Past Field Trip Details - Virginia Museum of Natural History


Official Field Trip Notice of the Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society


Virginia Museum of Natural History / Saturday, August 10th, 2013

Where: Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville, VA

When: August 10th, 2013

Logistics: See below

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Details: Okay, so we've talked about this one off and on for some time, so now we're taking an end of summer trip to the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, Virginia.

The museum has numerous exhibits including dinosaurs, an Uncovering Virginia archeological exhibit, and an especially interesting display entitled How Nature Works - Rocks.

We will also be going behind the scenes of the museum with Sarah Timm, a museum curator in the mineralogy section. On this tour, we will get to see some of the things not currently on display as well as learn some things about the workings of a museum.

After spending a few hours in the museum, we plan to head toward Fairy Stone State Park in search of some fairy stones, better known in mineralogy circles as staurolite. Obviously, this portion of the trip is completely optional - if you're enjoying the museum and want to stay then please do so.

Departure: 6:15 AM from the I-64 park & ride lot near Target in Waynesboro, VA. Carpooling is encouraged. This is a fairly lengthy drive and we are targeting the museum opening time of 9:00 AM so that we're able to maximize our time. We will likely convoy there, but that is certainly not required. If you need directions, contact the field trip coordinator.

Cost: Museum admission is $5 per person unless we have a group of 10 or more in which case it will be $1 per person. The behind the scenes tour costs a bit more - $5 per person.

Bring: For the museum, you just need yourself and a few bucks to get in. If you're going to look for staurolite in the afternoon, you will want to have: clothes you don't mind getting dirty, sturdy boots, scratching implements such as a potato fork (digging is not allowed at most collecting areas), and something to put your staurolite in. Optional equipment would be a sieve and a spray bottle since these crystals are very dirty.

Please sign up for this trip no later than Thursday August 8, 2013 so that we can give the museum a fairly accurate idea of how many folks to expect. Please sign up with and address any questions to Dean Hostetter, Field Trip Coordinator.

Contact Dean at: deanboy@ntelos.net

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Thanks,
Dean Hostetter
Field Trip Coordinator