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The Official Newsletter of Caloundra Lapidary Club Inc. “Connecting Culture & Community”

9 Caloundra Rd, Caloundra – behind Information Centre

The Show is over for another year and a very successful one for our Club. Thank you to all our helpers. We will be calling on interested people to put their hands up at the general meeting in November to help with all aspects of running next year’s Show. We are also very lucky having some wonderful junior members doing some beautiful work in the silver room and cabbing area. Very refreshing to see their enthusiasm . More diamond wheels are on the way to replace the opal grinders, 4” and 6 " and we hope to have some new gear for the silver workshop and faceting room in the near future. Andrew Seiben has donated two pieces of Boulder Opal which can be set in silver and used as prizes for a raffle Many thanks Andrew and Spike at Redtrace Mine. Our stall at the Christian College was nearly washed out but

PRESIDENT’S REPORT SUMMER 2013 it was nice to see many interested students. We hope to gain a couple of new members from our PR. Jim McAllister and his team reported a good day from the Landsborough Day Celebrations. A Working Bee to be held on Saturday 7 December to give our work shop areas a good clean and tidy. It is nearly Christmas again with our luncheon and break –up party to plan, so add your names to the lists and let’s celebrate. Thank you all for a good year and all the support given to the Committee in 2013, Cheers and Merry Xmas to all….Eric

Eric ThomasPresident

Looking for donations for the Christmas Hamper.  Please drop into the Club

Club is closed from 12 pm Monday 16 December to 3rd

January. Opens again on the 4th January

EVENTS 1st December 2013 Xmas Function @ Bellvista Tavern,

2 Rawson Street, Caloundra West Qld 4551. Ph: (07) 5437 2999 from 11.30 am 14th December 2013

Club Christmas Breakup Party @ Club Rooms : from 11.30 am: Barbeque, drinks. ALL WELCOME

OPEN DAY

And

GARAGE SALE

Saturday

30 November Please  participate in the garage sale on Open Day or drop donations for selling on the day at the Club such as pickles, cakes etc. All welcome  There will also be a Sausage Sizzle

Holiday Closure

From 12 pm Monday 16 Dec 13

to Friday 3 Jan 14

(i.e Club open again on 4th)

Calling for volunteers

for duty officers for the week of 4th January through to

the following Saturday 11th

January.

The regulars are having a well

deserved rest.

Saffy S

Opening Hours

Mon: 9am to 12noon Faceting with instruction. John. Cabachons 6pm to 9.00pm Silver Wire Wrapping with Roger Tedmanson Faceting with instruction - Eric Enamelling with instruction – Peter & Wendy Tue: 6pm to 9.00pm Beginners with Greg

Wed: 9am to 12noon Cabochons, Silver & Faceting for the experienced

6pm to 9.00pm Silver with instruction. Edith, Peter & Wendy Thu: 6pm to 9.00pm Cabochons with instruction, Carving with

instruction and Faceting for the experienced

Fri: CLOSED

Sat: 9am to 12noon Cabochons with instruction. Silversmithing

Sun: CLOSED !

Welcome to New

Members Greg Bourke Chris Whitefield Mark Vestey Judith Keehen Vicki Goodwin Nev Ronalds Cheryl and John Stapleton Coralie Mallett Diva Cronin Zac Finlay Rusty Baxter Delighted to have you join the Club Welcome

Suggestion Box: You are welcome to put any written suggestions in the Suggestion Box on the display case in the Club that may be of benefit to the operation of the club and to its members Club Merchandise: Club shirts are available for purchase and are available for the handsome sum of $27.00. Contact the Treasurer or John Sandifort (5499 6764) if you would like to purchase. Club aprons (vinyl) are also available for $18.00 each. They are excellent value and are heavy duty and come in a good length and can be cut to size. Club Badge: These are standard issue for new members. Cost is included in the joint fee. If you require a new badge, record your request on the sign-in register (in the membership column), deposit $11.00 in the cashbox and your badge will be ordered by the Treasurer

