Before another day goes by and we get completely distracted by the St.
Ferdinand project that starts tomorrow morning in Florissant, I wanted
to just give everyone a brief review of the MAS annual meeting that the
Mound City and Three Rivers Chapters co-hosted here in St. Louis a few
weeks ago.

The papers presented were some of the best I've heard recently and gave
an excellent review of some of the research that's being conducted
around the region. I haven't seen any official numbers yet, but I've
heard that attendance was up. The Westport Sheraton facility seems to
have been a very good choice and thanks are due to Tim Baumann, Ettus
Hiatt, and Kathleen Stahlmann for taking care of that.

The minimal amount of leftovers in the Hospitality Suite also helps
support that; it seems we did a pretty good job estimating the amounts
without overbuying or running too short of anything. By all (again,
unofficial) accounts I've received so far, the Friday night Hospitality
Suite also appears to have been a great success. A big "thank you" is
due to the MAS and the Three Rivers Chapter which donated $100 and $75,
respectively, for refreshments and other supplies.

Thanks to Judy Horton and Carol Stephenson who helped immensely with
planning the Suite. Thanks also to everyone who contributed supplies:
Dot Anton, Tim Baumann, Dan Bresnan, Steve Dasovich, Barb Hubick,
Kathleen Stahlmann, as well as anyone else who pitched in with setting
up, serving, cleaning up, or just making a quick dash down the hall for
more ice.

There were so many people from both Chapters who pitched in (many with
"dual citizenship" between both Chapters, I'm pleased to note) that I'm
bound to have forgotten to name someone, but please forgive the
unintentional oversight and know that everyone's assistance was greatly
appreciated.

Before I close, some congratulations are also in order:

- To the Three Rivers Chapter for placing second in the Chapter
display contest with its impressive display on the Herrell site.

- Three Mound Citizens and/or Three Rivers Chapter members received
Recognition Awards from the MAS at the Saturday night banquet: Alan
Banks for his hard work on organizing Missouri Archaeology Month, Tim
Baumann for his help in organizing this year's MAS Annual Meeting, and
Kathleen Stahlmann for rounding up volunteers to operate the MAS
information booth at the State Fair in Sedalia.

- Last, but not least, the Missouri Association of Professional
Archaeologists (MAPA) presented this year's Carl and Eleanor Chapman
award to two long-time Mound Citizens, Ettus Hiatt and Carol
Stephenson, for their many years of working with professional
archaeologists to protect and preserve Missouri archaeology.

Again, congratulations and thanks to everyone who help make this year's
MAS Annual Meeting a big success (now, if I can just find those darn
receipts...)

Stay tuned for more updates on the St. Ferdinand excavation, as well
as a number of other upcoming projects that I'm sure you'll be
interested in.

Thanks and have a nice day,

Greg

Greg Paulus
President, Mound City Archaeological Society
bgpaulus@...
(314) 704-3507