celebrating 75 years! hard rock news · 2015. 2. 28. · february birthstone -amethyst amethyst,...
TRANSCRIPT
Hard Rock News
Kitsap Mineral and Gem Society
Elected Officers for 2014
President:
Leslie Wing
(360) 275-5247
Vice President:
Bryan Tallman
(360) 432-0414
Secretary:
Danielle Foss
(360) 621-5603
Treasurer:
Shaina Schackmann
(360) 286-1545
President’s Message 1
Junior’s program, refresh-ments, & Feb. birthstone
2
Board mtg., Annual Mem-ber’s Sale, Hard Rock beaders, Vangie’s wire wrapping workshop
3
Meeting Minutes for the January meeting
4
Field trip report, WDFW information
5
Walkie-Talkie article, up-coming rock shows
6
Jewelry Bench Tips 7
Looking forward to Febru-ary and beyond; Editor Contact Info
8
Inside this issue:
We have another new month with lots of things to do, rocks to polish, or beading to be done, or wire-wrapping that favorite stone. Do not forget to prepare for the member sale for the February meet-ing. We will have an informal meeting and the hall
will be set up with tables so that you can bring stuff to sell. This is not our annual auction That happens in May, but this month is an oppor-tunity for you to bring in some items that you want to sell - things like rough rocks or polished rocks or jewelry that you have made out of those rocks. Bring any lapidary, mineral, or fossil-related item that you want to bring in that you think the members would like to purchase. I have bought some nice rough rock at this sale and I have sold several of my wire-wrapped jewelry there also. So bring in what you have and see if it sells. I thought that the program for January was very good. The introduc-tions were a good thing so that everyone got to know who we are and what we do. Those that left early missed a good meeting. It is so nice to have a full board of officers; folks who can give me ideas. Thanks Brian for the program idea for January. We will be anxious to hear more ideas. If you folks have program ideas talk to Brian Tallman, our vice president. He is our program specialist this year, and I am glad to have him onboard. Tony is our field trip chairman, and a past president, so he knows the places to go. We hope to keep our meetings interesting for all so we invite you one and all to come to our meetings and share a story with your friends. There has to be a story about that rock you were polishing and it broke/fell off the dop, or you dropped it off the table onto the concrete floor. Or even better, share the story of the one that really worked out when you bring it to our display table so we all can see it.
A Message From Our President, Leslie Wing:
Celebrating 75 Years!
February 2014 http://www.kmgs.org
Leslie Wing
“Green” Hard Rock News
Is it time to change to electronic copy of the Hard Rock News? Remember it costs
$1.03 for each newsletter mailed out, and that doesn’t include the driving in-
volved or folding, stamping and labeling. We print 10 newsletters a year. Dues
are $10 a year, that means the club loses $.30 per member a year to mail newslet-
ters. The rest of your dues goes to the USPS, Staples and UPS.
During this time of energy awareness, isn’t it time you went GREEN?
If you wish to change to email only, just send email to [email protected] -
editor
PAGE 2 HARD ROCK NEWS FEBRUARY 2014
February Meeting News:
The February General Meeting will be held on Friday, February 14th at 7:00 PM in the
basement day care center (entrance in the back) of Chico Alliance Church 3670 Chico Way NW
Bremerton, Washington.
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Juniors: The KMGS Juniors will have a fun Valentine's Day craft. The leader will be Bobbie Sack. Hope to see you there!
Refreshment Rotation for 2014
We rely on our club members to provide snacks for our General Meetings.
For this month: If the first letter of your last name begins with an “J”, “K”, or “L” , you will be responsi-
ble for bringing refreshments for the February meeting.
The entire year’s listing is shown below:
January “A”, “D” and “V”
February “J”, “K” and “L”
March “M” and “N“
April “C”, “G” and “W”
May “H”, “I” and “Z”
June “E” and “F”
July and August—No Meetings– KMGS Picnic
/Potluck in July
September “B”, “X”, and “Y”
October “S”, “T”, “U”
November “O”, “P”, “Q” and “R” and anyone that was inadvertently missed earlier in the year
December—Christmas Potluck
We encourage finger food that can be placed on a napkin. We also encourage healthy snacks as well as those yum-
my treats that we are all used to having at the meeting! The club provides the beverages. Remember that when it
is your month to bring refreshments, you need to plan to help with set-up and clean-up in the kitchen for
that meeting. Any questions you may have can be addressed to Karen Eslava, our new Refreshment chair-
person.
