K & K F EDITORrmfms.org/uploads/newsletters/2012/2012-06-Aug-RMFMS... · 2012-08-06 · Lake Superior and adja-cent sand/gravel pits (Fig. 3). However, later glacial action (Pleistocene)

Rocky Mountain Federation News—August 2012 Page Rocky Mountain Federation News—August 2012 Page

I ’m back from the American Federation Meeting in Minneapolis. It was not much coolerthere than it is here, either. The meeting facility was at the Hopkins City High School,which is in Minnetonka (don’t ask; I have not figured it out either).

There was not a great deal of business this year, so the meeting went smoothly andquickly. No By-Laws changes, no change in dues. We do get to change officers: DonMonroe of the Southeastern Federation will become president, and Richard Jaeger ofthe Rocky Mountain Federation is president-elect. Next year the meeting will be in Jacksonville, Flor-ida, if you want to start planning now.

I had a chance to visit with some friends from other federations, and made a couple of new . And,the Agate Show was very nice. The Lake Superior Agates were in abundance but are reallypricy. (We did some hunting but came up with no agates.) There were several other varieties of ag-ates there also but most were on display and not for sale; there were many dealers selling “Lakers”agates.

The six AFMS competition cases (ONLY SIX !!!) were remarkable. Scoring a 99.6 was Lawrence G.Havens of the Littleton Gem & Mineral Club, with an absolutely beautiful display of “Minerals of Rus-sia.” Congratulations to Mr. Havens, and we hope to see that case at our convention and show nextyear. There was also a wonderful case from Dottie Smith of the Oklahoma Mineral & Gem Society.Our Rocky Mountain Federation was nicely represented in the competition cases.

The RMFMS was also well-represented at the meeting and show. In addition to Wayne and me, there was Vice President DebbieLeschner and her husband Ernie (and two granddaughters); Dr. Bob Carlson; Richard and Linda Jaeger, who is the AFMS news-letter competition chair; Jay Bowman, who serves on the AFMS Uniform Rules committee; Ray Oliger, State Director of N. Dakota,who was with his brother; Kay Waterman, our Directory Chair; and Tom Burchard, our Utah State Director. I hear that Mike Nelson,our CO & KS PLAC advisor, was also at the show. Sorry if I missed others, but I’m glad everyone made it to the show.

As of this writing, we still do not have a club hosting the 2013 RMF show and convention. If any club is interested, please call me sowe can get organized and not be rushed. We need to get started for next year soon to allow plenty of planning time, and time to getcontests done and meetings planned. Please have your club consider hosting. It really is not a great deal of work, and there is helpfrom the RMF to assist in the planning. If you have any questions about volunteering, planning, or any aspect of the RMFMS conven-tion, don’t hesitate to call me at 479-254-0894.

Hope you are keeping cool, literally, and having a great summer.

Inside this Issue:

Treasurer’s Report 2

Agates and Agates 2

An Ode to a Rock 4

Time to Make the Donuts! 4

Redstone: Ruby of the Rockies 5

Fossil Finds from Morrison Form. 6

Ashfall Fossil Beds State Park 7

Stinging Insects 8

Taking Your Kitchen Camping 8

Bench Tips by Brad Smith 9

Synthetic or Natural Gemstones 9

Vehicle Safety Walk Around 10

Driving Safety Tips 10

Shows & More 11

2012 Wildacres Workshops 12

Officers & Committees 13

The official publication of the Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc. The RMFMS is a regional member of the American Fed-eration of Mineralogical Societies, Inc. and is issued monthly (except June and July). It is a privilege of membership of the RMFMS and cannot beexchanged by the editor for individual club newsletters from other regional federations. www.rmfms.org

NNOTESOTES FROMFROM THETHE P PRESIDENTRESIDENT BY DELANE COX

KKLICKSLICKS & K & KLACKSLACKS F FROMROM THETHE E EDITORDITOR ... ... BY BETTY CAIN

Have you selected at least one of your best newsletters for the Publications Contest? How many club author arti-cles have you printed this year that could be winners in the contest? This contest is not only bragging rights for

the club editors but celebrates the wonderful club members who take the time to write for their newsletters. RMFMShas always had very good participation from our clubs and would like to continue that honor. Our RMFMS winners become ourentries in the AFMS Publications Contest that is chaired by Linda Jaeger of the Tulsa Rock & Mineral Club. She’s not biasedabout RMFMS but does belong to the greatest regional society of AFMS!! I’m truly convinced that our RMFMS editors set a veryhigh standard for the AFMS Contest. I’ll pass along the winners from the Minneapolis show when I receive the notice. Until then,start rounding up your entries for our 2013 contest.

Speaking of winners, do you have nominees in your club for the ACROY and Jr. ACROY awards? We can’t publish ‘em if youdon’t write ‘em.

Rocky Mountain Federation News—August 2012 Page 2 Rocky Mountain Federation News—August 2012 Page 2

PublicationsPublicationsEditor:Betty Cain2702 E. Pikes Peak Ave.Colo. Springs, CO [email protected]

Circulation Manager:Bill Cain(see above)[email protected]

Subscriptions:Gene Maggard8318 SE Highway 77Leon, KS [email protected]

Rates—$3.50 a year forthe Rocky Mountain Federa-tion News only. $7.75 ayear for both the RockyMountain Federation Newsand the RMFMS Directory.Directory only—$5.00.Order from Supplies Chair,Kim Blanton728 E. Sandy Dunes Dr.Sandy, UT [email protected]

DeadlineBulletin submissions deadlineis the second week of themonth prior to publicationdate; i.e., the deadline forthe September bulletin isthe third week of August.Unless otherwise marked,materials from this publica-tion may be reprinted bymembers, giving credit tothe author and the RockyMountain Federation News.

from western Kansas, the class visited many interesting geo-logical localities including some of the iron mines and taconiteconcentrators in northern Minnesota. The “high point” of theclass was probably the week we spent taking a close look atthe old Precambrian rocks exposed in the Boundary WatersCanoe Area. And did I mention sunsets, bears, campfires, andsmallmouth bass? At any rate, on the way back to Kansas westopped and searched for agates along the north shore ofLake Superior. And, we usually had some success (Fig. 4).

