September Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society
Meeting date: September 9, 2024
Thanks again to Will Crowder for donating tons (literally) of rocks for us to peruse and take home to add to our collections. There were 38 eager members gathered to look at the 7 tables full of rocks & fossils. Our program was having fun searching for treasures. & sharing names of places to purchase rocks. {See list below.} Thanks to Cindy S for making labels for the boxes, and to Debbie for bringing them from her garage.
Jack Glenn gave an update on the show and had fliers, posters and yard signs to distribute. We've had over 25,000 hits on FaceBook this summer! There are 41 vendors with over 300 tables to set up. Keep spreading the word!
Cindy asked that several members bring coolers on Friday morning to fill with ice from the machine at EXPO to keep our drinks & food cold for the dinner.
The snack bar will be open during some hours of the show. An ATM is inside the front door. Thanks to Charlie for bringing all the paper goods for the dinner.
The dinner will be held in the annex at 6:30. The club is providing chicken, drinks, & a few sides. Please try to bring an entree, a side dish or a dessert to share for the approximately 100 people that will eat that evening.
We can still use some help! Larry has a booth, so he would appreciate some help with the sluice. He used the sluice at a festival at the fire department near Rio and also entertained a homeschool group there. Thank you, Larry, for educating our youth and getting them excited about minerals. Larry would really appreciate someone taking over this activity next year - he has done it for many years, and would like to share the fun!
Calvin & Catherine are moving to VT this winter, so won't be able to attend our meetings anymore. Calvin thanked Charlie for being an "uncle" to many club members, and for all he does in the shop and advice he shares. Calvin showed us a box of polished cabs & cut slabs he made in the shop. We wish them the best, and once they're settled, perhaps they can share some areas in VT to get rocks!
Rich T. brought his homemade fluorescent display box that he used with students. He had a box of various fluorescent rocks with a lamp, and there were lots of "wows" expressed as members viewed the specimens. Rich enjoyed his days of working at the Franklin, NJ mine so he was quite knowledgeable about the minerals and the phenomenon.
We asked members to relate a place that would be good to look for rocks or a place to buy them.
Where to look for rocks in VA,MD & WV:
- Rose River in Madison county
- Roadcuts near Monterey in Highland Co., Rockbridge Co., Bath Co. {roadcuts around Franklin, WV}
- From Cindy - Fossils - Calvert Cliffs - Maryland and Stratford Hall as well as Westmoreland state park, Va
- Join the Tidewater club - they do fossil collecting on the James River 2-3x/year
- Streams and shaley roadcuts in Bath, Highland,Augusta, Rockingham counties - not on National Forest land and ask permission first on private land
- Willis Mt near Dillwyn, Only once a year when invited by Lynchburg club & must have proper equipment & forms
Books to reference:
- Roadside Geology of VA by Keith Frye (1986);
- Roadside Geology of WV by Joseph G. Lebold & Christopher Wilkinson (2018);
- Virginia Rocks! by Albert B. Dickas (2019);
- Fossil Collecting in the Mid-Atlantic States by Jasper Burns (1991)
Where to purchase rocks online & venues in VA:
{A word of caution - some specimens from ebay or e-rocks may be fakes or enhanced with heat or radiation}
- Micromounts (from Mike Pabst): Two copper minerals purchased from the e-rocks auction site https://www.e-rocks.com.
- Specifically, from the dealer MinTreasure https://www.MinTreasure.com.
- From Bob & Mary https://www.packardstampandrock.com/
- In Staunton, Little Shoppe of Crystals and South Horizon
- In Harrisonburg, Elk Run Mining, Horizon Gifts
- Our club members, Jack & Jilly, run AGQ designs & they're at our show!
- Bob & Mary McIntire, club members, run Treasure Tree Jewelry in Stuarts Draft, and will be at the show as well.
- Near Salem, Dixie Caverns gift shop.
- Charlottesville, Excalibur Minerals and Minerals & Mystics
- Rockbridge County, David Lipscomb has Virginia Rock Shop
- Verona Antique Mall, John Hammer (a club member) has The Valley Rock Shop
Other states:
- Spruce Pine, NC has a vendor show every year the last week of July through the first week of August
- New Mexico, near Magdalena is Bill's Rock Shop
- Maine, Leighton's of West Paris (they have tons of tourmaline); Maine Mineral & Gem Museum at Bethel; Dig Maine Gems
- Franklin, NJ Franklin Mineral Museum and Sterling Hill Mineral Museum {fluorescents}
- AR - Ron Coleman Quartz Mine (I ordered a box of clay that I sorted through and found lots of pure points); Mt. Ida has quartz
- New Mexico, Utah and Colorado have many mineral sites to visit and stores to purchase state specimens
***Support our show vendors - those attending our show can be found here: https://shenandoahvalleyrockclub.org/annual_svgms_show.html
Our October 14 meeting will be at 7 pm at the Bridgewater Baptist Church. Mike Papst will do a program on "Colorful Uranium Minerals from the Pabst Collection". And we'll have a summary of the show.
An FYI - We received the final check from the Herrick family for our share of the proceeds from the 3rd auction. A check for $4697 was deposited to the club. Lori Herrick expressed appreciation to the club for organizing and completing the sale, with a special thank-you to Charlie & Cindy for all the work they did. Thanks to all club members who assisted them and made purchases. In total, all 3 auctions resulted in $8172 for our club. We are forever grateful to Mike Herrick for his unselfish generosity to us.
Sep 9: 7 pm. Planning for the show. Program to be determined.
Sep 19: Set up for the show at EXPO
Sep 20-22: The 56th Annual Gem & Mineral Show (Set up Thursday 9/19) Show Friday - Sunday (20th -22nd) Mark your calendars and get ready to have some fun helping!!!
Lots of WONDERFUL volunteers making our 56th annual Gem. Mineral & Jewelry Show a resounding success!! I am already making a list of volunteers, so please let me know when you can help. Thanks!
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