February birthstone - Amethyst
Amethyst, the gemstone believed by ancient Greeks and Romans to ward off the intoxicating powers of Bacchus, also is said to keep the wearer clear-headed and quick-witted. Throughout history, the gemstone has been asso-ciated with many myths, legends, religions, and numerous cultures. English regalia were even decorated with amethysts during the Middle Ages to symbolize royalty. Amethyst is purple quartz, a beautiful blend of violet and red that can found in every corner of the earth. Historically, the finest amethysts were found in Russia and were featured in much royal European jewelry. Today, while Brazil is the primary source of this gemstone, fine materi-al can be found elsewhere, especially in Zambia. - See more at: http://www.americangemsociety.org/
HARD ROCK NEWS FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 3
Board Meeting:
The next Board Meeting will be on Thursday February 20th at 7pm at the Chico Alliance
Church, in the Juniors Activity room. All Members are encouraged to attend board meetings
and participate.
Program & Display Table:
There will be no display table for February. The Program is the “Annual Members Sale”.
Annual Members Sale:
February brings us our Annual Members Sale. This sale is for all members to sell what you
bring. Anything lapidary related can be sold at this event. If you are planning to sell and want
a table, please show up early to claim your spot. All members are encouraged to participate,
by either bringing in items or material to sell or coming to shop among all the goodies sup-
plied by our members.
Some suggested items for you to bring to the sale:
Lapidary equipment
Rough material, including faceting rough
Slabbed rocks
Crystal/mineral specimens
Fossil specimens
Finished jewelry including pendants, rings, belt buckles, bolo ties, earrings, etc.
Shelf specimens including petrified wood, polished agates,
Vangie’s Wire Wrapping Workshop
Vangie Mayton is still hosting a (free) monthly wire-wrapping workshop.
This workshop meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month at Vangie’s
house. Bring your Ott Lite (or similar) along if you need stronger lighting
than normal room lighting. The next workshop is February 25th at 10 am.
You can come just to watch or you can try your hand at wire wrapping.
Please call for directions on how to get to her place. Phone: 360-373-3370.
The Hard Rock Beaders
The Beaders will meet at the Vintage Apartments’ Craft Room, 3291 NW Mount Vintage Way, Silverdale, the large yellow buildings above Target. Park in any un-numbered spot or in the upper parking lot.
We will all meet in the main entrance at 6:30 pm, Wednesday, February 5th. If you're running late, just call Glenda at 360-286-9035 and she'll come meet you in the lobby.
Go SEAHAWKS!
HARD ROCK NEWS FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 4
January Meeting Minutes
Leslie called the meeting to order with the pledge of allegiance. Visitors were introduced. 6 new visitors tonight, Millard and Brennan Gouge, Wendy Daum, Connie Miller, and Tom and Elaine Hub-bard and also Gage and Wendy Durig! There is a junior program announced by Bobbie Sack. The badge box was passed around. New officers were introduced along with the familiar ones.
We jumped right into the show and tell table. Tony takes it away, and reminds us that volunteers are always needed for meetings. Tony discusses the scholarship program and how meetings nor-mally go. The club likes to support and promote programs for the kids. Feel free to bring what you would like to show at the show and tell times for meetings as well as what is asked for. Tony talks about all the positive things about the club and all the different types and ways to use rock and make things such as jewelry, intarsia, etc. etc.