The original source of the ag-ates is from the basalts (severaldifferent layers) located in theMidcontinent Rift System (MRS).This geological rift (think aboutthe great East African Rift Zone)

begin to form in the Precambrian (Proterozoic Era) perhaps 1.1 Ga splitting the stable part of the NorthAmerican “continent” or plate (referred to by geologists as the craton). The Rift is nearly 1400 mileslong extending from northeast Kansas to Lake Superior with an eastern arm curving around and head-ing toward Ohio (Fig. 5). Hugh amounts of lava erupted along faults while adjacent rivers from the up-lands dumped thousands of feet of sediments (later sedimentary sandstones and conglomerates) intothe low lands of the Rift. For some reason, the rift “stopped splitting” (a failed rift in geological jargon),and the continent healed. Most of the rocks in the rift are buried below the surface of the earth and are

only known from geophysical studies and drill holes.For example, the Midcontinent Geophysical Anomaly(MGA) in Kansas delineates the rift since the con-centration of magnetite in the Rift rocks creates amagnetic “high” that is picked up by geophysicalinstrumentation. However, rocks of the Rift becomeexposed around Lake Superior, and the amygda-loidal agates erode from the basalts. Since the Riftrocks include substantial amounts of iron, the agateshave some sort of a red or orange color---oxidized iron. Most likely the agatesformed post-deposition of the basalt and are the result of percolating silica-richgroundwater filling the many vugs or vesicles in the basalt.

The second most popular agates at the show were the Fairburn Agates from neighboring South Dakota--spectacular specimens in allaspects (Fig. 6). Generally Fairburns are found on the plains in states surrounding the Black Hills, with most discoveries in South Da-kota. The original source was the Paleozoic Minnelusa Formation in the Black Hills—generally termed Teepee Canyon Agates attheir source. However, these agates will be featured in a later article!

The AFMS meeting and the show were a great success, and the Minnesota Mineral Club is to be congratulated for their hard workand dynamic membership.

REFERENCES CITEDPabian, R., 2006, Agates: Treasures of the Earth: Firefly Books, Natu-ral History Museum, LondoFig. 5. Sketch map of the 1.1 Ga MidcontinentRift System. Older Precambrian rocks surround the Rift. Map courtesy ofMichigan State University.

AAGATESGATES ANDAND A AGATESGATES::2012 AFMS S2012 AFMS SHOWHOW DR. MIKE NELSON

The end of the fiscal year rapidly approaches. The club annual report, dues andoptional liability insurance form will be going out in October. The most difficult

and time consuming part of getting the forms back is running down new treasurersthat came to office after their clubs current report came in. If you are getting this newsletter, areyou still a current officer? I am especially interested in treasurers, because it is the treasurermailing list that I use for sending out the form. If you are reading this and are no longer a currenttreasurer for you club, could you or the new treasurer please send me the new treasurer’s name,address, email and telephone number?

I hope that you are having a great summer and finding lots of nice rocks. For some of us, catch-ing lots of nice fish is also a great pastime. Peggy and I have been to the Black Hills in SouthDakota twice this year for rock hunting and fishing. The fishing was great, but we did not find anyof the elusive Fairburns. Perhaps sometime we will meet at a choice fishing or rock hunting“honey hole.”

Happy Hunting,Gene Maggard, Treasurer

TTREASURERREASURER’’SS R REPORTEPORT BY GENE MAGGARD

Agates, agates and agates; more agates than I have seen in my entire life---allspread out on tables and cases at the American Federation of Minera-

logical Societies annual show and meeting (Fig. 1). This gala event washosted by the Minnesota Mineral Club (Twin Cities area) and held in Minne-tonka, Minnesota. The club sponsored a number of formal seminars onagates (paid admission) plus several free presentations concerning the hon-ored gemstone. Because of previous scheduling conflicts, I was only able to attend the Saturdayevents but was overwhelmed by the expertise of the presenters, as well as by the sheer numberof agates displayed in formal exhibits, and “for sale” by the dealers (Fig. 2).

It was easy to observethat the major emphasisof the show (exhibitsand dealers) was on thefamous Lake SuperiorAgates (the “Lakers”).That fact is understand-able since Minnesota isthe major home of mostLaker discoveries---inshoreline gravels ofLake Superior and adja-cent sand/gravel pits(Fig. 3).

However, later glacialaction (Pleistocene)moved specimens intoadjacent Wisconsin,

Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and there are reports of a Laker or two fromKansas. In addition, Pabian (2006) noted Lake Superior-type agates have been found in depositsof the Mississippi River as far south as Louisiana. Essentially any “gravel pit” in the glaciatedregion, or along the River, has the possibility of producing a Laker.

As I understand it, the Laker name comes, not from Lake Superior, but from the Lake SuperiorTill, a covering of glacial debris.

