When the CMS ENews went out on Monday night we were still anxiously awaiting news about the status of a dear friend of CMS, Ron Hamill. We knew that Ron was safe from the Archie Creek Wildfire, but what about his home and mycology lab? We now have the unfortunate answer and are asking for your help.

For those of you who do not know Ron, he is a founding member of CMS and has donated his time and expertise identifying mushrooms for over 20 years at the annual Mount Pisgah Arboretum Mushroom Festival.  Ironically, he is pictured here (on the right) with CMS member Mike Potts whose home in Talent, Oregon is still standing (yeah!).

Back to Ron ... He is widely known in the PNW mycological community as he is an active member of the Pacific Northwest Key Council and has worked from California to Alaska as a field mycologist  doing surveys to describe habitats, and to record and document rare and uncommon species. 

One of the most telling aspects of Ron's life is found in his biography that appears on numerous Mycological Society websites where he has given talks. My eyes tear every time I read this ...
 

"He, along with co-pilot and dog Rubi, live in fungal Shangri-La on the North Umpqua River in Douglas County Oregon, where they look for fungi nearly every day of the year."
 

So, we want to generate as much financial support as possible to give Ron a fresh start and the peace of mind he needs to begin healing and rebuilding. We want him to be able to get back to focusing on mycology as soon as possible. If you are able to give, we hope you can help too.

Don't forget to tune in to the CMS Youtube channel tonight at 7pm for the first CMS Meeting of the 2020/2021 season.