The floor was opened up for show and tell. Leslie told a story about a very large amethyst a fellow church member gave to him and showed a nice necklace from that amethyst. Jack Eads had some coon hides that he gets sometimes from road kills. He will also take coyotes and a few other creatures. He talks about rock hounding in his back yard. He had some interesting pieces that he donated to the raffle table. He discussed briefly how he tans hides. He will sell the hides. The Schoomakers, had some nice cabs to show, carnelian agates, twin rivers rocks, and a nice bracelet with a very pretty stone and some good memories of their son. Leslie brought a necklace he made with some leftover tumbled pieces. Garry Mahan brought some intarsia, a nice diamond patterned piece he wants to put into the top of a jewelry box, a nice wire wrapped piece or two, and amethyst stalactites. Jim McClure talked about a Portuguese cut amethyst he got from the show last November that he did, some faceted stones done with various facet pattern examples, some smokey quartz Portuguese cut. Eric Foss talked about going to Ireland and finding Flint on the beach, identified later by a local Irishman who turned out to be a rockhound and jeweler. He gave the Foss’s some amber used for smoking pipes and some local Irish marble from Connemara, during the trip they saw the Giants Causeway, and the cliffs of Moher. Jim Crooks shared some stones that were personal to him and had some stories behind them, he had apache tears. Bryan Tallman had some rocks he got in Georgia after some tough negotiations with his daughter. Break time for the silent auction and snacks.
Leslie brought everyone back after the raffle for some announcements, the November show will be focused on each month. There are various ways to stay in the loop with the club including the website and our new Facebook page. The Kitsap County Fair needs some focus. It has been slowly declining the last few years so as a reminder, please consider volunteering your time for this. It is always a fun time. There will be a picnic in July on Saturday the 12
th this year at
Raab park in Poulsbo. There’s always a great BBQ and fun times. Membership sale is next meeting in February there is always jewelry and equipment for sale and rough materials. Randy Eggert was missed in the show and tell, he has some lovely sunstones to show with some nice faceting examples, he discussed where he digs them and how, it’s about 13 hours from here, 50 miles from Lakeview.
Tony moved the meeting on to discuss the Mineral council responsibilities and meetings. It is an important part of keep-ing the hobby alive. Field Trips will be announced on the website and Facebook. We always need volunteers and help-ers for trips. Please contact Tony Schackmann if you would like to help. Always remember that there are various rules to abide by with each area depending on what entity oversees the land and management of the rockhounding areas and we should always practice good rockhounding etiquette.
On to the program tonight: Each member talked about the hobby and their interest in it. Bryan Tallman introduced him-self and talked about his love of rocks his whole life. He brought various rocks home from Singapore and Hong Kong and various other places while in the Navy. He makes cabs and has an interest in carving. He loves rocks! Leslie passed the mic and each member talked about their interests in rocks and what they do in the hobby. Some folks like sunstones. Our young visitor Brennan Gouge talked about his interest in rocks and earth science, some folks have visit-ed sites with dinosaur bones and many different fossils, some are here to meet new people and many love almost ANY kind of rock! Some of our members have been in the club since they were little kids and have always had a deep inter-est in the hobby. Many folks have fun rockhounding memories and adventures to share. A lot of members join because of their kids’ interest in the hobby and end up staying in the club for years. Elaine Hubbard as well as a few of the other visitors spoke about how they enjoyed the November show. Many people enjoy tumbling stones and faceting, wire wrapping, and just collecting, there are so many diverse interests! Linda Schadel is one of the club’s main beaders and enjoys basket weaving along with the cabs and beads and does some really beautiful work. Nathan Schackmann does flint knapping and has tried many other aspects of the hobby. Howard does carvings with an interest in ancient art. Our new treasurer Shaina Schackmann has gone hunting for Holly Blue agate and loves shiny stuff! Tony says he’s here for the people. Doug Leider got involved in the club because of his son 22 years ago and has been here ever since and believes that a club is only as good as its volunteers. We are all from different walks of life but here we are enjoying the hobby together. Leslie wraped up the meeting by recognizing the mentors in the club. It was a great night hearing about everyone’s interests!
Your new Secretary, Danielle Foss
Danielle Foss, secretary
FEBRUARY 2014 HARD ROCK NEWS PAGE 5
Facebook Page for KMGS: https://www.facebook.com/KitsapMineralandgemsociety .
