August 2018 Meeting Minutes

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New Business:
Jack Glenn showed an informative (and at times hilarious, with the assistance of the Pink Panther) PowerPoint on the Show Update.

What’s Been Done: We have 16 vendors who have purchased the same # of tables as last year’s show. Jack is working with Steve from the Yard Sale at EXPO which is happening the same weekend as our show. We will have a banner designating our show and the yard sale. Steve of EXPYS is willing to share the new revised billboard with us that EXPO is planning.

There are new tickets that will have our club information on them, and have a place to put the visitor’s email & address for future notifications.

What Needs to Be Done:
☛ We need volunteers to work various times at the show, including Thursday evening set up and tear down on Sunday evening.
☛ Distribute flyers/note pads in various locations around the area. Jack had a list of suggestions of places to visit from caverns & gyms to restaurants & hotels. Any place where people congregate is appropriate as long as permission is given.
☛ Members need to step up and make display cases to show the public that we are invested in our club. We have cases with a 5” depth or an 8” depth. These may be picked up at the rock shop on Sep 10, the next meeting, and on the Sat rock shop day – Sat 15th.

Debbie will send out a “Call to Action” email with important information.

Also, this link needs to be put on social media, emailed to family & friends, etc. It has all the information about the show along with all the activities that will be going on. http://tinyurl..com/SVGMS-show-2018

Program Report:
Mike Pabst had a short PowerPoint about fluorescence, with photos of course! Certain materials will only fluoresce under a specific wavelength (depends on electrons and orbital paths). More energy must enter the material than is emitted. He showed us “Pabstite” (a real mineral named for Adolf Pabst in 1964 at Santa Cruz, CA) It had a nice blue fluorescence.

Everyone got to participate in viewing green, orange, pink, blue, etc. colors that were emitted with the UV lamps. Did you know that money, glow sticks, Vaseline glass, and even homemade bread will fluoresce? Several folks had minerals from Sterling Hill & Franklin, NJ mines – the fluorescent capital of the world. AND we will have a fluorescent mineral display set up at the show! An excellent site to get information, photos, etc about fluorescence is http://www.fluomin.org (Choose English for the language)

Michael Herrick (our “sphere” man) had some intriguing spheres made from colored pencils and some edible geodes made of sugar crystals with chocolate!

If you were at the meeting, we were amazed at the new, improved portable LW LED fluorescent flashlight that Mike Pabst was using. If you would like the link to purchase one, here is the information. (We are not endorsing or guaranteeing any of these products or vendors. Please do your own research.)

A description and evaluation of the Flashlight:
https://www.naturesrainbows.com/single-post/2017/03/01/365nm-Flashlight-Torch-The-Most-Significant-Innovation-in-UV-Mineral-Lights-in-Years

Two American mineral dealers that supply this flashlight already assembled, with visible light cutoff filter installed, and with battery and charger:
http://www.mineralman.net/id35.html
https://www.midnightminerals.com/product-page/convoy-s2-365nm-nichia-zwb2-filter-lw-led-flashlight-battery-charger

Both dealers charge about $60, which is reasonable (perhaps making $10 profit), because it saves dealing with 3 different Chinese vendors and long shipping times, and it saves having to disassemble the flashlight to install the cutoff filter in place of the clear glass lens, which is a bit tricky.

Field Trip Info:
Please refer to “SVGMS Field Trips News” documents you receive from the club secretary for a description of the current status of field trips and details about upcoming trips.

If you are a club member with paid-up dues and you do not receive the “Field Trip News” document when they are emailed, please contact the secretary at loverocksandminerals@gmail.com or at a monthly meeting to correct this issue.

This will be the principle way information about field trips are distributed to members, so we want to insure everyone is correctly addressed.

I previously sent an email about the field trip to Willis Mt. which will be Sept 29th. You must have carefully read the instructions, safety notes, and should have contacted Scott Steele if you are going. DO NOT contact the Lynchburg club directly. The participants must have one designated field trip coordinator. If you no longer have the email, please contact me & I will resend.

Looking ahead:
September meeting: We will have a presentation about “How to Make an Intriguing Display Case” for the show.

Also, Scott Steele will share some information about the summer field trips, the upcoming Willis Mt trip, and show us some of the samples he collected in PA. We will have a Show Update with sign up for volunteers to have fun at EXPO!

Remember that the lapidary shop is open the Saturday following a regular meeting and on the second Saturday after that. Leo, Charlie & Jack can assist you. Open from 9 am to noon.

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 or sign up at this link:
http://www.shenandoahvalleyrockclub.org/next_neeting_program/sign_up_to_present_program.php

Anyone can sign up to bring snacks for a monthly meeting by clicking this link:
http://www.shenandoahvalleyrockclub.org/next_meeting_info/sign_up_to_bring_refreshments.php

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.

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Volunteers for Refreshments, 2018:
February: TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
March: TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
April: TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
May: TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
June: TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
July: N/A - Club Picnic
August: TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
September: TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
October: TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
November: TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
December: N/A - Club Christmas Dinner

Deborah Grimm, Secretary

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Club Officers and Staff 2016-2018
President – Michael Pabst
Vice President – Leo Cloutier
Show Co-Chairs – Dean Hostetter/Scott Gregory
Educational Outreach -- Deborah Grimm
Secretary/Newsletter -- Deborah Grimm
Field Trip Coordinators - Wayne Petersen/Scott Duresky
Treasurer – Scott Gregory
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

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