Gem Crafters & Explorer's Club Bulletin,

P.O. BOX 3091, Las Cruces, NM 88003

Sept. 2013 - Volume 55 Issue 8

EL GAMBRISINO

Affiliated with: Member of: Member of:

American Federation of Mineralogical Societies Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies Blue Ribbon Coalition

www.amfed.org www.rmfms.org www.sharetrails.org

2013 OFFICERS & volunteers:

President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Refreshments Historian Programs Field Trip DirectorEditorCookie Saathoff Sheri Gaines Pat Grace Brenda Gadberry Patti Pickert Don Saathoff Eric Fuller Eric Fuller Maxine Wyman 382-3464 526-7176 202-2862 202-0200 532-9351 382-3464 524-0204 524-0204 649-4900 imaginethattoo@comcast.net sheriagaines@gmail.com tony.nunez.pat@gmail.com brendagadberry@comcast.net wpickert@Q.com auagte2@comcast.net ghosthiker@gmail.com ghosthiker@gmail.com gambrisina@gmail.com

We meet on the third Friday of the month at Gardiner Hall, Room 118, NMSU campus, Las Cruces, NM at 6:30 pm for social and 7 pm for the meeting. There are no meetings in July and December. Dues are $10 per adult per year and each additional family member under eighteen is $2 per year. They are due Jan.1st of each year. A membership form will be emailed or mailed to you in December to be filled out and returned with your check to the treasurer. There are no regular committees or board meetings nor do we sponsor a show.

Our purpose shall be to gather knowledge and provide educational benefits to members on geological, archaeological, lapidary, and mineralogical topics of interest, to include assistance to members in all lapidary problems, the study and identification of minerals and gem stones in the rough, the field study of geological formations which produce minerals and gem stones, the collection of minerals and gemstones, and the exploration of any geological or archaeological topic or area which may be of interest to the membership.

NOTE: All articles and photographs are by the Editor Maxine Wyman unless otherwise noted. Any address or email changes must be sent to me at: gambrisina@gmail.com or 4680 St. Michaels, Las Cruces, NM 88011.
Permission to reprint is granted if acknowledgement is given. We reserve the right to edit all material submitted for publication

Info for the Newsletter: If you have information, articles, pictures or a website related to gem crafting, rock collecting or exploring and would like to share please give me a call at 649-4900 or email me at gambrisina@gmail.com If you have a good idea or story to tell I will be more than happy to help you write it up. Also if you have minerals, outdoor or camping equipment, etc. that you would like to sell please let me know for our FREE "Classifieds." Maxine Wyman, Editor

Gemcrafters and Explorers Club Meeting Minutes Aug. 16. 2013

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Submitted by Secretary Brenda Gadberry Speaker: Don Saathoff, usage of "Mindat": Message Board, Search Menu, User's Photo Galleries, Mineral Chatroom, Mineral Photo Search, Mindat Directory, www.mindat.org Visitors: Rotundo. The Saathoffs grandson Dominique

Program Notes Aug. 16, 2013

Our Historian, Favorite Geologist and good friend Don Saathoff gave the following program. As I was unable to attend he graciously wrote up this synopsis for us.

MINDAT & PHOTOMICROGRAPHY

By Don Saathoff For the August meeting of the Gemcrafters & Explorers Club of Las Cruces I gave a presentation which included some information on a website built some thirteen years ago by a young rockhound/ programmer/website designer, Jolyon Ralph of Great Britain. In the thirteen years of its life the site has grown to be THE go-to site for data concerning mines, minerals, collecting, trading, mineral photography, identification techniques, specimen valuation, etc., etc. It is peopled by a cadre of world-wide professionals in the science of mineralogy, world-wide dealers in specimens (though NO solicitation is allowed on the site), a world-wide group of diggers, etc., etc. none of whom are ABOVE helping the youngest newbie with questions about geology. The site is enormous! over 530,000 membercontributed images of everything from specimens of the latest fluorite find in China to the biggest Herkimer Diamond found to the newest mineral described to location photos of multi-hundreds of collecting sites. All this and navigation is superbly simple very short and shallow learning curve! If you want to know about a particular mineral just type the name into the search box labeled mineral and click on search.for that mineral from a specific locality type the locality into the location box and click search. For ALL minerals reported for a given location simply type the name of the location into the location box and click search and you will be presented with a page listing those minerals. If there is a little camera icon next to the mineral another click on the camera will take you to a contributed image of THAT mineral from THAT location. And so forth, and so on!!! This brings me to the second part of my presentation. Of the over 530,000 photos on Mindat, New Mexico is, I felt, under-represented. So far, Ive contributed around sixty mineral photos, mostly photomicrographs pictures taken through a microscope of specimens the sizes of which seldom exceeds 2 3mm. Generally speaking, the smaller a crystal is the more perfect its morphology so Cookie and I look for micros. Of the more than 2700 specimens in our collection probably one-third are New Mexico specimens so if I want to get our states mineralogy more well represented on Mindat Ive got a long way to go!!

