Most Recent Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society
Meeting date: October 14, 2024
There were 20 members present for our October meeting (including 3 first-timers). Michael welcomed everyone and Jack reported that there were about 200 less tickets sold at our show than last year, perhaps due to the thunderstorms that occurred on Saturday afternoon. Next year's show will be Sep 19-21, 2025. Debbie reported from Scott that we collected $7574 from ticket sales & $12,935 from vendor tables. Our expenses were $11,729.49 which gave us a profit of $8779.51. We will pay EXPO to set up tables and take them down, which will be a great help in manpower. The show committee will be meeting to decide how to distribute the profit for educational purposes.
Thanks again to each of you who helped make this show a resounding success!
Ed S. brought up a question about field trips. Michael explained that most of the quarries no longer allow visitors after COVID happened. Debbie explained that 15 clubs attend the trip to Willis Mt, but that in the last few years, she has not received any information about it ahead of time. The trip is sponsored by the Lynchburg club and it usually occurs on the Saturday of our show. She will contact them next summer to ensure we have the application forms. It was suggested that we seek information about trips to Rose River, Vesuvius, and other locations that may allow the club to collect specimens. Ed tentatively agreed to be the lead person to gather information about places to go and whom to contact. If anyone has a contact name of someone who could help us with a collecting trip, or a place to visit, please contact me, and I will give Ed the info. He will research the possibilities. Thanks.
Thanks to Nick who went to Willis Mt. and brought some samples to distribute.
Charlie mentioned that Spruce Pine, NC was completely devastated from Hurricane Helene. He wanted to take some items there, but they have received so many supplies that all they need now is manpower to sort and distribute items. Some of our vendors live in Boone & Asheville, and other NC locations. Most of them are ok as far as we know. We can individually pray for them and donate to organizations that help people in that area.
Michael, our president, presented "Reminiscences of Uranium: A Tour of the Collection of an Eccentric Gentleman of the Shenandoah Valley". He showed exquisite photos of minerals, some that were smaller than 1 mm in size, photographed using his homemade elaborate camera set-up. The photos were very professional, and he zoomed in on some of the delicate and varied crystal patterns.
Michael first discounted the myth that uranium is very dangerous and may kill you. There are tons and tons of natural uranium in our rocks and soil that has been there for 5 billion years. As this uranium disintegrates due to radioactive decay, it releases heat that keeps our earth warm enough for life to have evolved. Without it, we'd be a giant lifeless snowball! He brought his radiation detector with him - a CRM100 that he bought several years ago. (That model is no longer for sale, but others are available on Amazon and other sites.) There is background radiation in our air, water, and soil. The background radiation at his house was 16 CPM (counts per minute). Brick and cinder block buildings have more than wood due to the stone in the material. The type of uranium that is dangerous has been enhanced or concentrated for industrial purposes and for nuclear fission and fusion. Of course, one should not ingest or inhale any type of radioactive material.
Michael's slide show included these minerals (I may have missed a few.) Some contain uranium, and others have thorium. You can look them up on www.mindat.org to see a photo, its mineral composition, and source location.
- Bergenite - yellow.
- Billietite - amber.
- Boltwoodite - yellow.
- Carnotite - orange.
- Cleusonite - black.
- Curite - orange.
- Dewindtite - yellow.
- Fourmarierite - orange (this is the only one with the O3 peroxide molecule in its composition).
- Francoisite - yellow.
- Gauthierite - yellow.
- Liebigite - amber.
- Schrockingerite - greenish yellow.
- Soddyite - yellow.
- Thorite - yellow-green.
- Thorianite - black.
- Torbernite - green.
- Tyuyamunite - yellow.
- Uranophane - yellow.
- Vanuralite - yellow.
- Vandendriesscheite - orange.
- Wolsendorfite - dark orange.
- Wulfenite - orange. Zeunerite - green.
NO, we will NOT have a spelling bee with the names!! And spell-check had difficulty with some of them!
Michael had a few samples of these minerals. Under the scope, we saw the brilliant green needle crystals of cuprosklodowskite with yellow kasolite.
Under UV light, the schrockingerite was a brilliant blue, showing both radioactivity and fluorescence.
Mike's piece of curite went off the charts on the radiation detector at over 2000!
I brought a few of my samples, and Mike used his meter to test them. My antique Fiestaware green plate showed no emission, but the 1930s Vaseline (uranium glass) did have a 36 reading. My autonite had no emission, but my tyuyamunite measured 266, and my boltwoodite measured 211.
THANK YOU, Michael for showing us the amazing world of microscopic uranium and thorium minerals.
Club Officers and Staff 2016-2024
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