Beware that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is changing rules affecting our hobby
The following information was received from the Resources Coalition, via Jack Eads. Unfortunately the infor-mation was received after the January newsletter deadline. However, the Resources Coalition is fighting for the same things that we as rockhounds/gem hunters are fighting for, so please take note:
WDFW Commission Meeting
Friday, January 10, 2014, The WDFW Commision received a brief on the changes being proposed to the Mineral Prospecting rules as part of the Hydraulic Code Rulemaking. Originally, this brief was scheduled for February but was moved forward to be incorporated in a brief requested by Commissioner Mahnken on "how the agency regulates mineral prospecting". The Summary of Staff's Brief on the proposed rule changes can be read via this link. So far, there is no summary available related directly to Commissioner Mahnken's requested brief. As a reminder that this brief is on what are DRAFT rules and do not reflect any changes that may take place as a result of public comments. Some of those concerns as well as the current draft language can be read in the Summary. While the individual rules are not open for discussion (they are only Draft), the pro-cess, lack of science, manipulated studies all are. The only period to openly comment on the brief is at 8:45 am on January 10th or 8:30 am on the 11th.
Public Comment period Closed
The public comment period for providing comments on the Draft PEIS closed on December 13, 2013. WDFW is reviewing and addressing all of the comments received. Agencies, affected tribes, and members of the public are invited to review and comment on the revised pro-posed rules during the next and final public comment period. WDFW anticipates that this public comment period will be in spring, 2014.
Beaver Valley (Port Townsend) Field Trip
Our club joined the Mineral Council for their January field trip to Beaver Valley. Frank Siranni, and his son Sean, Eva Summers, Amy Summers, and Grandson Julian Leigh, Kathy and Woody Woodside were the members from our club that attended. Rockhounds from as far away as Amboy came for the trip, although we represented about half the total. The Beaver Valley quarry is especially noted for native copper, Zeolites, and colourful chert. A young man from Amboy found a small piece of native copper, a large number of zeo-lites in geodes were found, some of which were lined with a druzy of black crystal with a sprinkling of larger clear rounded edge crystals about 1/4" in size. Quite of a few pieces of the colorful chert were found, but nothing of any size, since the quarry has not been blasted in quite some time. The day was just about perfect weather wise, being warm to cool, no rain, and clear. We seldom get weather this nice for a field trip in Janu-ary.
Woody Woodside
HARD ROCK NEWS FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 6
Got Walkie-Talkies?
Though it will be a little more safe when everyone has a CB radio in their back-road vehicle, the little hand-held 2-way remains the most important communication tool when out in the field. They are extremely useful if you get separated from the pack while driving, if you walk off and get lost, or if you fall and need help.
The following link will let you have a quick look and the link will let you look at individual models.
http://walkie-talkie-review.toptenreviews.com/
Remember transmission distance is line of sight. A hill will block signals.
The above information was received from Kathy Reimers and was provided to her by an AZ rock hunting group.
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February/March 2014 “local” rock shows
Febru-
ary 8-9
Sat 9-5
Sun 9-4
Whidbey Island Gem Club
Sweetheart of Gems – 49th Annual
Show
Free admission Member exhibits,
demonstrations, dealers, rough and fin-
ished rock and gems, slabs, silent auc-
tion, door prizes, raffle, spinning wheel.
Oak Harbor Senior Cen-
ter
51 SE Jerome Street
Oak Harbor, WA
Keith Ludemann
360-675-1837
Febru-
ary 14-
16
Fri 9:30-
5:30
Sat 9:30-
5:30
Sun 9:30-
5:30
OAMS at OMSI
Oregon Agate and Mineral Society
Free admission
Oregon Museum of Sci-
ence and Industry/OMSI
1945 SE Water Avenue
Portland OR 97214
Sonia Watt
Email: [email protected]
or
Jim Urbaniak
Email: nygi-
4821 Grant Street
Portland OR 97215
Website
Febru-
ary 22-
23
Sat 10-6
Sun 10-5
Idaho Gem Club - Annual Show
Adults $3.00 12 years and younger free
Expo Idaho
5610 Glenwood
Boise, ID 83714
Brent Smith
208-342-1151
March 1
– 2
Sat 10-6
Sun 10-5
East Kingco Rock and Gem Show - Free
admission and parking.