I have not had tremendous success in finding Lakers but do have a few in my collection. “Wayback” in the 1970’s, I taught a combination canoeing/geology field course in Minnesota. Traveling

Fig. 1

[email protected],www.csmsgeologypost.b

logspot.com

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig 4

Fig. 5. Sketch map of the 1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift System. OlderPrecambrian rocks surround the Rift. Map courtesy of MichiganState University.

Fig. 6. A case ofmagnificent Fair-burn Agates.


PublicationsPublicationsEditor:Betty Cain2702 E. Pikes Peak Ave.Colo. Springs, CO [email protected]

Circulation Manager:Bill Cain(see above)[email protected]

Subscriptions:Gene Maggard8318 SE Highway 77Leon, KS [email protected]

Rates—$3.50 a year forthe Rocky Mountain Federa-tion News only. $7.75 ayear for both the RockyMountain Federation Newsand the RMFMS Directory.Directory only—$5.00.Order from Supplies Chair,Kim Blanton728 E. Sandy Dunes Dr.Sandy, UT [email protected]

DeadlineBulletin submissions deadlineis the second week of themonth prior to publicationdate; i.e., the deadline forthe September bulletin isthe third week of August.Unless otherwise marked,materials from this publica-tion may be reprinted bymembers, giving credit tothe author and the RockyMountain Federation News.

from western Kansas, the class visited many interesting geo-logical localities including some of the iron mines and taconiteconcentrators in northern Minnesota. The “high point” of theclass was probably the week we spent taking a close look atthe old Precambrian rocks exposed in the Boundary WatersCanoe Area. And did I mention sunsets, bears, campfires, andsmallmouth bass? At any rate, on the way back to Kansas westopped and searched for agates along the north shore ofLake Superior. And, we usually had some success (Fig. 4).

The original source of the ag-ates is from the basalts (severaldifferent layers) located in theMidcontinent Rift System (MRS).This geological rift (think aboutthe great East African Rift Zone)

begin to form in the Precambrian (Proterozoic Era) perhaps 1.1 Ga splitting the stable part of the NorthAmerican “continent” or plate (referred to by geologists as the craton). The Rift is nearly 1400 mileslong extending from northeast Kansas to Lake Superior with an eastern arm curving around and head-ing toward Ohio (Fig. 5). Hugh amounts of lava erupted along faults while adjacent rivers from the up-lands dumped thousands of feet of sediments (later sedimentary sandstones and conglomerates) intothe low lands of the Rift. For some reason, the rift “stopped splitting” (a failed rift in geological jargon),and the continent healed. Most of the rocks in the rift are buried below the surface of the earth and are

only known from geophysical studies and drill holes.For example, the Midcontinent Geophysical Anomaly(MGA) in Kansas delineates the rift since the con-centration of magnetite in the Rift rocks creates amagnetic “high” that is picked up by geophysicalinstrumentation. However, rocks of the Rift becomeexposed around Lake Superior, and the amygda-loidal agates erode from the basalts. Since the Riftrocks include substantial amounts of iron, the agateshave some sort of a red or orange color---oxidized iron. Most likely the agatesformed post-deposition of the basalt and are the result of percolating silica-richgroundwater filling the many vugs or vesicles in the basalt.

The second most popular agates at the show were the Fairburn Agates from neighboring South Dakota--spectacular specimens in allaspects (Fig. 6). Generally Fairburns are found on the plains in states surrounding the Black Hills, with most discoveries in South Da-kota. The original source was the Paleozoic Minnelusa Formation in the Black Hills—generally termed Teepee Canyon Agates attheir source. However, these agates will be featured in a later article!

The AFMS meeting and the show were a great success, and the Minnesota Mineral Club is to be congratulated for their hard workand dynamic membership.

REFERENCES CITEDPabian, R., 2006, Agates: Treasures of the Earth: Firefly Books, Natu-ral History Museum, LondoFig. 5. Sketch map of the 1.1 Ga MidcontinentRift System. Older Precambrian rocks surround the Rift. Map courtesy ofMichigan State University.

AAGATESGATES ANDAND A AGATESGATES::2012 AFMS S2012 AFMS SHOWHOW DR. MIKE NELSON

The end of the fiscal year rapidly approaches. The club annual report, dues andoptional liability insurance form will be going out in October. The most difficult

and time consuming part of getting the forms back is running down new treasurersthat came to office after their clubs current report came in. If you are getting this newsletter, areyou still a current officer? I am especially interested in treasurers, because it is the treasurermailing list that I use for sending out the form. If you are reading this and are no longer a currenttreasurer for you club, could you or the new treasurer please send me the new treasurer’s name,address, email and telephone number?

I hope that you are having a great summer and finding lots of nice rocks. For some of us, catch-ing lots of nice fish is also a great pastime. Peggy and I have been to the Black Hills in SouthDakota twice this year for rock hunting and fishing. The fishing was great, but we did not find anyof the elusive Fairburns. Perhaps sometime we will meet at a choice fishing or rock hunting“honey hole.”

Happy Hunting,Gene Maggard, Treasurer

TTREASURERREASURER’’SS R REPORTEPORT BY GENE MAGGARD

Agates, agates and agates; more agates than I have seen in my entire life---allspread out on tables and cases at the American Federation of Minera-

logical Societies annual show and meeting (Fig. 1). This gala event washosted by the Minnesota Mineral Club (Twin Cities area) and held in Minne-tonka, Minnesota. The club sponsored a number of formal seminars onagates (paid admission) plus several free presentations concerning the hon-ored gemstone. Because of previous scheduling conflicts, I was only able to attend the Saturdayevents but was overwhelmed by the expertise of the presenters, as well as by the sheer numberof agates displayed in formal exhibits, and “for sale” by the dealers (Fig. 2).