Treasurer's Report: Raffle, $382; Total $906. (NOTE: Treasurer will report all upcoming club bills to secretary to clarify total funds before September's meeting.) Concerns: Due to low funds, several club members offered cutting spending by: 1) Giving one NMSU scholarship instead of two in 2014. 2) Purchasing radio batteries as needed instead of purchasing a large number of batteries at one time. New Business: 1) Rumor has it that funds of $300 to $400 are needed for the club's radio batteries. Rumor and cost will be confirmed along with a vote of approval in September. 2) Cookie (President) will be appointing a "Nominating Committee" to review club members for next years officer's positions. Old Business: Club voted and approved a $100 membership fee for the "Blue Ribbon Coalition". Day Trip: Al Spencer will be leading a day trip to the Stephenson-Bennett mine, August 17, 2013. Leaving Ashley's at 8:00 am. Campout: Labor Day weekend, the club will be camping at Mule Creek. Eric Fuller will be sending an email with details. Mineral Meeting: Wednesday, August 21st, gates open at 6:30pm. Topic of discussion is tetragonal minerals. If you need directions, contact Don Saathoff. Announcements: 1) September's club meeting will have a "Show & Tell" of minerals from New Mexico. 2) Tombaugh Art Gallery, 2000 S. Solano, LC, NM; Exhibit: "Bones of New Mexico", October 2013. For information call Diana LeMarbe 575-544-7708. General: Club's officers would appreciate input from the club concerning a venue for the club's 2013 Christmas Party. Keep in mind the size of our club and the cost of the venue.

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Several years ago I sold all of my Leica photo gear and bought a Meiji microscope with a third tube to accommodate a camera. Then I bought a Pentax digital camera (low end) and an adapter for the scopes third tube. This allows me the use of both objectives for stereo viewing with the camera still attached to the scope I can arrange lighting and composition for the specimen, move the prism into place to direct the image to the third tube and shoot. Since the microscope at ANY magnification has an extremely shallow depth-of-field (fractions of a mm) and some crystals are multi-mm long or vugs are several mm deep some means to extend the depth-of-field was necessary. With a camera lens you merely need to stop down the aperture but a microscope has no internal diaphragm to stop down!! SO, some brilliant software developers designed what is called stacking software originally for the astrophotographers. With this software the user takes a stack of images evenly spaced to cover the desired depth-of-field, loads them into the software and the software will align (register) the images, exclude anything out of focus and combine into one image!! How neat is that?!?! After stacking the image can be taken to any image editing software for sizing, color correction, lighting correction, etc. The stacking software I use is CombineZ and is FREEWARE. There are a couple of other packages that have gotten better reviews but they are not free (and right now I like FREE). Photoshop offers stacking capabilities but my little brain just cant handle all the bells & whistles of Photoshop.so, It is CombineZ for me.load the images, tell it to Do Stack and go get a coke (or other libation). When you get back, enjoy the Fruit of Your Labor!! And now back to Mindat. The address is www.mindat.org Google will get you there. On the home page, near the top of the page, you will see a selection of places to go which includes Message board. This will take you to pages of forums with headings like General, Scrapbook, Collecting, Rockhounds, Mineral Identification, etc., etc. Just scroll down the list till you find the forum of interest but be sure to stop at the Scrapbook forum and check out Gails Favorite of the Day. To see photos uploaded by a particular member, look at the list of links on the left-hand side of the home page for Member Content.

Some functions are not available unless you are a member and signed in so go ahead, register and sign in, it is FREE!! I want to thank Angela Peebles without those help with the college computer this program would not have been possible.

