September 2016 Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society
Meeting date: September 12th, 2016
Intro:
President Mike Pabst called the meeting to order. There were 24 members present.
Old Business:
1. Bruce displayed the beautiful posters he made for display in local libraries. They are colorful, laminated photos from some micro-minerals from Mike Pabst, and some photos from the Smithsonian collection. Thank you, Bruce for preparing these!
2. Show ads are out, posters placed in various locations, newspaper & radio ads have been published. Members were encouraged to spread the word.
3. Several members borrowed cases to make displays for the show.
4. Dean announced that the Western VA game and fisheries show will be next door to us at EXPO which may bring us some traffic as well. They will have parking attendants and food.
5. Scott Gregory announced that we need a volunteer to help with the children’s gem dig, as our previous volunteer has another commitment this weekend.
6. On Friday night, Sept 23rd, members are asked to bring a covered dish to share for the “Thank You to our Vendors” meal at EXPO. The meal will start at 6 pm. Chicken and paper goods will be provided.
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New Business:
Wayne Peterson will prepare a list of potential field trips for Debbie to send out. Unfortunately, the Mt. Willis field trip is also Sat Sept 24th.
Some members will attend with him, and hopefully they can help with the show on Friday and Sunday.
Program Report:
Mike Pabst wowed us again with his expertise on photographing micros. He presented “Copper Silicates of Arizona” in living color.
He included information and some photos from an article he did for a “Mineral News” publication. This magazine is published by Tony Nikischer of Excalibur Minerals in Charlottesville, and is $30 annually.
Most of the minerals he showed were from the New Cornelia, Mammoth-St. Anthony, and Christmas mines.
Mike had listings of the minerals by name and chemical composition. Amazing what copper can do to a crystal form and color.
The photos were of minerals in size from 0.6 mm to over 24 mm, and showed amazing detail and depth.
We were treated to photos of ruizite, ajoite, apachite, kinoite, and gilalite. Lovely!! Thank you Mike for sharing your talent with us!
Next Meeting: October 10th at 7:30 pm at Waynesboro Church of the Brethren.
This will be a “Share a Story” from the show event.
Bring something to show that you got at the show, and share an unusual fact or story you learned from a vendor or someone you met.
We want to let as many as possible to share, so please limit your tale to 5 minutes or less.
We will also do a “what worked, what didn’t work” follow-up to the show. And we will be ALREADY taking thoughts and suggestions for next year’s 50th Gem and Mineral Show!!!!
Field Trip Info: Check out information here. Wayne is working on some field trips and info for us. More information was sent to members on 8/24/2016 by the club secretary.
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 - August 2016:
The Rock Shop was open for its monthly session on Saturday, August 13th, 2016.
We had ten members attend to work on various projects.
The session got off to an unintentionally exciting start when the motor of the 8” trim saw decided to “retire” and went out in a blaze of glory. Quick work by Charlie prevented any issues, but that was definitely the end of the road for that motor.
A replacement has been procured, and while we are at it, a new blade has been ordered. The refurbished unit will be back in action by the next session if all goes well with the repairs.
Justin had some material tentatively identified as soapstone to work with, and also put some quartz and amethyst to the wheels.
Linda had some great wonderstone to cab up, and some pink granite from NH that took a very pretty shine.
Dan & Tommy are still whittling down their pile of Rose River Red granite, but in addition had some fun with fluorite, azurite, pink granite, and chrysocolla.
Kimberly was putting the finishing polish on a piece of Noreena jasper when the felt belt reached out and snatched it away from her and the floor gave her a two for one special. A note was made to procure a floor mat to modify the effect of gravity in the area of the felt wheel. Moving on from that, she did some free-form work with jasper and agate.
Jilly worked on mixed cabochons.
Scott made some display slabs from Catoctin basalt and rhodonite from Colorado.
Charlie completed a stunning horn coral mini-cab that has an excellent figure - almost like a star sapphire. This being a small piece, he used a 10D nail and cyanoacrylate glue to dop the stone to the nail’s head. When completed, he uses acetone to get the glue to release. He also continued his mastery of all things agate, producing a top quality plume agate cab.
Bruce came by to be a spectator - we’ll get his hands dirty next time!
Jack brought a large piece of Kambaba jasper in to make an initial cut on. Sometimes you have to get a flat spot on the rough somewhere, so you can use clamps or other techniques to produce slabs. In this case, the plan was to make use of the flat spot as a gluing surface to fasten the rough to a piece of 2” x 4” with white woodworking glue and clamp the wood piece in the saw vise. NOTE - it is very important to let the glue cure for 3-5 days before attempting to subject it to the stress of the saw’s transport.
After it is slabbed down as close to the wood as possible, the leftover piece is put in a tub of water for a week or so to cause the glue to release. If it proves stubborn, a heat gun can aid in getting it to let go.
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, September 17th, 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: www.shenandoahvalleyrockclub.org
Club Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ShenandoahValleyGemMineralSociety
Club email: svgem-min-club@live.com