JEWELLERY AND GEM SHOW 2013 SHOW CONVENOR’S REPORT as at October 26th

The Jewellery & Gem Show of 2013, held at the Caloundra State Primary School was a success thanks to the great effort put into it by many members of our club The venue had a couple of negatives among them the amount of parking and the narrow road into the unloading area. Friday - Set up went very smoothly, electrical and mark out was excellent, School tables should be used inside next time, 180 chairs could be reduced by 20. The need for Security was emphasized by some traders. Saturday: the helpers running up and down the hill did an excellent job placing the traders, and wearing out their own legs. Laminated copies of set out plans don't get wet! 4 Copies of each needed, 1 for each entrance. Table cloths needed on ticket seller tables. Colour of adults & children tickets to be the same at both entrances and issued to all persons to keep our count right. Raffle sales were good. Having properly printed tickets made it easier to sell. The Traders on 72 sites (more than 2011) were happy with our organization and running of the show with some good reports. 12 traders inside the auditorium have all re booked for 2014. 8 sites on the hard stand. 4 booked for 2014. 17 Under Cover sites. A lot of traders had difficulty parking and driving in the area but this was overcome by members good work directing traffic and helping to unload and load. 7 have re booked for 2014. Tailgaters on the Grass. 35 sites and 8 re booked so far for 2014. The centre row was a little confined and some traders requested a little more room. Site 1 was a no show so we might eliminate this site to make more room. We were able to achieve a better result to the last show even with the added expenses of changing venues, having to spend $1000 redoing Banners lettering and getting 3 new ones. Because of Council’s change of rules regarding signage we will have to get 20 new signs made for next year the maximum allowed. A great effort from Ray, Mick, Warren, Gavin & Greg in placing these at 9 o'clock at night We put ourselves to the fore and have received inquiries about our club with some new members signing up. The show committee needs more dedicated members to help, attend other clubs shows and canvassing traders, distributing brochures to clubs and businesses The show was well promoted through all the media, news papers, TV, Radio, Gold Gem & Treasure. Thanks to the sterling efforts of Andrea . The need for a ATM Machine was highlighted, ATM2GO have been approached. Better parking, this has been discussed with the School Principal and he has agreed to open the paddock opposite George St. entrance for parking. We should ask SES if they would do this for gold coin donation

A special thanks to the Committee for all your help over the year Eric Thomas - Show Convenor

Silverwork Silver Smithing Report - Peter/Wendy Going very well and a big thank you to all who come along It is a social event as well as some beautiful items being turned out. Wendy takes photos of almost every item made which are in an album on the table in the shed workshop. They are also kept on the club computer if you want a copy of your work. Next year when we are away Edith, Dave and everyone there will help each other out. Don will only be coming very occasionally next year. He is moving into retirement mode from the Club. So we wish to thank him for his exceptional contribution to the Club. We have all learnt so much from him and he will surely be missed. Thank you Don – you are a star! We are hoping that we can get Nick Murray to give lessons to all that are interested in improving their skills. Don’t forget that Ken Dickson is there on a Wednesday morning and will help you out with any silver problems that you may have. Our thanks go to Edith, Ken and Don for their ongoing help, and many thanks to Greg for always being helpful and for doing the bookwork, stock (silver) control, opening and closing the place, which leaves us all more time to get on with the silverwork. Peter and Wendy

It’s time to sit under a tree and watch the grass grow! A decision has been made! After Christmas Wendy and I will be heading off into the bright blue yonder, not all year but for a few weeks here and there, maybe a month now and again, but no posts in the club for us. Of course when we are about we will help out where we can with whatever we can, but I feel that we have earned our place in the club and now deserve a bit of sitting in the background, what say you? Recently at another club show day whilst talking with some old friends we were asked what posts we would be doing next year (2014). After some debate I realised that between Wendy and myself we have just about done them all. In some years we held two or three posts, and most posts held for two or three years.

Positions that Wendy and I have held

Top Table and Committee. President. Vice President. Secretary. Treasurer. Management Committee. Subcommittee or Instructors; Instructors - Cabbing, Opal cutting and polishing, Silverwork, Enamelling. Casting? Subcommittees; QLACCA delegate, Maintenance officer, Newsletter editor, Purchasing officer, Grants Officer, New Membership Officer, Local day-trips officer, Museum curator, Librarian, Archivist, Club Publicity and Promotions officer, Lawns and gardens officer, Kitchen supervisor, Social and activities officer, Field trips officer, Show convenor 2 posts no longer used in the club - Inter-clubs officer, Local area liaison officer. Please help out with something next year and remember that all these posts require assistants or deputies. Wendy and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their help and friendship throughout the year and a particular thanks to all the club members that have held any post throughout the year. Without your help there would be no club so very well done to you all. “Ask not what the club can do for you but what can you do for the club” JFK. Peter and Wendy.

