June 2016 Meeting Minutes


Minutes of the Meeting of Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society
Meeting date: June 13th, 2016

Intro:
President Michael Pabst called the meeting to order.

Old Business:
1. Bruce Wetterau has organized some photo displays for local libraries, to raise awareness of our club and our show. Please contact him if you have any photos or samples that you would like to contribute (bwetterau306@comcast.net).

2. Dean reported on preparations for our show.  To get things done efficiently, he will assign duties to each member, such as distributing flyers, etc. This will be the 49th year for the show. Jack Glenn announced that our show is listed on the VA.org website, and that Shenandoah Living magazine will carry an advertisement for 2 months before the show.

3. Jack Glenn brought some polished stones that were part of last month's demonstration on Rock Tumbling -- they came out very nice..

New Business:
1. Dave Lipscomb announced that 
Nelsonite has become the official State Rock of Virginia. There does not yet appear to be a State Mineral. Perhaps we might fix that.

2. Wayne Petersen has agreed to be Field Trip Coordinator, and Scott Duresky has agreed to help by maintaining contacts with other clubs. Thanks, Wayne & Scott!!

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Program Report:
For our entertainment and edification, Dave Lipscomb brought 71 examples of
rocks and minerals from Virginia.

The samples were coded by number, and we were invited to guess the identity of the rocks and minerals.

Michael Pabst (ungraciously) won the contest with 32 correct guesses, but young Tom LeBeau guessed 28 for second place, and Calvin Phillips won third place.

Specimens from the Culpeper Quarry were awarded as prizes. There were also some additional specimens to view, some of which were amazing, including two large museum-grade
Tantalite crystals from the Morefield Mine.

Thank you, Dave, for an interesting program!

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Next Meeting: Annual Club Picnic!
Coyner Park in Waynesboro
Bring a dish to share
Chicken and paper goods will be provided
No formal meeting – just lots of fun and socializing!
(Address is 2091 Lyndhurst Road, Waynesboro, VA 22980)
Members can click
here for details

Field Trip Info: Check out information here

Looking ahead:

  • We are asking club members to mark their calendars and plan on helping with the show at The Augusta EXPO Sept 23-25. Even helping for a few hours would lighten the load for everyone.

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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Notes from The Rock Shop - June 2016:
The Rock Shop was open for its monthly session on Saturday, June 18th, 2016.

We had a record fourteen members attend to work on various projects. Some members have been making regular visits and are well on their way to becoming practiced lapidarists. Everyone is uniformly pleased with the results they are able to achieve working with the club’s first-rate equipment and mentoring by the “old hands”.

Ilana worked on several pieces she obtained from a fortuitous on-line purchase of rough and got some great results. She also got busy with a piece of rough iolite that looked very ‘meh’ at first, but was turning into a good little gem after some TLC.

Heather carried on with some other pieces of rough from the same on-line purchase and is working to get a piece of lace agate done to perfection.

Linda had some rose quartz she worked on and completed a nice piece. She also had a piece of lapis that will turn into something nice.

Justin had some fun with pieces of chrysocolla, amethyst and jasper. It takes some versatility to engage in these diverse materials - well done, Justin!

Jilly did a lot of preforming of chrysocolla cabs and started working some of them on to the polish stage. She got a tip at a recent gem show from a vendor who has some of the best-polished chrysocolla cabs out there. He said he uses Fabulustre as the final polishing agent on softer material like chrysocolla - we’ll give it a try!

Kimberly was taking a slab of Noreena jasper from start to finish and was pleased to see how nice a polish this material takes - sometimes there’s a pleasant surprise when a small streak of silvery-gray hematite becomes visible as the polishing progresses. She switched off to a piece of agate for the rest of the session and got it well underway.

Dan & Tom experimented with what they will be calling Rose River Red Granite, a material they collected on a field trip up the valley a little ways. It looks like it takes a great polish and has a lot of very interesting character. Tom is also working on a specimen-sized piece of tiger iron, and Dan did a small cab of the same material. Some really stunning outcomes for both!

Our newest member Veronica came along to join the fun today and started to learn the basics of using the cab machines. She tried some materials like Ricolite Serpentine and Ruby in Zoisite and had some very good results after not long at all. Sounds like she will be back for ensuing sessions ;-)

Calvin spent the session cabbing plume agate, Minnesota agate and some tiger iron.

Charlie also joined in the tiger iron parade, along with helping out the newer members get things right on their projects.

Jack made use of the trim saw with the ultra-thin-kerf blade to slab up some Tanzanite and phosphosiderite. The latter is so soft that it would seem unlikely to polish well, but images on-line demonstrate good results are possible. We’ll see - the soft pink/lavender color is unique. Also put the large slab saw to use making a first cut on a large banded agate sold as Gem Water Agate from India. If the first slice is any indication, this will make some stunning slabs and cabs.

It’s great to see the variety of materials being worked and having a chance to enjoy the outcomes people are achieving.

Everyone took part in the cleanup and the shop was left in good order for the next session, which will be Saturday, July 16th, 2016.

Thanks,
Jack

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Volunteers for Refreshments, 2016:
February: TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
March:
TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
April:
TBD <<--NEED A VOLUNTEER!!
May: Jilly Weigel
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
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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