Reminders and Gen. Info:

The next meeting will be as usual on the third Friday of the month, Sept. 20th in Room 118, Gardiner Hall on the NMSU campus, 6:30 PM for socializing and 7 PM for the meeting. The speaker will be Steve Austin of Austin Jewelers here in Las Cruces. He is a gemologist, collector of rings, and antique car collector among other things. He will speak about rings and gem stones. Correction: In the last issue there was a picture in the August 2-4 Campout report that was mislabeled. It was brought to my attention at our last meeting that Als Big Rock was in reality Brecken Uhls Big Rock. In the future if anyone finds an error in the bulletin (heaven forbid) please bring it to my attention early on so that I can publish a correction. There was one field trip report turned in.

ROCK HUNTING
By Myron Gress Hit a rock Split a rock Throw it back down. Pick a rock Lick a rock Look all around. Take a rock Break a rock Your heart starts to pound. What a rock! What a rock! Its a prize you have found!

Gemcrafters and Explorers Club Joans Notes

By Joan Beyer

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Mineral Meeting 08-21-2013

The topic of discussion this month was tetragonal crystals. Most of us brought specimens and what a variety of minerals there were. Wulfenite was a favorite as there were a number of specimens from the field trip to the Stevenson-Bennett Mine the previous week. Don Saathoff wrote up the following to explain the Tetragonal System for all to read and understand:

Thanks to all the Gemcrafters & Explorers for the certificate of recognition! I'm not sure that being a living fossil is an honor, but like having permission to "leave the tiresome or boring tasks to others". However, the certificate also reminds me of my duty to "relate stories, true or imagined", so I'll try to come up with some tall tales for future bulletins. In the meantime, this was my introduction to the Club: We were newcomers to New Mexico in the summer of 1968. There had been some good rains, the desert was looking beautiful, green and blooming, and I wanted to get out and explore. About that time there was a little notice in the Sun-News (yes, in the Society Pages) saying that the Gemcrafters & Explorers Club was inviting anyone interested to join members on a day trip. Even though I wasn't particularly interested in rocks, it sounded like what I was looking for We met at the old Surplus City on North Main: Leroy and one other person in his old Scout, and me and two of our children in the family station wagon. The destination: Aleman and carnelian. Completely inexperienced in driving off the pavement, I thought the 20-plus miles of graded dirt road to Aleman was terribly rough; thought Leroy drove way too fast; was afraid of getting lost if I went too slow, and afraid of doing damage to our only car if I went too fast... total Newbie. Once we parked and started hiking around, it was like discovering a whole new world. Agate and petrified wood just lying around waiting to be picked up. Wonderful! A couple weeks later we went to the Stevenson-Bennett Mine, where the dumps were still intact and huge. Now it was crystals, colorful and perfect. Even more wonderful! To say that by that time I was hooked on rocks is an understatement...I was hooked, gaffed, netted and tossed into the boat! And happy to be there still . To be continued occasionally in later bulletins with stories of Club Characters and Adventures.

A = B (does not) = C
What does this mean?? Every discipline, be it football, basketball, oil painting, mechanics, develops a language to describe important phenomena witnessed within that discipline. 17th and 18th century philosophers (there were no geologists or mineralogists yet) needed a language to describe and communicate phenomena they witnessed as they studied crystals. They began to see commonalities between crystals of various minerals and needed a means of quantifying these commonalities. A perfect crystal of pyrite is a cube six faces, a galena crystal is a cube six faces, a crystal of apophyllite ALSO has six faces BUT IT IS NOT A CUBE. How to describe and quantify these commonalities & differences led to the language of crystallography. In the beginning only crystal faces were studied but then someone decided that the symmetry of a crystal could be better described using an imaginary set of lines running through the crystal and intersecting at the center of the crystal. These were called AXES, plural for axis and were designated a, b and c. The vertical axis is designated the c axis, the horizontal axis running left to right is the b axis and axis running front to back is the a axis. The lengths of these axes, crystal center to face surface and the angular relationship between the axes defines which crystal system the crystal falls into. SO, a = b (does not) = c means that the horizontal axis running front to back IS EQUAL IN LENGTH to the horizontal axis running left to right but IS NOT EQUAL TO THE VERTICAL AXIS. This is a characteristic of a tetragonal crystal!! The other important characteristic is that ALL axes are at right-angles to each other in the tetragonal system.