Enamelling Report - Peter/Wendy Well here we are at the end of another year. How time flies when you are having fun. The enamelling started out with a lot of people interested and as we get nearer to the end of the year interestseems to have waned. We all look forward to receiving feedback so improvements can be made, so don’thesitate to let us know. Would it be better on another day of evening. These are some of the questions I ask myself, but Wendy and I have been there and have freely offered our time to all club members, sometimesrushing back from being away so as to offer our help to anyone that may be interested in enamelling. This year has been a huge learning curve for us and we seem to have developed our own styles and ways withenamelling. Wendy seems to like the smaller items that you can wear; bright, colourful and glitzy, whereas I seem to be doing more of an enamel painting style about the size of small tiles. We will put some in the glasscabinet next to the club front door for you to have a look at. Wendy has taken photos and they are in an albumon the workshop table for all to look through. If anyone wants copies of their own work then they are on the clubcomputer. Don’t know what will happen next year, we were hoping that by now we would have been able to teachsomeone to carry it on but I suppose that will be up to the new club management? We would like to thank all of you that showed interest and ask you to keep things going as it is a most enjoyablepart of the hobby of lapidary, and of course if wanted you can start and finish something in one session. Peter and Wendy Reference to the Club Show: - We’d like to thank everyone who put their work into the showcases at our show they really looked good so well done to all. P & W.

Wire Wrapping News

Monday Nights 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Hello, Just a short note from the Wire Wrapping Group that meets on Monday Nights 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. The Group now has a collection of 28 + DVD 's on different Wire Wrapping techniques on making,and selling of, Pendants, Rings and Bracelets as well as several specialist wire wrapping technique books. They all start at a beginner level going on to professional levels. Some of the demonstration designs have been placed in the display cabinet to the right of the entry, giving an idea on the breadth of techniques available. To give further breadth of design possibilities, a large number of PDF and printed patterns have been collected that can be copied, so you can plan what you would like to construct on the following class. As a beginner you are not expected to come with a set of tools as the instructors tools are available. With some wire is available at cost, and 50c tumbled stones you are capable of making a pendant the first night. So come and join our friendly group of wrappers, or If you have any questions contact Roger on Mob: 0416119186

FACETING Faceting report for October 2013

The faceting classes are still being well attended on Monday mornings with all five machines being utilized. However the evening classes are usually smaller. Some of our more experienced members are producing very nicely cut stones. Faceting is a very rewarding part of lapidary requiring accuracy and lots of patience. Any member interested should contact John Sandifort at the Club I have attached some photos that are self explanatory. It is very rewarding when you enter you pieces in competition and even better when you win something. I would like to encourage members to enter their work into competitions. There are competitions for a variety of skills, such as silver work, cabbing, carving and so on. it would be good to see more representation in these competitions from our Club as there is lots of talent amongst you all. John Sandifort

Museum report for Oct. 2013 The museum is looking very professional now, thanks’ to those that have helped With the cleaning and moving of specimens. I have started to label, number and catalogue all specimens. There are many more to be done. We still have many donated pieces that still need identification and cataloguing. Many specimens are doubled up, the better one is kept and the other boxed up and put up for sale, to be purchased by visitors or members. This process has proven to be successful up till now as many were sold at our last gem show at the club stall, with these proceeds going back into the club to purchase much needed perishables’. I have sent out letters of invitation, with a attached photograph of our museum to Schools in our area, unfortunately we have had no response. If any club member would like more information about the Museum, or would like something identified, I would be happy to assist, although my knowledge is limited Museum Curator John Sandifort

Working Bee to be held on Saturday 7 December to give our workshop areas a good clean and tidy. Working Bee to be held on Saturday 7 December to give our workshop areas a good clean and tidy.

Website www.caloundralapidaryclub.org.au Members are encouraged to advertise items of equipment for sale with photos and descriptions on the Club’s website

Murgon field trip 4th August 2013 Twenty three members turned up for this trip. We left the Clubhouse at 8.00am. It is about a two and a half hour drive, approximately, 220km. to John and Robin Kratzman’s property. A slight lack of communication on my part had some members miss the turn off to the farm but after a phone call we soon sorted things out and got back on track. Not long afterwards we arrived at our destination. No time was wasted and after some instruction to new “rock hounds”, we scattered every where, picks swinging, eyes to the ground searching for those Murgon Agates. By lunch time we all had found our way back to the vehicles, buckets in hand, some containing Agates and some unfortunately just rocks of some kind. After a well earned drink and a bite to eat and the usual sharing of our finds -some good and some not so good - and the usual yarns, some of us still had enough energy to try our luck again. As time went on members were leaving to head back home, however there are always lingerers that have never had enough, myself included. I went back to my favourite paddock and Edith decided to head off in the opposite direction and stumbled onto a heap of dirt which yielded some nice agates. Edith was waving in my direction to get my attention just at that time Graydon was heading off on the road nearby and he must have thought that she was waving good bye to him. I got over there in a flash swinging my pick moaning and groaning about my back and with renewed energy I dug up a couple of Agates. The clock was ticking and tiredness was setting in so finally giving we decided to call it a day. It had been a good day out every one enjoyed themselves. The weather had been kind to us and we had a perfect day out, with great company. Looking forward to our next fossicking trip. Field trip officer John Sandifort