It was easy to observethat the major emphasisof the show (exhibitsand dealers) was on thefamous Lake SuperiorAgates (the “Lakers”).That fact is understand-able since Minnesota isthe major home of mostLaker discoveries---inshoreline gravels ofLake Superior and adja-cent sand/gravel pits(Fig. 3).

However, later glacialaction (Pleistocene)moved specimens intoadjacent Wisconsin,

Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and there are reports of a Laker or two fromKansas. In addition, Pabian (2006) noted Lake Superior-type agates have been found in depositsof the Mississippi River as far south as Louisiana. Essentially any “gravel pit” in the glaciatedregion, or along the River, has the possibility of producing a Laker.

As I understand it, the Laker name comes, not from Lake Superior, but from the Lake SuperiorTill, a covering of glacial debris.

I have not had tremendous success in finding Lakers but do have a few in my collection. “Wayback” in the 1970’s, I taught a combination canoeing/geology field course in Minnesota. Traveling

Fig. 1

[email protected],www.csmsgeologypost.b

logspot.com

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig 4

Fig. 5. Sketch map of the 1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift System. OlderPrecambrian rocks surround the Rift. Map courtesy of MichiganState University.

Fig. 6. A case ofmagnificent Fair-burn Agates.


REDSTONEREDSTONE——“R“RUBYUBY OFOF THETHE R ROCKIESOCKIES”” BY BETH SIMMONS, DGMG

Once upon a time, a wealthy prince built a castle called “Cleveholm” along the banksof a beautiful shining stream called the Crystal River that flows serenely through a

valley bounded by massive red cliffs with spectacular snow-covered peaks loomingnearby. The wealthy prince owned the local coal mine and held controlling interest in theColorado Fuel & Iron Company, along with his friends, the incredibly rich Rockefellers.

Twelve miles to the south up Coal Creek in Coal Basin was the mine. The wealthy princehad secured interest in the coal layer in 1881 for $500 with his partner, J.A. Kebler. How-ever, Colorado wasn’t ready for west-slope coal quite yet. The huge smelters at Leadville and Aspen hadn’tstarted up. But when they came on line, the prince was ready. He opened the coal mine for business andstarted shipping coal by wagon down the river to the Roaring Fork and up to Aspen.

Soon along came a railroad, the Crystal River Railroad. And then came the coke ovens. A line of them ex-tended half a mile along the river to bake the coal to send to the smelters and foundry in Pueblo. Mining coaland baking coke is a filthy dirty business. The wealthy prince felt that his workers should be able to go hometo the comfort of a clean house. So he started a new mining tradition—providing his workers with uniformsand a shower and locker room so they could clean up before going home after their shift.

Where were their homes? Coal mining companies built “company towns” to house their workers and families.Usually they were bleak with simple structures, similar to those in Leyden. Or perhaps theywere monotonous rows of box-car houses with battened walls, painted a dreary mineral red.”The wealthy prince spared no expense on his company town—Redstone.

As an experiment in "enlightened paternalism," the wealthy prince constructed 84“Craftsman” (Sears) Swiss-style cottages, all different in design, each painted a different color,all with indoor plumbing and electricity. In addition the wealthy prince built a 40-room inn, alsowith indoor plumbing and electricity.for his coal miners and cokers. He developed a nearby hotspring into a modern bathing facility. The prince also developed the much larger GlenwoodSpring facility.

For 50 cents a month, miners and cokers could “hang out” in a club house with a well-stockedbar and library, or go to the theatre. Ladies’ night at the club was Wednesday, with whist andeuchre parties, billiards, pool, instrumental music for entertainment. Unlike most mines whichemployed immigrants— Italians, Huns, Austrians— all posters or lists of rules were printed inthree languages. The children of the community attended the company school with its libraryof over 250 books, taught by Mrs. Wright and Miss Freeman. This Rocky Mountain Camelotboasted a town farm and community gardens, complete with cows each owned by the indi-vidual families.

New York architects designed the 42-room castle, “Cleveholm Manor,” for Princess AlmaRegina (“Lady Bountiful”) who reigned over the village and estate grounds, the “perfect pic-ture of color, harmonious with its surroundings, and opulent in appearance. The castle tookfive years from 1897-1901 to complete. Out buildings included an oak-paneled stable, ser-vants’ quarters, game-keeper’s lodge, a carriage house, and greenhouse.

Hand-tooled green leather covered the library walls; Green silk brocade decorated themusic room. Dining room walls were ruby velvet, with solid mahogany woodwork. Goldleaf covered the ceilings of many rooms. The huge fireplace was constructed of hand-cutstone.

Guests at the castle included the Rockefellers and J.P Morgans, who came to the moun-tains to hunt game or bask in the comfortable summer sunshine.

What about the hotel? The famed Redstone Inn, along with the castle and gamekeeper’slodge, are all on the National Register of Historic Places. The Inn is a modern resort,open year-round. Its tudor-style architecture with its clock tower undoubtedly influencedthe architecture used at Vail.

Who was the wealthy prince? John Cleveland Osgood, great nephew of the founder ofthe city of Cleveland, energy entrepreneur and extravagant spender.

The coke ovens and mining operation only lasted four years; the hotel was originally open for seven years. Osgood died at“Cleveholm” in 1926, but only visited occasionally between 1903, when he split with CF & I, and his death. Perhaps Osgood’s wivesdidn’t really enjoy life in the fairy tale town that he had created in the Colorado Rockies.