THERE ARE THREE KINDS OF MEN: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves. Will Rogers

SO, go to the pantry and grab a four-tube Saltine box, remove all the saltines, set the box on the table on its end with one saltine on the table in front of the box. There is an important commonality between the box & the single saltine. If you measure the imaginary horizontal axis front to back running through the box and then the imaginary horizontal axis running through the box left to right youll find the a & b axes equal to one another but not equal to the c axis running bottom to top (end to end if you forgot to set the box on its end). And, if you think about it, it becomes obvious

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that these axes are at right angles to each other that is if the box hasnt been smashed out of shape. Now the single saltine. The same axial relationship exists in the saltine EXCEPT that the c axis is considerably shorter than either the a or b axes. In the box the c axis is considerably LONGER than either the a or b axes but the axes in both cases are still at right angles to one another. Isnt it a lot easier to describe the tetragonal system as a = b (does not) = c and all axes are at right angles. (I guess we could also just say like a saltine box but which saltine box then becomes a problem four-tube or two-tube!!)

MORE BENCH TIPS FROM BRAD SMITH

LAYOUT TOOLS Dimensions on some features of a design can be fluid while others must be accurate for the design to work. When precision on a piece is important, good layout techniques are essential. These are the tools that I rely upon to get holes in the right place, to achieve correct angles, and to cut pieces the correct length. I like crisp sharp lines to follow, so I often coat surfaces with a dark marker and scribe my layout lines onto the metal. A square makes quick work of checking right angles or marking where to cut, and the thin center punch helps me mark a place to drill holes exactly where I want them. Finally, a good set of dividers is probably my favorite layout tool. They let me quickly mark a strip for cutting, swing an arc, and divide a line or curve into as many equal segments as I need. I keep at least one set of dividers in every toolbox. --------------------------------INVENTORY RECORD In an ideal world each of us has a complete pictorial record of all pieces of jewelry in our inventory. We use it for insurance. We use it as a record of what was sent out on consignment. We use it to remember which items we are taking to a show. And eventually, we use it as a record of what we have sold. Unfortunately, we don't always have time to take good pictures for an inventory. In situations like this I've been able to make a quick record with the help of a color copier. Simply place a number of pieces face down on the glass and make a copy. The quality is more than sufficient for an accurate record. --------------------------------------------------------------------

This Wulfenite from the Stevenson-Bennett Mine Field Trip is an example of the Tetragonal System Al Spencer specimen

Gems Their Weight

By Taylor Hunt
Gems are usually weighed in carats. A carat was originally the weight of a seed of the carob, or locust tree of the Mediterranean. Todays carat equals onefifth of a gram, about 150 carats equals one ounce. Each carat consists of 100 points. Pearls are sold by pearl grain, with four grains equaling one carat. Gems having the same size differ greatly in weight due to their density, or (properly) their specific gravity. Zircon, for example, is heavier than diamond, chiefly because of the elements of which it is composed zirconium, oxygen, and siliconwhich have greater atomic weights than the single elementcarbonof diamond. Amber is the lightest gem, cassiterite is the heaviest.

More Bench Tips by Brad Smith are at facebook.com/BenchTips/ or see the book "Bench Tips for Jewelry Making" on Amazon

Via HyGrader, 05-1997 Via Pick- Hammer News 03-2013

Gemcrafters and Explorers Club Safety Note: Keep Benadryl in your........

