The year 2000 winner, Peter Nielsen, along with James S. Tovey, the award’s sponsor, presented Tom Minnich of Swanzey, NH with the year 2001, Wise Mine Collector’s Award. Tom received a cash award of $200.00 and his name added to the Wise Mine Collectors trophy-shovel.

The competition was held at the October 2001, Capital Mineral Club’s Gem & Mineral Show at Sunapee State Park. There were 5 contestants in all: Don Dallaire of Chester, NH, Ernie Schlichter of Sudbury, Ma, Pat Barker of Campton, NH, Arnie Felton of Longmeadow, Ma and Tom Minnich of Swanzey, NH. A panel of judges chose the winner: Vince Valade, Doug Robinson, Sue Haden, Peter Nielsen, and Stu Fenton. Each contestant presented the best mineral specimen they had collected along with it’s story, or their best collecting story along with a mineral specimen or both.

Don Dallaire started off the competition. He had a tale about a collecting trip to Montana with a group of rock-hounds and his surprise find of smoky quartz crystals. The dig started off with disappointment, it seemed the owner of the hat he had intended to wear was none other than his collecting pal, Ernie Schlichter. Ernie also intended to wear this same hat and the hat had Ernie’s name on it. So off to the dig he went with no hat, and a tanning bald spot. The obvious good collecting areas were already taken by this time so Don decided to try an area off the beaten path under some trees. Well before he even made a decent hole he found a great smoky quartz crystal. His disappointment quickly being replaced by excitement and glee, he inquired of Ernie (with the hat), if "this is what we’re supposed to be looking for?" and if he had found any yet. Don continued to find more crystals and inform Ernie of his bounty. As the day wore on generosity set in and he invited Ernie over to his area and instructed him on how to find a nice little group of crystals. We can all imagine how appreciated that collecting advise was.

Ernie Schlichter followed up Don’s story with a big thanks and a reminder about who had invited him to Montana -one of his best collecting trips he’s ever had. Ernie started with some history about their (Ernie’s & Don’s) host out in Montana, Brian Harris, who has very extensive mining experience. He also gave a good summary of previous collecting trips with Brian in Montana, which had mixed results. He then focused his story on a second collecting attempt at a barite area in Basin, Montana. Having had digging experience at this location before, Ernie started to dig in a familiar spot. He also shared this info with his collecting companion Don Dallaire. Ernie was quite happy with what he found at the dig this time around. When it came time to leave he sorted through his finds and took the pieces that seemed most promising. He packed these out to the vehicle, not giving the situation another thought until…. at the Springfield show. Don his partner at the dig showed up with a great barite specimen. The specimen came from pieces Ernie had decided not to hoof to the car. Now Ernie, team player that he is, was under the impression that they were a collecting team- co-ownership and all that. He posed a question to the gathering "is Don a compassionate team collector or a common High-grader ?" Perhaps there is some unfinished business there.

Pat Barker, contestant number 3, opened up with a description of some super Fluorite specimens. This definitely got my attention because I like Fluorite. Pat proceeded to describe a well thought-out plan to collect these super specimens with her collecting team. The story goes that the status of the collecting site, whether or not it was open to collectors, was unknown. So with that in mind they decided to go up collecting under the cloak of darkness- no need to arouse the landowners. The plan hinged on one brilliant idea- they would use UV lights to scan the area. The fluorescing fluorite would be simple to spot and collect. The plan started to get shaky on the hike into the site, a new discussion about the site’s status and potential trespassing arose. Then it fell apart completely when the UV lights didn’t show any signs of fluorescent minerals. Some "night sounds" spooked the crew and they all scurried off to their cars for a big laugh. Hey Pat have you gotten your nighttime collecting out of your system?

Arnie Felton, contestant number four, shared a story of his first time collecting Herkimer diamonds in New York. As all rock-hounds know being the "first time guy" in the crew doesn’t mean much when you are blessed with all the luck. So Arnie hit a super pocket of biblical proportions which produced about 2000 diamonds. With the excitement of the collecting event and discovery of his new talent- finding Herkimer diamonds, he started to give them all away. Why not? he was the "diamond king". But reality set-in, after a series of follow-up attempts with little results, the "diamond king" had to admit it might have been beginners luck after all. Arnie have you tried your luck at the track?

Tom Minnich was the final contestant of the afternoon. His story: managing to survive after finding some killer specimens on a Keene Mineral Club collecting trip. The collecting location was the Soapstone Mine in Richmond, NH. It started out as usual with all the collectors in close quarters working in the familiar areas. So being the free spirit that Tom is, he and his son started to check out the stonewalls in the area. After a thorough scanning he noticed a promising boulder which he started to work on -supervised by his son. Two cordierite plates emerged from the boulder one fist sized and the other a foot long. Meanwhile back at the familiar collecting area curiosity about Tom and his where-abouts started to grow. When word spread about the super Cordierite Specimens, the stonewall didn’t stand a chance.