VOLUME 53, ISSUE 1 JANUARY, 2015 © 2015 RIMH

NO CLUB MEETINGS DURING JANUARY

OR FEBRUARY

A NEW YEAR!MORE TREASURERS!

The New Year brings only dreams of rock hunting as snow blankets the frozen ground. It is the time of year where I both reflect on the past year and look forward to the future. The past year has brought the club to a better secure financial position than we have been in a very long time. Our membership has grown considerably with a host of new memberships bringing with it the influx of new and younger people eager to both help and have fun.Our educational outreach group has met with scores of young scouts and we have a very successful ongoing geology course for home schoolers thanks to the endeavors of Jen Davis and Chris Tremblay.Our mineral show was a success with over 1200 people attending which is a testament to the hard work that all the executive members put in to make it so. I would particularly like to thank Don Fail who, as show coordinator, did an incredible job getting and dealing with the vendors. Not an easy job. Thanks Don (and Kathy his wife).At our mineral show we gave a $1000 scholarship to a very grateful young woman from the geology department at the University of Rhode Island. It was a joy to witness and I know we will get many more applications now that the word has gotten out.Thanks to Joel Russo, our field trip coordinator, club members went to several new quarries and we saw many more members participate in field trips than ever before. We also have been seeing well over 40 members per general meeting and I know everyone enjoyed the various speakers that we had. It was nice to see the new members welcomed by all us old timers. And it was fun seeing youngsters at our meeting.All this being said (and whatever I left out) I remember that my job is a little different as president of the club. I can’t just think about what exciting rocks I might find, what interesting talks I will hear, or even all the fossils I will get to collect!

I have to think about the mundane, the nitty-gritty, the behind the scenes running of the organization. Things like the budget, the bills, the deadlines, but more than that, the future and where we as a club want to go or even must go.Growth brings its own set of issues and I must say I’d rather have issues dealing with success than with failure. One of these issues being that we are out growing the space that we use at CCRI at least for our auction and maybe in the future for our general meetings. Thanks to Tony Cesana we have a place for our April auction, the VFW hall in Johnston, RI. I think it will be a great place to hold our growing auction and when the time comes all the details will be sent out to our members and friends.Thinking further ahead than some would think wise, I believe we as a club have to look into getting a place of our own, a permanent home where we can have our meetings, have talks and seminars, give classes, and maybe even have our auction. It would give us a more secure future not subject to the whims of the market place, (the cost of renting space goes up yearly) and a place identifiable to the general public. I will be putting some of my efforts in pursuing this idea by researching grants, writing letters, talking to people and groups, and anything else pursuant to this task. Of course I will continue to do all my other duties too (hopefully very well).I am looking forward most of all to doing the best job that I can and to getting out there and as you all know, smashing and banging rocks, the thing that I do best!Happy New Year!

Steve Emma, RIMH President

VOLUME 51, ISSUE 1 JANUARY, 2013 © 2013 RIMHRhode Island Mineral Hunters, Inc.

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Executive Board meets at 7 PMon the 1st Tuesday of the month.

January 6th, 7 PMMeeting will be at: Steve Emma’s house

Call Steve at: 401-751-5215February 3rd, 7 PM

Meeting will be at: location TBA

Unless otherwise noted, ALL general club meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of the month at CCRI, Warwick, room 1130 at 7 PM. General club meetings are open to the public.

Please check the RIMH website regularly as times and locations are subject to change.

Volume 53, Issue 1 Bowen-Lite January, 2015

Date: March 10th at 7:00 PMPlace: CCRI (Community College of RI) 400 East St., Rt. 113, Warwick, RIRoom: 1130Speaker: TBA

NO RIMH CLUB MEETINGS DURING JANUARY AND FEBRUARY!

OUR NEXT MEETING RIMH FIELD TRIPS

No field trips are scheduled at the moment. Want a great time? Plan on attending the BMC mineral auction.

2015 BMC Auction Saturday, January 10th

American Legion Post 440 295 California St., Newton, MA

The auction is an all-day event and you don’t have to be a member of the BMC to attend. If you’ve never attended one of their auctions you need to know several things.There will be over 200 lots / flats of minerals and other goodies available for the silent auction and over 100 lots of high quality specimens in the voice auction. Typically there are some great bargains available.Mike Haritos will be the auctioneer again this year. That means you will be entertained and informed as you learn about the specimens available for bidding. You can preview some of the great specimens on their website.Auction schedule: Registration begins 9 AM. Specimen viewing begins 11:30 AM. Voice auction from 12:30 to 6:00 PM with a break from 2:10 to 2:30 PM to facilitate final silent auction bids. Silent auction from 12:30 to 2:30 PM. A buffet-style dinner is provided by the club after the auction.Note that it is possible to check out before the end of the event but if you are bidding on silent auction items you should not plan to leave before 3:30 PM so that the silent auction can be tallied and added to your check out charges.Pre-Registration. If you pre-register your bidder number will be assigned and your bidder card and other materials will be waiting for you when you arrive. It also helps us to plan for the amount of food we need to buy, the number of chairs and tables required, etc.This is a long day so come prepared to hang out. If you’re patient it’s a great chance to buy crystals, fossils, books, equipment, fluorescents . . . you never know what will be for auction or how cheaply it will go for. Visit their website for more info. www.bostonmineralclub.org

RHODE ISLAND MINERAL HUNTERS ~ 2015The RIMH is a 501(c)(3) organization.