OPEN DAY

& GARAGE SALE

Saturday 30 November

Working Bee to be held on

Saturday 7 December to give our work shop areas a good

clean and tidy.

Kilkivan Field Trip Gold! Gold! Gold! There was gold in every pan. Ten eager people hit the road just after 8am on a slow trip to Gympie, out to the turnoff to Prophet Gold Mine and then a 5 km drive to the diggings. We started off the proceedings with cake and coffee under the gazebo before getting our heads down and panning for that elusive gold. We were greeted by John the owner who took us to the office to get our brag bottle and gold pan and then it was down to the wash area where we were shown the principles of panning. Jane took it all on board and together with Barbara they looked the most professional gold panners. Owen & Diane with their friends Gary and Colleen ended up the lucky ones with a nice piece nearly as big as a fingernail – lucky, lucky. John gave a very interesting talk on the theory of the forming of gold and how it is deposited, an excellent display of gold for us to handle and poured a 3 ounce piece about $5,500 worth. We migrated back to the tucker boxes & wash tubs where every pan had some trace of gold before heading off home about 2.30pm. You just never know your luck and some of us were luckier than others. Thanks to the great weather, and good company we had a lovely enjoyable day out. Eric Thomas Precious Metal Clay Workshop A successful workshop with members was held on the 20th and 21st September creating new jewellery pieces with silver metal clay. Due to this success, a working group has been formed to consider the possibilities of having PMC as an ongoing activity available to all members. More details will be advised early in 2012 but in the meantime, anyone who is interested can contact the Secretary to register your interest.

Page 4 OFFICE BEARERS for 2013

Club Patron: Cr. Tim Dwyer

President Eric Thomas P: 5438 1094 Email: beteric@skymesh.com.au Mob: 0417634205

Vice President Greg Reynolds P: 0408 397755 Email: hsp1957@live.com.au

Secretary Lynda Rush P: 54928313 Email: lynda.rush@bigpond.com

Assistant Secretary P. Email:

Treasurer Bernie Partridge P: 5494187 Email: bernieis@westnet.com.au

Assistant Treasuer Vacant P: Email:

Chief Instructor Doug Richie P. 5491 9958 MOB: 0405704355

Faceting Instructor John Sandifort P: 5499 6764 Email: sandiforts@icloud.com

Field Officer John Sandifort P: 5499 6764 Email: sandiforts@icloud.com

Maintenance Officer Greg Reynolds P: 0408 397 755 Email: hsp1957@live.com.au

Webmaster David Lavis P: 5438 9770 Email: dlavis@exemail.com.au M: 0400 490 032

Projects/Grants Graydon Willcox P: 5494 8179 Email: judeni420@bigpond.com

Ray Rolley P: 5493 1383 Email:

Librarian Gavin Wheldon P: 5437 2749 Email: gewhel@bigpond.com

Grounds Keeper Graydon Willcox P: 5492 5219 Email: judeni420@bigpond.com

House Keeper Edith Sandifort P: 5499 6764 Email: sandiforts@icloud.com

Social Secretary P: 5437 3989 Email:

Museum Curator John Sandifort P: 5499 6754 Email: sandiforts@icloud.com

Newsletter Editor Bernadette Neubecker P: 0468 356 437 Email: bneubecker@vtown.com.au

Auditor Save on Tax

INSTRUCTORS Monday AM John Sandifort / Faceting / Duty Officer 54 996 764 Monday PM Eric Thomas / Faceting / Duty Officer 54 381 094 Tuesday PM Greg Reynolds / Duty Officer 0408 3997755 Wednesday AM Greg Reynolds / Duty Officer 0408 397755

Ken Dickson / Silver Wednesday PM Peter Dyson / Silver / Duty Officer 54 938 048 Thursday PM Greg Reynolds / Cabbing / Duty Officer 0408 397755 Saturday AM Douglas Ritchie / Cabbing / Chief Instructor 54919958

Greg Reynolds /Duty Officer/ 0408 397755

Bernadette NeubeckerEditor