| Our member Charles Heatherly is back into the hospital and is having yet another cast put on. Please pray for Charles's quick healing. | Please contact Lorraine Acuna if you would like the club to know of someone needing some prayers and support. |
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11 February 2011
| Vallejo Gem & Mineral Society |
President’s Message Barbara Battin, President |
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Inside this issue: Shop Report 2 Federation Report 2 Sunshine Report 2 Program Report 3 Field Trip Report 5
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Dear members,
Once again it is time for our Spring Bling Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Show. We need help setting up on Friday, manning the front desk, the Silent auction, Wheel of Fortune, and standbys. This is a great time to show off our club to the general public: prospective members |
A great way to meet new people, and
lots of fun. Please join us to make this another successful show. We
bought new signs so hopefully we’ll have a lot of people coming in to
the show!
Thanks in advance, Barbara
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Gem & Mineral Show Dan Wolke & Tina Anderson
| Special points of interest:
ExcaliburCFMS Scholarship Birthstone of the Month Field trips
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The Gem and Mineral Show will
be held March 19 and 20, 2011.
Small flyers advertising our show are available to handout or leave with businesses with permission. There are 2000 flyers so come down and pick some up! We also have about 100 8x10 inch flyers for store windows. If you know of any businesses that will put them in their windows please take some.
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All flyers are at the
club.
Some small flyers have already been taken to Consolidated Rock Shop in Vacaville. Please come to our next general membership meeting on March 12th at 1PM. This is our last meeting before the show. There is a sign up sheet at the club next to the shop sign in book. Please volunteer for at least one shift. |
Remember that the
success of our show helps us pay for our rent for the year.
Please help us keep our dues down by making our show a success. We will set up for the show on Friday March 18, 2011. We need help skirting the tables running the power cords, etc., setting up (Continued on page 5) |
| Solano Chieftain Page 2 |
Shop Report Peggy Newburn, Vice President
| Thank you to everyone who has
removed their personal belongings from the shop. February is the start
of shop cleanup.
Also, please pickup after yourself and cleanup after you finish working at a station. Remember to dump the water buckets, wipe down the machines, |
including the saws and
grinders. Also wipe down the sink and tables. If you use the kitchen
please wash your dishes and throw out your trash.
To wipe down the saws, use the newspaper under the dop station. Then wet the newspaper and place it in a plastic bag before throwing it in the dumpster. |
JJ Sargent ordered the motors
for the grinder and sanders. The Shop Foremen will also be repairing the
shrouds and upgrading the electrical.
The internet access is still down and Al Baldridge said it could be some time before the fairgrounds fixes it. The club will look into an internet access alterative. |
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Federation Report Marcia Grefsrud
| California Federation of
Mineralogical Societies (CFMS)
There are three scholarships available: CFMS, Robert O. Diedrick, and California Federation AFMS Scholarship. For the CFMS scholarship an "honoree" chosen by CFMS will choose a school and then, in coordination |
with
the school, a student to receive the scholarship. The process
starts with nominating an honoree within the CFMS jurisdiction ( CA,
Hawaii, Nevada & couple of cities in Arizona).
The person(s) selected to be honored shall have made great contributions toward the realization of the avowed purpose and goals of the CFMS. The honoree may receive this award only once. |
Then the Honoree chooses a
school and in coordination with the school chooses a student. The
student needs to be majoring in something Earth Sciences, Lapidary,
Jewelry related, etc.
So, the student does not apply for the scholarship directly and does not have to be a member of any of the Gem and Mineral Societies.
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Sunshine Report
| Our member Charles Heatherly is back into the hospital and is having yet another cast put on. Please pray for Charles's quick healing. | Please contact Lorraine Acuna if you would like the club to know of someone needing some prayers and support. |
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| Solano chieftain page 3 |
Program Report Tina Anderson
| Tina Anderson has volunteered
to be the Program Director. Please submit your ideas or show and tell
(come on DeeDee you know you want to) to Tina. Dan Wolke gave a
presentation on their trip to Guatemala to the jadeite
mine. Thanks Dan!