REFERENCES:Foote, Alvin, 1950, The Fabulous Valley, A&T Company, NY, 39 pages http://redstoneinn.thegilmorecollection.comWikipedia, “Redstone, Colorado”

Photos:The sparkling Crystal River

Redstone coke ovensRedstone Inn

“Cleveholm Manor”

AANN O ODEDE TOTO AA R ROCKOCK BY KURT LAHMERSCOLORADO SPRINGS MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY PEBBLE PUPS/JUNIOR MEMBER PROGRAM

From a presidential mountain face,to the far reaches of outer space;lays boundless, amazing discoveries,as rocks yield their secrets in all countries.

Some rocks can reach massive sizes,while others fit through needle eyes;some are shiny, and others are not.But all are remarkable, when put to thought

The sandstone arches in the Utah sunis a rock landscape that can’t be outdone.The relentless, ever-changing weatherbrings rain, snow and ice altogether.

The granite peaks through ColoradoCreate a large elongated shadow showWhile they slowly erode, silently away—but is unnoticeable in our daily fray

Through craters and volcanic plainsalong the orbit where the moon reigns,are fields of extraterrestrial moon stonethat every geologists would love to own

Rocks are seemingly everywhere;over here and surely over there,From mountaintops to the forest floor—In outer space, and right outside the door.

Drawing by the author

“T“TIMEIME TOTO M MAKEAKE THETHE D DONUTSONUTS”” DELANE COX, RMFMS PRESIDENT(Editor’s Note—this was a Dunkin Donuts commercial tagline many years ago.)

Hello, RMFMS Contest and Display Competition chairs:

Although we do not have a place to hold the 2013 Show and convention yet, I want you to know that I am working onsecuring the location and hope to have a place within a month....if possible.

However, even without a firm date, there is a need to start work on contests and display entries just in caseour Host Club has a show before June, 2013!!!

I would like to encourage each of you to write an article for the RMF newsletter giving all of the vital infor-mation about your contest and encouraging our members to enter. There was a great competition caseat the AFMS this weekend from a person in Littleton, Colorado. I think he needs to be encouraged tohave that case at our show, too. The article needs to have information about your contest such as what

it is, why it is, what all will be judged, and WHY member or a club should enter.

By starting now, you have time to get your contest rules together and be ready to conduct your contest right after the firstof the year. Display cases, too, need some lead time to put together good entries even though your deadline is the daybefore the show opens. Last year caught me, and possibly some of you, by surprise that the convention was so early.Thanks to those who did participation, but the level was not nearly as good as we have had in the past.

So, let's get our acts together and see about having good contests with lots of entries this next year. Ifyou have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me and let's discuss them.

Happy Labor Day—Sept 3, 2012


REDSTONEREDSTONE——“R“RUBYUBY OFOF THETHE R ROCKIESOCKIES”” BY BETH SIMMONS, DGMG

Once upon a time, a wealthy prince built a castle called “Cleveholm” along the banksof a beautiful shining stream called the Crystal River that flows serenely through a

valley bounded by massive red cliffs with spectacular snow-covered peaks loomingnearby. The wealthy prince owned the local coal mine and held controlling interest in theColorado Fuel & Iron Company, along with his friends, the incredibly rich Rockefellers.

Twelve miles to the south up Coal Creek in Coal Basin was the mine. The wealthy princehad secured interest in the coal layer in 1881 for $500 with his partner, J.A. Kebler. How-ever, Colorado wasn’t ready for west-slope coal quite yet. The huge smelters at Leadville and Aspen hadn’tstarted up. But when they came on line, the prince was ready. He opened the coal mine for business andstarted shipping coal by wagon down the river to the Roaring Fork and up to Aspen.

Soon along came a railroad, the Crystal River Railroad. And then came the coke ovens. A line of them ex-tended half a mile along the river to bake the coal to send to the smelters and foundry in Pueblo. Mining coaland baking coke is a filthy dirty business. The wealthy prince felt that his workers should be able to go hometo the comfort of a clean house. So he started a new mining tradition—providing his workers with uniformsand a shower and locker room so they could clean up before going home after their shift.

Where were their homes? Coal mining companies built “company towns” to house their workers and families.Usually they were bleak with simple structures, similar to those in Leyden. Or perhaps theywere monotonous rows of box-car houses with battened walls, painted a dreary mineral red.”The wealthy prince spared no expense on his company town—Redstone.

As an experiment in "enlightened paternalism," the wealthy prince constructed 84“Craftsman” (Sears) Swiss-style cottages, all different in design, each painted a different color,all with indoor plumbing and electricity. In addition the wealthy prince built a 40-room inn, alsowith indoor plumbing and electricity.for his coal miners and cokers. He developed a nearby hotspring into a modern bathing facility. The prince also developed the much larger GlenwoodSpring facility.

For 50 cents a month, miners and cokers could “hang out” in a club house with a well-stockedbar and library, or go to the theatre. Ladies’ night at the club was Wednesday, with whist andeuchre parties, billiards, pool, instrumental music for entertainment. Unlike most mines whichemployed immigrants— Italians, Huns, Austrians— all posters or lists of rules were printed inthree languages. The children of the community attended the company school with its libraryof over 250 books, taught by Mrs. Wright and Miss Freeman. This Rocky Mountain Camelotboasted a town farm and community gardens, complete with cows each owned by the indi-vidual families.

