October 2019 Edition - Sun City€¦ · Welcome to a new season of exploring, learning, sharing,...
Transcript of October 2019 Edition - Sun City€¦ · Welcome to a new season of exploring, learning, sharing,...
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President’s Message - David Alvord Welcome to a new season of exploring, learning, sharing, laughing, and being Rock-Hounds! It is really fun to be a Sun City Rock-hound. Cheryl and I enjoy all the opportunities that come from being members.
Monthly meetings
On the Second Thursday, we meet at Fairway Recreation Center in Arizona Rooms 1 and 2, 6:00 food and conversation, 6:30 meeting, 7:00 Speaker. We enjoy food and conversation, watch slide shows of previous events, hear about field trip plans, special events, listen to speakers, who always have good information, and have an opportunity to get some neat samples when we have a Silent Auction.
Museum Telephone 623-428-6442
Email: [email protected]
President: David Alvord 207-756-1784
First Vice President Cheryl Alvord 207-797-0619
Secretary Mary Brown-Martilik 623-972-4854
Treasurer Deb Carlone 607-423-1390
Field Trips Bill&Vicky Kronenberg 623-399-8217
Membership Eileen Moberg 623-972-1304
Monitors Bill Allison 623-337-2656
Refreshments Beth Mead 307-262-6715
Rockdust Editor Diane Hillis 623-693-0951
October 2019 Edition
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Field Trips
Field Trips send us out into the Arizona Desert, or a trip to a mine or special geological area (aren’t they all?). We find rocks for lapidary, rock gardens and sharing. We have hunted for geodes, mushroom rhyolite, quartz crystals, fossils, gold, Jasper of many colors (red, yellow, orange, green, blue, and more). Some of us (like Cheryl and I) love getting out into the desert, something, as folks from the East coast, we find amazing every time.
Show and Tell
Show and Tell is a monthly 4th Thursday gathering at a Ramada at Lake View Rec. Center. Most bring samples to share and talk about, others come with knowledge to help discover the composition of the wonderful rocks they find. It is from 12-1:00 or longer. Bring your own lunch and drink.
The Sun City Mineral Museum
Our museum is a wonderful collection of Rocks, Minerals and Fossils from around the world, with 8 cases of those found in Arizona. We have one of the best Fluorescent rooms in the state. All members take turns volunteering at the museum. Of course, we will train you to be museum guides. Hanging out at the museum is a great way to learn. There is a nice collection of books for identifying our desert discoveries.
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An unexpected benefit of being Rock Hounds we discovered is the fascination our grandchildren have as they look at the specimens in our house and yard. They love to talk about and give tours of our very small collection. When we go for walks in Arizona or Maine, someone will bring us a sample to talk about. What is it? After saying that it is very pretty or unique, we will most often say “it is quartz, which is a very beautiful rock”
See you in October! -David and Cheryl Alvord (President and Vice President)
Summer Museum Activities by Mike Blachut and Carol
The museum was able to remain open every Saturday with enough sunbird
club members volunteering.
The museum was somewhat quiet when it came to visitors but picked up
around the Holidays. We had a few new members join the club and a few
interested in trying out the club and are planning to attend our October
meeting.
During the slow times at the museum monitors were able to accomplish
cleaning and even some organizing tasks.
Three significant things happened this summer at the Museum.
A museum visitor donated new LED lights which Mike Blachut installed in
cabinets 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 21 & 22. LED light last longer than fluorescent
lights and will not require bulb changes for many years. In past years, the
museum has had to replace the fluorescent fixtures as well as fluorescent
bulbs, our Museum is 29-years-old and so are the fluorescent fixtures.
Anyone who has worked the museum will confirm that sometimes it’s
next to impossible to find anything in our storage areas. The storage
cabinets in the back room were overflowing with supplies for the store.
Over the summer museum volunteers moved several items to different
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locations. For example, if you are looking for additional hematite for the
store, it is stored under the Lentz cabinet, (by the front door).
A glass shelf in the Lentz cabinet broke due to the weight and number of
specimens on display. The glass has been replaced and to ensure we
didn’t have another accident, some of the specimens were removed and
stored in the locked storage area in the cabinets below. The Lentz’s
request was for their collection to be re-donated to the Arizona Mining
and Natural Resources and Educational Museum (formerly known as
Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum) when it reopens. Keeping the
collection together in one cabinet will ensure the collection stays intact.
Speaking of the Arizona Mining and Natural Resources and Educational
Museum, in their latest newsletter, August 2019, they announced their
first public event (yes, they are planning on reopening). Mark your
calendars for October 26th. The museum is planning an outdoor event
with a demonstration of a stamp mill run. Our club will plan a Fun Trip for
those interested in attending. More details as they become available.
