinosaurs” (V11, N1)
  • Dave Andersen, Second Place for “A New Lee Creek Collection Site” (V10, N2)
Non-Technical Articles
  • Terry Cirrincione, Second Place for “Focus on Fossils: Sauroposeidon Proteles” (V11, N1)
  • Dick Grier, Jr., Second Place for “The Amelia Mining District, VA” (V10, N3)
  • Timothy P. Price, Third Place for “Book Review: Great Ideas Hatch Out” (V10, N2)
Feature Articles
  • Eric J. Woody, Second Place for “My Story of Lee Creek Mine” (V10, N2)
Poetry
  • Rick Smith, First Place for “The Fossil Dig” (V11, N1) and a Third Place award in the AFMS contest
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