New York architects designed the 42-room castle, “Cleveholm Manor,” for Princess AlmaRegina (“Lady Bountiful”) who reigned over the village and estate grounds, the “perfect pic-ture of color, harmonious with its surroundings, and opulent in appearance. The castle tookfive years from 1897-1901 to complete. Out buildings included an oak-paneled stable, ser-vants’ quarters, game-keeper’s lodge, a carriage house, and greenhouse.

Hand-tooled green leather covered the library walls; Green silk brocade decorated themusic room. Dining room walls were ruby velvet, with solid mahogany woodwork. Goldleaf covered the ceilings of many rooms. The huge fireplace was constructed of hand-cutstone.

Guests at the castle included the Rockefellers and J.P Morgans, who came to the moun-tains to hunt game or bask in the comfortable summer sunshine.

What about the hotel? The famed Redstone Inn, along with the castle and gamekeeper’slodge, are all on the National Register of Historic Places. The Inn is a modern resort,open year-round. Its tudor-style architecture with its clock tower undoubtedly influencedthe architecture used at Vail.

Who was the wealthy prince? John Cleveland Osgood, great nephew of the founder ofthe city of Cleveland, energy entrepreneur and extravagant spender.

The coke ovens and mining operation only lasted four years; the hotel was originally open for seven years. Osgood died at“Cleveholm” in 1926, but only visited occasionally between 1903, when he split with CF & I, and his death. Perhaps Osgood’s wivesdidn’t really enjoy life in the fairy tale town that he had created in the Colorado Rockies.

REFERENCES:Foote, Alvin, 1950, The Fabulous Valley, A&T Company, NY, 39 pages http://redstoneinn.thegilmorecollection.comWikipedia, “Redstone, Colorado”

Photos:The sparkling Crystal River

Redstone coke ovensRedstone Inn

“Cleveholm Manor”

AANN O ODEDE TOTO AA R ROCKOCK BY KURT LAHMERSCOLORADO SPRINGS MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY PEBBLE PUPS/JUNIOR MEMBER PROGRAM

From a presidential mountain face,to the far reaches of outer space;lays boundless, amazing discoveries,as rocks yield their secrets in all countries.

Some rocks can reach massive sizes,while others fit through needle eyes;some are shiny, and others are not.But all are remarkable, when put to thought

The sandstone arches in the Utah sunis a rock landscape that can’t be outdone.The relentless, ever-changing weatherbrings rain, snow and ice altogether.

The granite peaks through ColoradoCreate a large elongated shadow showWhile they slowly erode, silently away—but is unnoticeable in our daily fray

Through craters and volcanic plainsalong the orbit where the moon reigns,are fields of extraterrestrial moon stonethat every geologists would love to own

Rocks are seemingly everywhere;over here and surely over there,From mountaintops to the forest floor—In outer space, and right outside the door.

Drawing by the author

“T“TIMEIME TOTO M MAKEAKE THETHE D DONUTSONUTS”” DELANE COX, RMFMS PRESIDENT(Editor’s Note—this was a Dunkin Donuts commercial tagline many years ago.)

Hello, RMFMS Contest and Display Competition chairs:

Although we do not have a place to hold the 2013 Show and convention yet, I want you to know that I am working onsecuring the location and hope to have a place within a month....if possible.

However, even without a firm date, there is a need to start work on contests and display entries just in caseour Host Club has a show before June, 2013!!!

I would like to encourage each of you to write an article for the RMF newsletter giving all of the vital infor-mation about your contest and encouraging our members to enter. There was a great competition caseat the AFMS this weekend from a person in Littleton, Colorado. I think he needs to be encouraged tohave that case at our show, too. The article needs to have information about your contest such as what

it is, why it is, what all will be judged, and WHY member or a club should enter.

By starting now, you have time to get your contest rules together and be ready to conduct your contest right after the firstof the year. Display cases, too, need some lead time to put together good entries even though your deadline is the daybefore the show opens. Last year caught me, and possibly some of you, by surprise that the convention was so early.Thanks to those who did participation, but the level was not nearly as good as we have had in the past.

So, let's get our acts together and see about having good contests with lots of entries this next year. Ifyou have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me and let's discuss them.

Happy Labor Day—Sept 3, 2012


The subject matter of this short essay is a rare, agatized snail fossil from the Jurassic Period that was found in the Morrison For-mation, and a dinosaur bone of an unknown species, also from the Morrison. Both specimens are from Colorado. The Morrison

Formation is a sequence of sedimentary rocks that contains many Late Jurassic fossils. Iconic dinosaurs such as Allosaurus fragilis,Diplodocus longus, and Brachiosaurus altithorax have been found in this layer of Jurassic sediment.

The aquatic gastropod (Figure 1) is about 165 million years old, and is assigned to the Valvatidae, a taxonomic family of small, freshwater gastropods known as the valve snails. These have an Operculum ("The gastropoda"). The operculum is like a trapdoor at-tached to the upper surface of the foot and closes the opening of the shell when the soft parts of the snail are retracted inside. Thesnail is assigned to the species Valvata scabrida ("Humboldt State University," 2002). This snail lived in a Jurassic freshwater pond orlake.

The dinosaur bone (Figure 2) is from an unknown species, and yieldsclue as to where the dinosaur died. The dimensions of the gastropodfossil and dinosaur bone are shown in Table 1.

As shown in Figure 1, the gastropod shells are replaced by agate, in aprocess known as agatization, which also occurs in other types of fos-sils. Agate is a beautiful material that is often used in jewelry.

