The KYANA Geological Society was started in the early 1960s by Major Raymond Pruitt. a retired Army officer who after the Korean War returned to his hometown of Sligo Kentucky, and opened a roadside rock shop. Between 1960 and 1964 a small group of Kentucky-Indiana rock hounds who frequented the "Major's" shop discussed the possibility of forming a club. This group first met at the shop and then at each others homes, in 1964 they applied for and received a charter from the Eastern Federation. At that time there were about twenty members. On March 31, 1966, KYANA filed articles of incorporation with the state of Kentucky. KYANA is the KY for Kentucky and the ANA for Indiana. Several of the charter or founding members are still with KYANA.
Over the last forty four years, KYANA has contributed much to the understanding of the geological history of the greater Louisville metropolitan area. With monthly meeting and guest lectures, which are open to the general public, monthly field trips [members only], and an annual show which showcases both local material and foreign minerals fossils and gemstones. When the University of Louisville had a Geology Department, KYANA awarded an annual scholarship to a senior geology student to help defray their Geology Camp expenses. KYANA has also donated money to The Louisville Science Center, the Louisville Art Club, the Falls of the Ohio, and hosted a Symposium on the Western Kentucky-Southern Illinois Fluorite District.
More recently KYANA has been supporting the Ben E. Clement Fluorite Museum in Marion, Kentucky. And has funded a video entitled "A Saturday Morning Rock Hunt", hosted and produced by KYANA member David Shuffet. It was launched by KET (Kentucky Educational Television) and will be available to all Kentucky and southern Indiana Schools. KET has made the video available on their web site. The KET series Kentucky Life had a program in season 10 on hunting fossils entitled "Digging Into the Past" that has KYANA tie ins. It also had another in season 13 on the Clement Mineral Museum, entitled "Mineral Wealth" and in season 5 named "The Joy of Rocks".
KYANA is a diverse organization with interests in Fossils, Minerals, Lapidary, Faceting, Silver and Goldsmithing, Bead Stringing, PMC, Flint Knapping, Local Geological History, Environmental Sciences, to name a few. The membership is largely composed of amateur hobbyists, with a sprinkling of professional geologists, engineers and other professional scientists.
Activities include, monthly meetings, monthly field trips to local stone quarries, rock exposures,caves, and museums. KYANA has even mounted a trip into the wilds of the Baja Peninsula, Mexico in search for minerals and gold. We conduct an annual auction to raise money for scholarships and send at least one member to a lapidary arts center or a class related to the hobby of their choosing. KYANA maintains small library of books related to the hobby for the benefit of the membership.