OFFICERSPresident: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Steve EmmaVice-President: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Buck LeachSecretary: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *Chris TremblayTreasurer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dante Caprara

EXECUTIVE BOARD (includes above officers)Louise Barbish, Tom Barbish, James Brenek, Rachel Cesana, *Jen Davis, Don Fail, Joel Russo, Bill Wilson

DEPARTMENTS / COMMITTEESHistorian: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bill WilsonMembership:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *Leo DoucetField Trip Coordinator:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joel RussoShow Chairman: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Don FailLibrarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bill NealEditor: . . . Bruce Luscombe, bdluscombe@msn.comWebmaster: . . . . . .Bruce Hecker, bbhecker@cox.net

VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.RIMH.us* indicates a new: officer / board member / duty for 2015

2015 MEMBERSHIP DUES DUE NOW! $15 Individual - $20 Family

You must renew by March 1st or be dropped from our membership list. Renew ASAP! Rates may be going up. Send membership form and check payable to “RIMH” to:Leo Doucet, 45 Raymond Dr., Portsmouth, RI 02871

April meeting is our Annual Mineral Auction!New Location: VFW Hall, Johnston RI

Executive Board members are; Tom and Louise Barbish, Tony and Rachel Cesana, Jen Davis, Don Fail, Bill Wilson, Joel Russo

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Volume 53, Issue 1 Bowen-Lite January, 2015

2014 RIMH AWARD WINNERSBIRGER ANDERSEN AWARD for the best self-collected specimen found in RI or on a RIMH field trip was won by Jim Brenek.CECIL FOSTER AWARD for the best self-collected mineral specimen found outside of RI was won by Jim Brenek.RALPH L. CARR “JUNIOR” AWARD for the best self-collected specimen found by a junior member was won by no entries.SAL AVELLA AWARD for the best self-collected fossil was won by Steve Emma.WILLIAM WILSON AWARD for the best self-collected specimen based on the 2014 RIMH show theme was won by Dave Lavoie.The EUGENE REYNOLDS AWARD was presented to the club member who did the most for the RIMH was won by Joel Russo.The O. ALBERT JOHNSON FOUNDER’S AWARD was presented to the club member who did the most for the RIMH and the entire hobby was won by RachelCesana.

2014 CHRISTMAS PARTY AND ANNUAL AWARDS

Sorry I wasn’t able to attend this year’s party due to family matters. I heard it was a great time, as usual. Good food, good friends, GOOD ROCKS! Here are a few photos from the party and results of the annual awards. Photos by Steve Emma.

BIG THANKS TO LOU FAZZINAfor donating gift certificates. If you haven’t hear, Lou purchased Sal’s rock shop and has re-opened it. Right now he’s mostly open weekends and by appointment. Call Lou now! Schedule a visit to this old / new shop. Check out what he’s got that’s new and exciting in his shop!

2014 RIMH Christmas Party

Thanks to outgoing Club Secretary Jen Davis for many years as service. Thanks

also to Tom Barbish for serving as interim Membership Chairperson this year.

Bruce LuscomBe

390 Bridgetown rd.saunderstown, ri 02874

Do Know What Mineral This Is?

You probably don’t recognize it. This is the chemical composition of a new mineral recently discovered in Western Australia. Putnisite comes in very small (up to .5mm), translucent purple crystals which are very soft (1.5 - 2 Moh). The beautiful purple crystals occur within volcanic rock.

Putnisite’s composition is very unique and doesn’t appear to be related to and existing mineral families. It is composed of strontium, calcium, chromium, sulfur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.

Want to learn more about this new mineral? Google the name Putnisite or check it out at Mindat.com. Thanks to Steve Emma providing this information.

© Rhode Island Mineral Hunters ● “Bowen-Lite” newsletter ● January, 2015

The “Bowen-Lite” newsletter is produced by and for the members of the Rhode Island Mineral Hunters, Inc. (RIMH).All portions are copyright © 2015 - RIMH and/or original author / photographer. www.RIMH.us A 501(c)(3) organization.

PLEASE E-MAIL THE EDITORThis is YOUR NEWSLETTER! You need to contribute! Photos-Articles-Information-Leads-Websites-Etc. Thanks.

Bruce Luscombe, editor - bdluscombe@msn.com

All newsletter photographs © Bruce Luscombe unless otherwise noted.

Here’s More:THINGS I LOVE ABOUT ROCKS!Today I’ve chosen to write editorial commentary on issues and possible changes coming (or not) to our club.Changes in club membership (dues) may be coming. I’d like to see “new” memberships ALL be via e-mail. IF a “new” membership wants a printed newsletter mailed to them then they should pay a $15 higher membership fee. This is something many other clubs and organizations are doing. Not counting all the “free” labor to create the newsletter, a black and white newsletter costs over $1.00 to print and mail.Also I have questions about the Executive Board. The by-laws are fairly clear and it seems (to me) that we always have too many people on the board. Why is this bad? Well it’s hard enough to get people to take the position for a few years, so why are we ‘using up’ extra people that won’t want to be on the board next year or in 5 years. Also, all persons on the board are elected by the membership, except 1 position - the Show Chairman. That position should not be on the board directly but have an advisor role just as the Field Trip Coordinator, Newsletter Editor, and Webmaster do. There are other issues too, too lenghty to discuss here. These changes here will probably require changes to the by-laws.

Bruce Luscome, Editor

Putnisite crystalsPolar Bear Peninsula, W. Australia

SrCa4Cr83+(CO3)8(SO4)(OH)16·25 H2O

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