The dinosaur bone has not been identified or dated, as of the writing of this paper, but it appears to be a fragment of a large bone, andit is attached to an extremely fine-grained

sandstone, which may give clues about how the bone was preserved. The dinosaur bone is shown in Figure 2. Agate has formedwithin the Haversian canals and can be seen at either end of the fossil bone. Haversian canals are the tiny, interconnecting, longitudi-nal channels in bone tissue through which blood vessels, nerve fibers, and lymphatic vessels pass.

Overall, these are two magnificent fossils and fascinating finds that help us reconstruct ancientworlds that have long since passed into deep time.

References Cited:The gastropoda (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/taxa/inverts/mollusca/

gastropoda.php

Humboldt State University Natural History Museum: Jurassic Period. (2002, October 15).Retrieved from http://www.humboldt.edu/natmus/Case_indexes/Case_jpgs/Jurassic.web/

Table 1: The dimensions of the fossilsFossil Length Width Height

Valvata scabrida 43.18 mm 22.86 mm 45.72 mmDinosaur Bone ~ 145 mm ~ 43 mm ~ 40 mm

Figure 1: Photomicrograph of a Valvata scabrida.Gastropods are characterized by the possession of asingle (often coiled) shell. Photo © 2012 by S. Veatch

Figure 2: The unidentified dinosaur bone.Photo © 2012 by S. Veatch

AASHFALLSHFALL F FOSSILOSSIL B BEDSEDS S STATETATE

HHISTORICALISTORICAL P PARKARK, N, NEBRASKAEBRASKABY ALETHA HOOGETERP, MARCH 22, 2009

A shfall State Park, located six miles north of US Highway 20between Royal and Orchard, Nebraska in northern Antelope

County, gives tourists a taste of animal life 12 million years agowhen Nebraska was covered with subtropical grasses and junglepatches.

The park is situated on 360 acres of ruggedrangeland in the scenic Verdigre Creek val-ley. Ashfall State Park offers a fascinatingand educational experience for the wholefamily, a chance to step back in time andsee what Nebraska wildlife was like longbefore modern man ventured onto the GreatPlains. Visitors can watch the ongoing ex-cavation of the site where the original 2,000square foot "Rhino Barn" has been ex-panded with the new 17,500 square foot"Hubbard Rhino Barn" addition for the exca-vation and protection of many more buriedfossils. Skeletons are uncovered and displayed exactly where theyare found. Visitors get a close up view when paleontologistsbrush away the volcanic ash from the skulls of native Americanrhinos and the delicate side hooves of tiny ancestral horses.

During the excavation of the 550 foot long trench for the founda-tions of the new Hubbard Rhino Barn, 200 plaster field jackets,plus an additional 700 fragments were recovered from the periph-ery of the new Hubbard Excavation Barn in 2008. The fossils rep-resent at least 20 species of animals that lived near the ancientAshfall waterhole nearly 12 million years ago including rhinos,elephants, 3-toed horses, camels, oreodonts, giant tortoise andpond turtles.

The first indication that a fossil bed of major significance might lieburied on Melvin Colson's farm came to light during the summer of1971 when Mike Voorhies, emeritus curator of vertebrate paleon-tology University of Nebraska State Museum, noticed the skull of ababy rhinoceros eroding from the wall of a ravine at the edge of acornfield on Mr. Colson's property.

What made the find so unusual was that the skull and lower jawswere in perfect articulation and that the fossil was completely em-bedded in soft, distinctly layered volcanic ash. Not only did thisfirst rhino turn out to be intact but other equally good skeletonsseemed to be extending back into the hill, covered by the twentyfeet of ash and sandstone. Because of the unusual nature of the

site, special care had tobe taken in exploring it. Aseries of test excavationswere done in 1977 fol-lowed by more extensiveexcavations in 1978 and1979. The results ex-ceeded even their mostoptimistic expectations.Not only did they finddozens of rhinoceros andhorse skeletons, theyalso found the remains of

camels, birds, turtles and small saber-tooth deer. It became clearthat a major disaster, claiming hundreds of victims, had occurredat the site.

Early on it became apparent that there was a definite arrangementof the skeletons in the ash bed with larger animals first, smaller

animals deeper and finally birds and turtles. The latter were al-ways at the very bottom of the ash bed, in a layer containing nu-merous footprints of rhinos and other hoofed animals. It seemedevident that the small creatures died first, then the middle-sizedones, and finally the rhinos. The animals definitely did not die all atonce; they were not (with the possible exception of the birds andturtles) buried alive. The larger animals clearly died more slowly,over a period of a few days to a few weeks. Proof that they werenot instantaneously killed and buried can be seen on many skele-

tons, especially those of horses andcamels, which often show bite marksattributed to large scavengers thatmust have had access to the car-casses before they were completelyburied.

Every fossil mammal so far discov-ered at the site has abnormal patchesof highly porous superficial bone onvarious parts of its skeleton, espe-cially on the lower jaw and the shaftsof the major limb bones and ribs.Veterinarians have reported verysimilar growths on animals that have

died of lung failure.

All the Ashfall skeletons are buried in a layer of pure volcanic ash.Volcanic ash consists of tiny shards of glass from broken glassbubbles. The glass bubbles form and then break apart during pow-erful volcanic eruptions. The ash particles are small enough tohave been breathed deeply into the lungs of animals when vol-canic ash blanketed northern Nebraska 12 million years ago. Inha-lation of large amounts of volcanic ash almost certainly caused thedeaths of the Ashfall victims.