By Owen Martin, AFMS Safety Chair

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Ok, first as a disclaimer I am not solely endorsing Benadryl - any similar generic or pharmacy brands with the same active ingredient (Diphenhydramine) are helpful. But as to the point of the discussion... As many of you know I work as a safety manager for an oil field services company. Over the last few weeks we were lucky enough to have a good bit of rain at one of our facilities in South Texas, an area that is usually really dry this time of year. The result was the flowering of many types of plants that are typically in some state of dormancy during the dry times. And along with the flowers came the BEES! They werent exactly swarming, but they still seemed to be everywhere. To that point over the past week weve had three employees stung by bees at the facility. Luckily none of these employees had strong allergic reactions to the stings, but it did make us reevaluate how we respond to such situations. We do have an employee at the site who is allergic to bees and as a result has an Epi pen in case he is stung; however Epi pens require a doctors prescription so I cant stock up any in our First Aid kits. So as an alternative we stock Benadryl in our kits and offer it to employees if they are stung. Keep in mind that Diphenhydramine will not prevent or stop anaphylaxis (allergic shock) like an Epi pen however it can delay the onset or otherwise mitigate symptoms of a bee sting. By delaying the onset of anaphylaxis First Responders can be afforded more time to react to any shock symptoms. This extra time can save lives! Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death. It typically causes a number of symptoms including an itchy rash, throat swelling, and low blood pressure. Common causes include insect bites/stings, foods, and medications. My recommendation is that you all consider stocking liquid Diphenhydramine in your medicine cabinets and First Aid kits. This is especially important for those of us who like to spend a lot of time in the field.

Kunzite: In the Pink

Kunzite, the pale pink to lilac gem variety of the mineral spodumene, is named as a tribute to George Kunz, the legendary gem scholar, gemologist, and gem buyer for Tiffany & Co at the turn of the century. The author of The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, Kunz searched the globe for old stories and legends about gems as he searched for new varieties and new deposits. Kunzite was first found in Connecticut, USA. But the first commercially significant deposit was discovered in 1902 in the Pala region of California, where morganite beryl was also first discovered. Kunzite is often found in association with morganite and pink tourmaline, the other popular pink gemstones. Today most kunzite is mined in Brazil, Afghanistan, and Madagascar. The largest faceted kunzite is an 880 CT specimen on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. Although kunzite for jewelry use is several levels of magnitude smaller, kunzite shows the best color in larger sizes. Stones should be at least ten carats to be really in the pink. Kunzite is relatively hard, with a hardness of seven just like quartz. However, kunzite should be handled with care because, like diamond, it has a distinct cleavage that means a sharp blow, if it lands in the wrong place, can break it in two. Kunzite should also be protected from heat and continued exposure to strong light, which can gradually fade its color. From The Sierra Pelanogram, 6/03 Via The Rock Collector Oct. 2003

THE LAW OF PROBABILITY The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

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Dendrites vs Moss Agates: Orbicular Jasper vs Polka Dot Agate

We are usually delighted but not surprised to find inclusions in crystals, eg, quartz of one color or another, rutile, sagenite 'stars'. The appearance of inclusions in microcrystalline varieties of quartz, however, has a mysterious ambiance that brings out the name-making propensities of collectors. When our vision of in-clusions is obscured, our imagination takes hold. Chalcedony (clear to cloudy), agates (clear but usually banded), and jasper (opaque) are all variations of silica oxides, with hardness between 6 and 7, which makes them very suitable for polishing. They may all have included material and the nature of the inclusion is dictated by the composition of the host rock material and the manner of rock formation. Dendritic chalcedony and moss agate are terms or names frequently applied to the same material. They are basically similar, but dendrites can form not only in chalcedony and agate, but also on limestone and soapstone and some sandstones. The dendrites, so called from the Greek Dendron, or tree, are branching structures of mainly manganese and irons oxides, in or on the host material. Dendrites occur in many places in the world, basically wherever water rich in oxides flows across rocks. The dendrites form on a surface and are two dimensional, like snowflakes or frost crystals on a windowpane. If the rock is chalcedony, the dendrite forms on the surface, but more chalcedony may entomb it. The dendrites are usually earthy, black, brown, reddish, but near Four Corners, in the eastern Mojave, near the junction of highway 58 & highway 395, rockhounds reputedly find blue. The 'mosses' of moss agate, not organic material at all but chlorite or celadonite, are visible impurities in the agate. Scientists attempt to distinguish between the two by determining, if possible, whether the dendrite/ moss or the mineral rock formed first. The moss forms while the chalcedony is still gel-like and can then form three dimensional shapes within the stone. Moss agate, also widely distributed, can be a variety of colors, green, black, white, yellow, red,