Many thanks to all the volunteers who were in town and kept the Museum
open: Karin Schardt, Carol Bankert, Kevin Cole, Gale Willett, Gerry Jensen,
Mary Brown, Roz Shafer, Deb Kloehn, Janet Farnsworth, Jane Ewer, Cliff
DeVleig, Eileen Moberg, Bill Allison, Armeda Diaz, Rebecca Knowland,
Dave Balzer, Bunny Zappala & Mike Blachut
Cabinet & Specimens on loan from
Mr. & Mrs. Lentz
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October Field Trip for Giraffelite
Our October trip will be to Antelope Valley area around Chino, AZ for
giraffelite. Ken Dunham, one of the owners of the claim has given his
permission for our club to rockhound the lower part of his site. All the
mining is done at the top with chisels, gads, and pry bars. It is then carried
down the mountain. There’s plenty of float at the bottom and around the
road for us to collect. Betty Kalllesser, one of our members went on the
one and only field trip up there and found concretions, also. We will have
samples of what you will be looking for at the October meeting. This will
be a nice trip where we can pick-up some nice polishable rocks, possibly
see some antelope (hence the name Antelope Valley) and visit a nice
farmers’ market called Mortimer Farms, that sells specialty jams and
jellies, and fruits and vegetables you don’t see in markets around us. We
will ONLY stop if time allows. One of our members on the Kingman trip
said I grossly understated Lucias in Wikieup. I’m probably doing that
again. I think you will enjoy it.
We will meet at the south end of the Bell Rec parking lot like we usually
do. Be there at 7:30 ready to leave at 8:00 with plenty of water, a jacket,
lunch, rockhounding tools, and the other things on our trip list. This is an
easy dirt road that can be easily navigated with a regular car. Be sure to
check your tires and make sure there is the right amount of air in them.
This is the first trip of our season. Reread the rules and regulations i.e.
amount of rock you can take off Forestry Service land or BLM land. It’s
also a time we need to welcome our members that are snowbirds back to
Arizona. Any questions see Bill or Vicky at the October meeting.
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2019/2020 Guest Speaker Series by Carol Bankert
This season the club will host returning favorite speakers and some new
ones as well. We have one month open, so if you know of a speaker, or
would like to give a presentation, please let me know.
Here is a break down my month of the speakers and topics, if know.
October Colin Morley, club member, explorer and master
rock hound
Topic: Secrets of the Grand Canyon
November Steve Ruff PHD, ASU Associate Research Professor
Topic: Annual update on his involvement in the
NASA mars exploration
December Holiday party
January Calvin Webb, local adventurer, explorer and rock
hound enthusiast
Topic: TBD
February New Speaker: Zach Kovach, Estrella Mountain
Community College, Geology professor,
Topic: TBD
March or April New Speaker: Jeff Scovil, professional mineral
specimen photographer, associate photographer for
Mineralogical Record magazine.
Date TBD Topic: Photographing rocks and minerals
May “Farewell to snow birds” pot luck.
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2019/2020 Suggested Fun Trips
Here are some ideas for fun trips. Please let us know at our October or
November meeting if you have any interest.
October 12th West Valley Rock & Mineral club Helzarockin’ Gem &
Mineral show, Buckeye
October 26th Arizona Mining and Natural Resources and
Educational Museum, downtown Phoenix, outdoor
Stamp Mill event.
November 2nd Rock-a-Rama Gem & Mineral Show, Black Canyon
City
January 4th Flagg Mineral Foundation Gem & Mineral Show,
Mesa, AZ
January 11th Quartzsite Rock & Gem shows, Quartzsite
February Tucson Rock & Gem show, Tucson
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Fun Trip Idea Four Peaks Mining Store http://fourpeaksminingco.com/
Most Arizonans are familiar with the Four Peaks. A quick look some 40
miles east of the valley shows the highest points of the Mazatzal
Mountains, standing tall at an elevation of more than 7,000 feet.
What most Arizonans don’t know, however, is that nestled inside this
prominent landmark sits North America’s last commercial amethyst mine.
The mine, which is privately owned by Kurt Cavano, is also incredibly
inaccessible – the only way to get the precious gem out is via helicopter.
Those who work in the mine have to hike 9 miles roundtrip to get to the
location.
The Four Peaks Mining Co. Store offers a variety of the pieces that rivals
the most exclusive jewelers. But, the store isn’t just there to offer
beautiful jewels; it’s also there to educate the Valley about the mine.
They have recreated the mine in their store, it’s a carbon copy scaled to
size so guest can experience what their hardworking miners go through to
get the amethyst extracted. Also, for a limited time Odysea just across
from them is offering senior discounts. So, you could hit both places and
the butterfly exhibit is nearby too. Sounds like fun to me. – Diane Hillis
P.S. Another company does offer helicopter rides to the mine: https://www.samifinejewelry.com
to see prices and availability. This trip is quite expensive and does involve hiking.
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Membership
We had several new members sign up over the summer, so please welcome Paul Eickhoff, Mary Joseph, Cheryl Etten, Betty and Jon Hart, and Karen Krumme. Happy rockhounding! We hope to be offering Rockhound t-shirts, bags and hats soon, so be thinking about what you would like to order and we can talk about it at the October Member Meeting. Renewing members, you have until the end of January to pay your yearly dues. You can pay at any time until then for 2020. Eileen Moberg, Membership
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Sun City Rockhounds Club Membership Dues for Oct 2019 - Sept 2020 Renewal New Member Name(s) ________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ Zip Code _____________ Phone No. ________________________ Email ________________________________________ RCSC No(s) _____________________ Expiration Date (Month/Year) ________ Dues
Single $10 Couple $20
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Editor’s note: If you have any articles you would like published in our newsletter please let us know.