Trip Report

Three audience volunteers opened John Mellott's presentation on Fossils, Shells and Rocks with a ceremonial trumpeting of conch shells. John is a retired OSU and Oregon Department of Agriculture employee, as well as a member and former president of the Oregon Society of Conchologists. We met John and his wife, Theresa, on the 2017 Southwest National Parks bus trip. Together they have explored 49 of the 50 U.S. states and have toured 73 foreign countries at least once. Today John came to share his interest in collecting and studying the fossils, shells, and rocks that he and Theresa have collected from their travels. Along with showing photos of his collection, John entertained us with stories of getting his finds past foreign customs agents and onto the airplane. Nothing stopped John from bringing his treasures home, even if it required hoisting a fifty-pound carry-on bag of rocks and fossils into the overhead bin (tearing his shoulder in the process). The Mellott’s yard in Salem showcases their collection, with the focal point a 4000-pound petrified log that John and Theresa spotted in a yard in Mitchell, Oregon and purchased. John and helpers inched the behemoth into an upright position in the backyard, just like the stone faces on Easter Island. After the presentation the audience took a close look at a sampling of John's collection arrayed on tables at the front of the lodge. Some lucky audience members took home conch shells as door prizes. The Obsidian Bus Committee thanks John and Theresa for sharing their passion with us on this Sunday afternoon.