JADEITE Antigua Guatemala is known worldwide as a place to shop for Guatemala's high quality jade, one of the finest jades in the world. There are two types of jade: Nephrite and Jadeite. Guatemala has Jadeite, a precious stone sacred to the Mayans. It is harder and denser than the more common Nephrite type of jade, and is gaining in |
popularity throughout the world, especially the rare color black. The Guatemalans are grateful to Pierre de Vaux, from Belgium, who in the early 1970's rediscovered the ancient craft of carving Guatemala's jade. Since that time, jade has become an important cultural resource and industry in Guatemala and has attracted many foreign investors. Today, many local Guatemalans have taken a personal interest in preserving their indigenous art forms, thus creating new jobs for their people and making a Guatemalan treasure easily affordable for all classes of travelers. Jade shines and does not scratch easily. It can only be cut with a diamond blade or | stainless steel. There is a
fierce competition among the Jade factories and shops nowadays, creating
a better selection and prices for the consumers and tourists. Years ago,
no Guatemalans could get into the Jade marketing because it was
monopolized by the foreigners. The monopoly started breaking down in
1987 by several Guatemalans who opened shops regaining in this way part
of their rights and inheritance from their ancestors. Nowadays, you can
see the natives selling Jade on the streets. See website at:
http://www.thegringosguide.com/ Antigua/AntiguaJade.htm
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Birthstone of the Month-Amethyst
| Amethyst is associated with
spirituality, wisdom, sobriety, and security.
Amethyst is the purple variety of the mineral quartz and is a popular gemstone. Although it must always be purple to be amethyst, it can and does have a wide range of purple shades. Its color is unparalleled, and even other, more expensive purple gemstones are often compared to its color and beauty. If it were not for its widespread availability, amethyst would be very expensive. The name "amethyst" comes from the Greek and means "not drunken." This was perhaps due |
to a belief that amethyst
would ward off the effects of alcohol, but most likely the Greeks were
referring to the almost wine-like color of some stones that they may
have encountered.
Amethyst can occur as long prismatic crystals that have a six sided pyramid at either end or can form as druzes that are crystalline crusts that only show the pointed terminations. As a mineral specimen, amethyst is The name "amethyst" comes from the Greek and means "not drunken." This was perhaps due to a belief that amethyst would ward off the effects of alcohol. |
popular for its color and nice
crystal shapes that produce a handsome, purple, sparkling cluster.
However, amethyst is not the same everywhere. Different localities can produce a unique amethyst to that particular region or even to that particular mine. Experts can often identify the source mine that a particular amethyst came from. The key to this is the specimen's color, shape of crystal, inclusions, associations and character of formation. http://www.galleries.com/minerals /gemstone/amethyst/birthfeb.htm
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| Solano Chieftain page 4 |
Excalibur Tourmaline Marcia Grefsrud
The name "Excalibur," brings up visions of King Arthur’s mythical sword embedded in the massive stone. Just as the name implies, the Excalibur tourmaline is a magnificent multi-colored tourmaline embedded in a massive 6-inch by 6-inch quartz crystal. The specimen is currently owned by Stuart Wilensky who was kind enough to respond to my email inquiry and share some old articles and photos. |
it is suspected Excalibur was removed from the Morro Redondo Mine, Aracuai, Minas Gerais, Brazil in the early 1970s. Stuart first saw it when he attended his first Denver Mineral show when he was struck by its beauty. The image stayed with him for over twenty years, after the original owner, Keith Proctor, sold it to Denver collector Sandor Fuss. Stuart said he, "badgered Sandor endlessly to | sell the Tourmaline to me and finally in
2000 he decided to sell and I bought it."
Stuart said Excalibur has been illustrated in numerous publications is now pictured in at least 17 books and magazines. Excalibur is often considered the finest known matrix tourmaline due to its perfection, coloration, aesthetics and the fact that it is large and unrepaired. It is truly one of a kind! |
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Stuart Wilensky and Excalibur |
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Local News Marcia Grefsrud
| One of our local shops in Benicia will be closing due to the poor economy. Owners Suzi and Del Cramer will be closing The Foggiest Idea, located at 917 First Street in Benicia in May 2011. They have five large glass and wood display cases to donate to anyone who can use them. |
The cases would be great to put in a shop or in your home. There is also a large wooden two piece hutch that is up for grabs. I have photos of the cases if anyone would like to see them. Richard Bryan is doing a walking half marathon for the Heart Association and needs |
sponsors. To sponsor Richard go to "starttrainingbayarea.org" and put in his name "Richard Bryan" and the amount you wish to contribute. His number is 707-642-4965 if you have any questions. Thanks! |
| Solano Chieftain page 5 |
Field Trip Report Lori Palacio
| Field trips for the year are
posted at the club. Please check the field trip binder or contact Lori
Palacio.
The California State Gem Mine fieldtrip is going to be held Saturday, April 16. We will be leaving from the fairgrounds at 6:00 am. The fee for digging is $70.00 cash only. Seniors are half price with proof of a federation club membership. Children under 12 are $20.00. I
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will post the info for the
trip on the chalk board and I will send an e-mail to the members. The
sign-up sheet for this trip will be on the work table next to the shop
sign in sheet.
