Colorado Springs Chapter of the GPAA

What is the GPAA?

The Gold Prospectors Association (GPAA) was founded in 1968 to preserve and promote the great heritage of the North American Prospector. The GPAA is also dedicated to providing a platform for the exchange of information, presenting an organized voice for recreational and professional prospectors, and helping its members find more gold.  Today, the GPAA has become the world's largest prospecting organization, but our goals haven't changed one bit. Through television, the internet and print media, the GPAA today provides more information and is a more effective organized voice than ever before. GPAA programs provide places to go, local support, free information service and much more.

Colorado Springs Chapter Contacts

Officers:

President
Tim T. Pitney

Appointed by the President:

Chapter Bylaws

Chapter Bylaws (PDF)

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Chapter History

Ron Woods and his wife, Alberta, moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado from Las Vegas, Nevada in 2006.  Ron was a long-time member of the Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA) and had been active in the Las Vegas Chapter.  Not finding a local GPAA Chapter, Ron contacted GPAA Headquarters in California and inquired about starting one. 

The Colorado Springs Chapter, GPAA was organized and held its first meeting on September 6, 2006, in the lunchroom at the car dealership where Ron was working at the time.  As word spread about the new Chapter, attendance grew, and a new and larger venue was needed for the meetings.  The Chapter’s first Christmas party was held that December at the Las Palmitas Mexican Restaurant and was attended by 83 people.  With meetings held from 7:00 to 9:00 pm the first Wednesday of each month, the restaurant offered the free use of a dining room for future meetings.  Ron served as Chapter President, and Alberta as Chapter Secretary/Treasurer, from 2006 until their retirement in 2014, when they moved to California.

In addition to an annual Christmas Dinner, the Chapter sponsors a summer cookout.  Originally held during the July 4^th weekend at a public park, prevailing drought conditions and burn bans repeatedly caused postponements into August.  Rather than fight Mother Nature, we now schedule the cookout the second weekend in August.

In 2015, The Chapter moved its meeting location to a rented space provided by the Fountain Valley Corps of the Salvation Army, in Fountain, Colorado.   This new venue provided a more conventional meeting space for presentations and equipment demonstrations.  Within a year, the Salvation Army relocated to its present  facility in Security, Colorado.  This location has a large outdoor area immediately adjacent to our meeting room, that has been great for our summer picnics and the outdoor meetings we held during COVID. With access to an indoor kitchen, we have also held catered and potluck dinner meetings.   

Weather permitting, the Chapter conducts prospecting outings at least monthly from April through October.  As an official GPAA Chapter, our monthly meetings are always free to attend and open to the public.  All Chapter activities are family friendly.  Our monthly newsletter, The Nuggeteer, is sent by e-mail and posted to our website: www.cosgpaa.org.