June 2023 Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society
Meeting date: June 12, 2023
We met in Bridgewater with 20 members and 3 visitors. Welcome to our newest members!
Thanks to those that brought unakite, Nelsonite, selenite, amazonite, turquoise, dufrenite, staurolite, apophyllite & prenite from VA.
1- Scott , our treasurer, gave an update for our 55th annual show at EXPO on September 22-24. Mark your calendars! This year we are using the large & medium rooms that are connected by the huge doors. We have more vendors than before, so we will need lots of willing volunteers. We will set up on Thursday, Sep. 21 from 8 am to 1 pm. Some vendors will come that afternoon to set up. The remaining vendors will set up Friday morning beginning at 7:30 am. The show begins on Friday from 2 pm to 6 pm. Friday night will be the annual vendor/volunteer dinner. We donate a portion of our proceeds to various organizations. We voted last year to donate 50 high-quality loupes to the JMU geology department - they finally arrived after 1 1/2 years on back-order! Liz Johnson accepted them on behalf of JMU.
2- Debbie announced our annual picnic on July 10th at 6:30 here at the church. The club will provide chicken. {WE NEED A VOLUNTEER TO ORDER/PICK-UP CHICKEN THAT DAY - PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN HELP WITH THIS. THE CLUB WILL REIMBURSE YOU}. The club will provide all the paper goods, We are asking members to come and to bring a side dish, entree, or dessert. Please bring drinks to share. This is always fun! Bring the family!
3-Presentation: Mike & Karen Pabst traveled across the big pond to Stockholm and he shared slides of their trip. They flew to Amsterdam and traveled on the cruise ship Rotterdam. After docking near the scrapyard & industrial area, they boarded a ferry that took them to downtown Stockholm. They traveled on the subway, which is like going through a museum with lots of murals on the walls. The city demonstrated prosperity and was very clean. The campus of the University of Stockholm was gorgeous. Europeans walk & ride bikes to get around, and Mike & Karen averaged walking 10 miles a day!
Their goal was the Swedish Museum of Natural History. The museum is also a research facility, and the entrance was exquisite. Mike took 2 photos of many minerals - one with the name, and a close-up. Several of the minerals were new to them, especially those from Sweden. One display was on fluorescent minerals - NOT from New Jersey- and displayed brilliant neon green and bright orange colors.
Mike was very impressed with the glass display case that was made of side-by-side slide-out sections. The cases were 10' tall and around 6' in depth and 2' wide. They were heavy, and each mineral was loosely held in place with plastic pegs at the bottom. A light came on as the "tray" was slid out.
The final area was a room that was re-created to resemble the home of Sten Sjogren, a Swedish geologist. He collected minerals and displayed them in beautiful wooden handmade cabinets. Most had beveled glass tops and drawers or shelves on the bottom. He had a new one built every year for 10 years.
Some of the minerals from Mike's photos were: (go to mindat for more info about them - spellings are Swedish) sarkinit, tefroit, chalkofyllit, alkaktit, florencit, thorit, rhodonit, gonyerit, helvit, crocoit, & a fantastic piece of amethyst from Amherst county, VA! ( Mike told Liz that many of JMU's mineral museum exhibits are much better quality than some he saw there.)
Not that their eyes were strained, or that their brains were tired, or that the camera battery was exhausted, but they decided to go outside to the botanical gardens. After 15 minutes of looking at some flowers, their hunger pangs took over. They enjoyed a thick piece of homemade bread, slathered in butter and topped with cheese & meat. The pavlova dessert had meringue & berries. And Mike mentioned that in the morning they enjoyed a leisurely cup of cappuccino and a cardamon roll. (The Swedes don't just drink coffee, they enjoy it as a ritual.) Of course they were treated like royalty once they returned to the ship and enjoyed Dutch pancakes.
Thanks to Mike & Karen for taking us on this virtual trip to Stockholm. Sounds like the minerals & food were worth the trip!
4- MY ADDITIONAL NOTES FYI - I found an article from Mindat that has a photo gallery of the mineral museum. Some of the photos are very similar to those that Mike shared with us. Please go to this site to see photos of the museum and mineral exhibits: (including fluorescents & the slide-out case)
https://www.mindat.org/article.php/3827/Visit+to+Stockholm+-+Swedish+Museum+of+Natural+History+and+Flink+Day+Symposium
From the site - In a special room, off the mineral gallery, are 12 superb antique cabinets housing the collection of Sten Anders Hjalmar Sjögren, Swedish geologist and mineralogist (1856-1922). You can read more about him here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sten_Anders_Hjalmar_Sj%C3%B6gren
{For photos and information about the Natural History museum go to this website: https://www.nrm.se/en/besokmuseet.24.html }
Inclement weather policy: FYI - If Rockingham County Public Schools are closed due to inclement weather on a meeting day, our meeting will be canceled. The club secretary will try to send out an email ASAP that day, and an announcement will be posted on the club’s Facebook page and web site.
Thanks for your understanding; we want everyone to be safe!
Field Trips: We are not planning any field trips any time soon, but if anyone knows of places to collect in small groups, let the club secretary know and they can send out the info.
Looking ahead:
Our next meeting will be on Monday, July 10th at 6:30 pm at the Bridgewater Baptist Church. Club picnic - see information above.
The lapidary shop will be open the Saturday following a regular meeting. (See Events At A Glance for a calendar view). Charlie & Jack can assist you. Open from 9 am to noon. This is a small enclosed space; please follow whatever COVID protective guidelines you think appropriate.
There are several slab saws and trim saws. Keep in mind that safety is a priority, and wear closed toe shoes, safety glasses, with no loose hair or long sleeves. Children must be supervised and closely monitored to insure they are safely using the equipment. Check this page to see what you can learn to do!
If you’d like to present a program, please talk to an officer at a meeting.
Be sure to keep up with our website www.shenandoahvalleyrockclub.org and our Facebook page Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society for updates and information.
Deborah Grimm, Secretary
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Club Officers and Staff 2016-2023
President – Michael Pabst
Vice President – Leo Cloutier
Educational Outreach -- Deborah Grimm
Secretary/Newsletter -- Deborah Grimm
Field Trip Coordinators - TBD
Co-Treasurers – Scott Gregory/Deborah Grimm
Show Team Leaders – Scott Gregory/Jack Glenn
Web Site Coordinator – Jack Glenn
Club web site: shenandoahvalleyrockclub.org
Club Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ShenandoahValleyGemMineralSociety
Club email: svgem-min-club@live.com