Marcia Grefsrud and I will be attending the North Bay Filed Trip meeting on Saturday February 26. We hope to bring back some new ideas for field trips. Lori
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Field trips are fun! |
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Gem & Mineral Show
(Continued from page 1)
| the Wheel of Fortune and
Silent Auction. Dee Dee Magri will be organizing the Friday dinner for
our dealers and member volunteers. The dinner will be well worth the
work put in setting up! Please help by bringing a dish to share. Contact
Dee Dee for more information.
We need two volunteers to spend the night at the County Building
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on Friday and Saturday evenings as
Security. Please contact Dan Wolke.
We still need some nice raffle prizes donated for our raffle. Please contact Lori Gill if you have something nice to donate. Anyone who plans on putting up a display for exhibit please contact Tina Anderson to sign up for a case. |
Lastly, we will need help
cleaning up and tearing down after the show on March 20 from 5:00pm to
8:00pm. All help will be greatly appreciated since we need to be out of
the building by 8:00pm. This includes the cases, tables and all of our
property. Thank you!
Dan Wolke & Tina Anderson co-chairs 2011 Spring Bling Phyllis Malicki Dealer Chair
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Membership Report
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There are fifty-three paid members. Please remember to pay your dues by March. The March newsletter will be the final issue sent to unpaid members. We have three new members. |
Please welcome: Elizabeth (Liz) McCabe 1307 Devlin Drive, Vallejo Roger Greensfelder, 1411 Chelsea, Hercules, CA
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Dennis Eminhizer
2016 Prince Street Berkeley, CA 94703 All other new members will be added when dues are paid. |
| Solano Chieftain page 6 |
| Vallejo Gem & Mineral Society
Post Office Box 76 Vallejo, CA 94590 Phone: 707-644-9764 E-mail: VGMS01@yahoo.com Location : Civics Building, Vallejo FairgroundsShop hours: Tuesdays: 5:30 PM-8:00 PM. Wednesday 9:30 AM- noon. Friday evening casting setup 4:30 PM- 7:00 PM or later. Most Saturdays 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM or later. Meeting times :Board Meeting: first Monday of each month 7:00 PM General Meeting: second Saturday of each month starting 1:00 PM
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President: Barbara Battin
Vice President: Peggy Newburn Treasurer: Lori Gill Secretary: Lori Palacio Directors At Large: Tom Lee Ed Austin Karen Fourre Alternate: Dennis Robinson Federation Director Marcia Grefsrud Alternate: Lori Gill Shop Maintenance: Al Baldridge Ron Wheeler Ed Austin Program Director: Tina Anderson Chieftain Editor: Marcia Grefsrud Field Trip Leader: Lori Palacio
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We’re on the Web and on Facebook!
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Rock and Gem Shows
| MARCH
11-13—Pleasanton Show ; Gem Faire Inc.; Alameda County Fair-grounds, 4501 Pleasanton Ave.; Fri. 12-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; $7 weekend pass; Web site: www.gemfaire.com12-13—Turlock : 45th annual show; Mother Lode Mineral Soci-ety; Turlock Fairgrounds, 900 N. Broadway; Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $5, children 12 and under free with adult; minerals, rocks, beads, jewelry, fossils, dinosaurs, fluorescents, tools, books, educa-tional material, large children’s area, 40 vendors, 80 exhibits, 20 |
demonstrations,
jewelry making, lapidary arts, gold panning, rock sale, fluorescent
tent, speakers(Bob Jones, Dr. Gregg Wilkerson), fossil display.
Web site: www.turlockgemshow.com
26-27—Angels Camp Show , "Jump for the Gold"; Calaveras Gem & Mineral Society; Calav-eras County Fairground, 101 Frogtown Rd.; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4; adults $4, children 12 and un-der free with paying adult; ex-hibits, demonstrations, kids’ ac-tivities, silent auction, sales, raf-fle, door prizes, dealers, fossils, jewelry, meteorites, books, lapi-dary supplies, slabs, gems, beads; contact Tak Iwata, 18310 Coyote Meadow Rd., Sonora, CA 95370, Web site: www.calaverasgemandmineral.org
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26-27—Roseville 49th annual show; Roseville Rock Rollers; Roseville (Placer County) Fair-grounds, 800 All America City Blvd.; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4; adults $6, seniors (60+) $5, kids 12 and under free; more than 35 vendors, crystals, gold, geode cracking, beads, gemstones, fos-sils, polished stones, handcrafted jewelry, opal, world-class min-eral specimens, tourmaline, sun-stones, amber, mineral identifi-cation, "Kids’ Junction", demon-strations, silent auctions, more than 40 exhibits, raffle, lapidary shop open house; Web site: www.rockrollers.com |