orange, and tan. It is widely used in jewelry, and polishes beautifully, if care is taken not to cut into and pluck the moss. Multi-colored balls can appear in rhyolite flows. Rhyolite is finegrained igneous rocks that, if it contains sufficient silica to take a brilliant polish, and is sometimes called jasper. Orbicular matl. usually appears as a mass of rhyolite that has silicated. As the rhyolite cools, sometimes excess silica starts to precipitate out of the magma, forming spherical balls. The ball shape is the form that any extremely concentrated silica (cristobalite) takes, as opposed to the crystal from in dilute concentrations. However, any material that by composition or consistency is immiscible (not mixable) with the host magma will also form balls. Regional metamorphism can also form orbicular jaspers. We hear names like Rainforest Jasper from Australia, Leopard skin Jasper from Mexico, Poppy Jasper from California, and Ocean Jasper from Madagascar. We may find one color surrounding another, or bands of balls, or veils of lighter colors staining the background. Polka Dot Agate from Oregon has iron rich spheres floating in snowy extremely fine-grained jasper, along with veils of golden brown. This material is so fine-grained it is almost chert, and resembles porcelain. The rockhound distinction of jasper and chert is; if its attractive, its jasper; if its dull, its chert. Some jasper represents replaced limestone or dolostone, some occurs as nodules, and sometimes it is part of the gangue of mineral deposits by hydrothermal or metasomatic processes. Agates are translucent and usually banded, with sub vitreous luster; jasper is opaque with a dull to pearly luster; to a rockhound jasp-agate is a fine mixture of these beautiful oxides. Source: Calumet Gem, via PGGS Petrograph 6/03, via Golden Spike News 7/06 via Strata Gem Via MOROKS 06/13

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STEVENSON-BENNETT FIELD TRIP 8-17-2013

By Al Spencer Photos by Alan Gadberry This is my version of the day trip to Stevenson-Bennett th on Sat. the 17 of Aug. Hot, Hot, Hot, Gnats, Bugs, Gnats, Hot, Bug Spray, Gnats in my ear, Bug Spray, Hot, Hot, Swallowed some f'in Bug, Up the Hill, Hot, More Bugs, Bugs in my Lungs, Down the Hill, Hotter, Hotter, What do these bugs want in my nose?? Up the Hill, Really HOT, Rocks, Bugs, Down the Hill....and so it was!!!! And now the good news, at 8:30 am about 15 club members met Alan Gadberry who had arranged with the local rancher to unlock the access gate to the mine road and we caravanned up to the base of the mine. That saves a one to two mile hike in from Baylor Canyon Road and a grueling hike back out with a bag full of rocks. So.......THANK YOU ALAN! This location is not an easy hike!!! It was hot already by 9 am. And the bugs were thirsty! Some members left immediately (which might have been the wisest choice), some took the longer hike around the side of the mountain into oblivion??? Some proceeded up the mountain to the main dump from the mine shaft which contains wulfenite, aragonite, quartz and lots of cauliflower calcite. Bill and Patty Pickert, Brecken, Ilene and myself all gathered nice specimens of wulfenite...while Jim and Brecken also found fluorite, and the calcite there is awesome , not to mention the multitude of micros, and beeping rocks full of Silver?? I think everyone will agree that this location is a challengebut will reward those who work at it with some fine specimens......lets try it again ...when there is snow on the Mountain. Top......ie. NO BUGS or HEAT.

See the tiny dots on the trail? See next picture

Brecken & Julie Uhl, Brenda Gadberry and ?

Al giving some pre-dig advice

Xifo!dboojcbmt!buf!b!njttjpobsz-!uifz!hpu!b! ubtuf!pg!sfmjhjpo/! !

Gemcrafters and Explorers Club UP COMING SHOW Dates:

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AUG/SEPT 31-2SILVER CITY, NEW MEXICO: 30th Annual Gem & Mineral Show; Grant County Rolling Stones; Business & Conference Center; 3031 US Hwy. 180 E; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-5, Mon. 10-4; free admission; daily field trips, local geology and mining history trips, mineral displays; contact Lee Stockman, 16 McKinley St., Silver City, NM 88061; e-mail: rollingstonesgmsshow@gmail.com ; Web site: www.rollingstonesgms.blogspot.com SEPT 7TULSA, OKLAHOMA: 9th annual Indian Nations Artifact and Fossil Show; Harvey Shell, Willard Elsing Museum; Mabee Center, Oral Roberts University; 7777 S. Lewis; Sat. 8-5; adults $5, children free; contact Harvey Shell, 4320 W. 43 St., Tulsa, OK 74107, (918) 446-9278; e-mail: harvesims@hotmail.com SEPT 13-15DENVER, COLORADO: Annual show; Greater Denver Area Gem & Mineral Council; Denver Merchandise Mart; 451 E. 58th Ave., I-25, Exit 215; Fri. 9-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $6, seniors and students $4, children free with adult; Tourmaline theme, Colorado Fossil Expo, dealers, speakers, demonstrations, shuttle to satellite shows, free gem and mineral identification, Mr. Bones, kids' activities, gold panning; contact Larry Havens, Greater Denver Area Gem & Mineral Council, c/o Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Box 4, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, CO 80205-5798, (303) 233-2516; e-mail: info@denvermineralshow.com ; Web site: www.denvermineralshow.com OCT 4-6ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO: Annual show; Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club; NM St. Fairgrounds, Creative Arts Center; 300 San Pedro NE; Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; free admission; 65 dealers, gems, minerals, fossils, meteorites, jewelry, cut stones, crystals, books, equipment, tools; contact Amy Penn, 2324 Alvarado Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110, (505) 883-4195; email: amypenn246@gmail.com ; Web site: www.agmc.info OCT 12-13SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA: 39th Annual Show; Huachuca Mineral & Gem Club; Cochise College; 901 N. Colombo Ave.; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; free admission; raffle, silent auction, gems, jewelry, lapidary supplies, fluorescent display, geode cutting; contact Maudie Bailey, 5036 S. San Carlos Ave., Sierra Vista, AZ 85650, (520) 249-1541; e-mail: gmbailey@msn.com ; Web site: www.huachucamineralandgemclub.info NOV 2-3OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Biennial Show; Oklahoma Mineral & Gem Society; Oklahoma State Fair Park; Modern Living Bldg.; Sat. 9-6, Sun. 9-5; adults and students (13 and up) $6, children (12 and under) free; displays, minerals, gems, jewelry, fossils, fluorescent room, children's activities, dealers, finished jewelry, beads, gemstones, rough rock, slabs, mineral specimens, geodes, equipment, supplies, demonstrations, silver smithing, beading, cutting and polishing rocks and gems, wire wrapping, jewelry making, flint knapping, metal engraving, silent auction, door prizes; contact Dale Moore, 12352 Spring Circle, Guthrie, OK 73044, (405) 834-0765; e-mail: halffull101-omgs2@yahoo.com DEC 6-8EL PASO, TEXAS: Annual show; El Paso Mineral & Gem Society; El Maida Auditorium; 6331 Alabama; Fri. 106, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults and students $3, seniors $2, children (under 12) free; gems, minerals, fossils, beads, jewelry, tools, books, equipment, geode cutting, silent auction, demonstrations; contact Jeannette Carrillo, 4100 Alameda Ave., El Paso, TX 79905, (877) 533-7153; e-mail: gemcenter@aol.com JAN 1-28QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA: Wholesale and retail show; Desert Gardens RV Park; Desert Gardens RV Park; 1064 Kuehn St., I-10 Exit 17; Daily 10-6; free admission; Arkansas quartz crystals, rough and polished minerals, fossils, jewelry, gifts, lapidary equipment; contact Sharon (manager), 1055 Kuehn St., Quartzsite, AZ 85346, (928) 927-6361; e-mail: info@desertgardensrvpark.net ; Web site: www.desertgardensrvpark.net FEB 13-16TUCSON, ARIZONA: Annual show; Tucson Gem & Mineral Society; Tucson Convention Center; 260 S. Church Ave.; Thu. 10-6, Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $10, seniors and active military get $2 off on Fri., children (under 14) free; contact TGMS Staff, PO Box 42588, Tucson, AZ 85733, (520) 322-6031; e-mail: tgms@tgms.org ; Web site: www.tgms.org

For further information or shows please check: www.rockngem.com Who knows, there just might be a good rock show in the area of your travels.

A Thought to Ponder: IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY? Some Interesting Web Sites for you to Check Out
think others might be interested in and I will pass them along.

Please send me any of your favorites that you

Heres a survival technique for you How to start a fire with water sent in by LeRoy Unglaub. http://videos.komando.com/watch/3750/viral-videos-start-a-fire-with-only-a-bottle-ofwater?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=tvkim&utm_content=2013-08-07-article-title-a