Dealers, demonstrations, kid’s activities,
raffle, door prizes, silent auction, food
and fun
Pickering Barn
1730 10th Ave NW
Issaquah, WA 98027
Across from Costco
Robin Feiner
206 579 8448
PO Box 2203
Redmond, WA 98703
Web Site
March 7-
9
Fri 9-5
Sat 9-5
Sun 10-5
Tualatin Valley Gem Club
Rock and Mineral Show
Admission: $1.00 12 & under free
Washington Co. Fairplex
873 NE 34th Avenue
Hillsboro OR 97124
Mitch Metcalf
503 726 9168 presi-
www.TVRGC.org
Here’s WisHing everyone
a Happy 2014 valentine’s Day!
PAGE 7 FEBRUARY 2014 HARD ROCK NEWS
MODIFYING PLIERS Sometimes a few changes to your tools can significantly improve productivity and quali-ty at the same time. Stock tools can be customized and improved using standard jewelry skills. Here's an example: Making jump rings and weaving them into chainmaile designs involves a lot of opening and closing of the rings. I typically use two square jaw pliers to do this, one for each hand. But sometimes the rings would slip out of the pliers, getting scratched, and requiring extra cleanup time. I solved the problem by forming a groove at the end of the jaw that would grasp the ring gently without scratching it. Use a triangular file or cutoff disk to cut the grooves about 1.5 mm back from the tip. Then to make the grooves round so they grasp the wire without distorting it, close the jaws and run a drill through the opening formed by the two rough grooves. Start with a small drill and follow up with a drill just slightly smaller than the wire size you want to grip. In my case that was 14 gauge wire, so I chose a #53 drill. Finally, polish the grooves with a rubberized disk. MANAGING PRODUCTION Many readers of these BenchTips sell their jewelry at shows, in galleries or online. They are sole proprietors and constantly under pressure to design new pieces and make enough product to keep up with demand. So their options are few when a large order comes in. They can burn the midnight oil themseves, or they can be smart and get some temporary help. But you need good help, and you often need it fast. Jewelry assemblers are skilled, trustworthy and reliable craftsmen who make it their business to help others handle overloads and meet deadlines. Flexible arrangements are possible, working by the job, by the hour or by the piece. Each has a different mix of skills, from fabrication to enameling, casting, stonesetting, lapidary and others. Assemblers are known to the trade, so you may have to ask around to find some refer-ences. But some assemblers advertise on the Net. For instance, a good friend of mine, Janice Metz <[email protected]>, has been working with designers and fabricators in the West Los Angeles area since 1997. She specializes in silversmithing, wire-wrapping, beading and stringing. Get all of Brad's bench tips in "Bench Tips for Jewelry Making" on Amazon
Jewelry Bench Tips for February 2014
Editor Contact Information: Garry Mahan
[email protected] Phone: (360) 871-2815
6162 E. Beaver Creek Rd, Port Orchard, WA 98366
Deadline for March, 2014 Newsletter is
February 23, 2014
Save Those Stamps
“The Hard Rock News” is the Official Publication of the Kitsap Mineral and Gem Society. Meetings are held at 7:00 PM on the second Friday of most months at Chico Alliance Church Daycare (entrance in the back). Address: 3670 Chico Way NW, Bremerton, Washington.
The object of the Society is to provide a general dissemination of knowledge pertaining to the earth sciences; to sponsor regular meetings and field trips for the benefit of the membership and to be helpful along these general lines to one another. The Society is social and educational in character.
The February meeting will consist of a few announcements and then the annual members sale. During this sale the
KMGS members bring in lapidary, mineral, or fossil-related items they would like to sell.
The KMGS annual auction is coming up in May. This is a good time to get things ready for that event.
There will be a picnic on July 12th
(Saturday) this year at Raab park in Poulsbo.
Feel free to contact me if you want to put an announcement in the newsletter. Keep in mind the monthly deadline and that the newsletter usually arrives around the beginning of each
month, so plan your announcement according-ly. Contact information is at left. - Editor
February 2014
PO Box 3342 Silverdale, Washington 98383-3342
HARD ROCK NEWS
TO:
Looking Forward to February and Beyond... Update Your Home Calendars!