Most of the animals which lived here survived the actual ash fallfrom a volcano in southwest Idaho which spread a blanket of ashover a very large area, but as they continued to graze on the ashcovered grasses, their lungs began to fill up with the abrasive pow-der. Soon their lungs became severely damaged and they beganto die. Undisturbed except by the occasional scavenging meat-eater, the skeletons of these animals are preserved in their deathpositions, complete with evidence of their last meals in theirmouths and stomachs and their last steps preserved in the sand-stone below.

If you've never been to Ashfall, this educational park is well worthexperiencing. And if you've been there before, go and check outthe new expanded Hubbard Rhino Barn. You'll be glad you did.For more information check out their website: http://www.ashfall.unl.edu.

References:2009 University Of Nebraska State Museum/Royal, Nebraska/

[email protected] / Rick Otto, Superintendent/A CooperativeProject of the University of Nebraska State Museum & Ne-braska Game Fish and Parks Commission

Mike Voorhies, emeritus curator of vertebrate paleontology Univer-sity of Nebraska State Museum /· Museum Notes No. 81, Feb.1992, http://ashfall.unl.edu/life_death.html

"Ashfall State Park", Posted: Thursday, November 27, 2008 /Copyright 2009 siouxcityjournal.com

"Groundbreaking set for Hubbard Rhino Barn", By the LincolnJournal Star, Wednesday, June 4, 2008, http://journalstar.com/articles/2008/06/05/news/nebraska/ doc484713

From Rock Dust 6/12 via The Rock Collector 6/12 via Stratagems, 7/12(Thanks, Dennis Chapman, Editor)


The subject matter of this short essay is a rare, agatized snail fossil from the Jurassic Period that was found in the Morrison For-mation, and a dinosaur bone of an unknown species, also from the Morrison. Both specimens are from Colorado. The Morrison

Formation is a sequence of sedimentary rocks that contains many Late Jurassic fossils. Iconic dinosaurs such as Allosaurus fragilis,Diplodocus longus, and Brachiosaurus altithorax have been found in this layer of Jurassic sediment.

The aquatic gastropod (Figure 1) is about 165 million years old, and is assigned to the Valvatidae, a taxonomic family of small, freshwater gastropods known as the valve snails. These have an Operculum ("The gastropoda"). The operculum is like a trapdoor at-tached to the upper surface of the foot and closes the opening of the shell when the soft parts of the snail are retracted inside. Thesnail is assigned to the species Valvata scabrida ("Humboldt State University," 2002). This snail lived in a Jurassic freshwater pond orlake.

The dinosaur bone (Figure 2) is from an unknown species, and yieldsclue as to where the dinosaur died. The dimensions of the gastropodfossil and dinosaur bone are shown in Table 1.

As shown in Figure 1, the gastropod shells are replaced by agate, in aprocess known as agatization, which also occurs in other types of fos-sils. Agate is a beautiful material that is often used in jewelry.

The dinosaur bone has not been identified or dated, as of the writing of this paper, but it appears to be a fragment of a large bone, andit is attached to an extremely fine-grained

sandstone, which may give clues about how the bone was preserved. The dinosaur bone is shown in Figure 2. Agate has formedwithin the Haversian canals and can be seen at either end of the fossil bone. Haversian canals are the tiny, interconnecting, longitudi-nal channels in bone tissue through which blood vessels, nerve fibers, and lymphatic vessels pass.

Overall, these are two magnificent fossils and fascinating finds that help us reconstruct ancientworlds that have long since passed into deep time.

References Cited:The gastropoda (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/taxa/inverts/mollusca/

gastropoda.php

Humboldt State University Natural History Museum: Jurassic Period. (2002, October 15).Retrieved from http://www.humboldt.edu/natmus/Case_indexes/Case_jpgs/Jurassic.web/

Table 1: The dimensions of the fossilsFossil Length Width Height

Valvata scabrida 43.18 mm 22.86 mm 45.72 mmDinosaur Bone ~ 145 mm ~ 43 mm ~ 40 mm

Figure 1: Photomicrograph of a Valvata scabrida.Gastropods are characterized by the possession of asingle (often coiled) shell. Photo © 2012 by S. Veatch

Figure 2: The unidentified dinosaur bone.Photo © 2012 by S. Veatch

AASHFALLSHFALL F FOSSILOSSIL B BEDSEDS S STATETATE

HHISTORICALISTORICAL P PARKARK, N, NEBRASKAEBRASKABY ALETHA HOOGETERP, MARCH 22, 2009

A shfall State Park, located six miles north of US Highway 20between Royal and Orchard, Nebraska in northern Antelope

County, gives tourists a taste of animal life 12 million years agowhen Nebraska was covered with subtropical grasses and junglepatches.

The park is situated on 360 acres of ruggedrangeland in the scenic Verdigre Creek val-ley. Ashfall State Park offers a fascinatingand educational experience for the wholefamily, a chance to step back in time andsee what Nebraska wildlife was like longbefore modern man ventured onto the GreatPlains. Visitors can watch the ongoing ex-cavation of the site where the original 2,000square foot "Rhino Barn" has been ex-panded with the new 17,500 square foot"Hubbard Rhino Barn" addition for the exca-vation and protection of many more buriedfossils. Skeletons are uncovered and displayed exactly where theyare found. Visitors get a close up view when paleontologistsbrush away the volcanic ash from the skulls of native Americanrhinos and the delicate side hooves of tiny ancestral horses.

During the excavation of the 550 foot long trench for the founda-tions of the new Hubbard Rhino Barn, 200 plaster field jackets,plus an additional 700 fragments were recovered from the periph-ery of the new Hubbard Excavation Barn in 2008. The fossils rep-resent at least 20 species of animals that lived near the ancientAshfall waterhole nearly 12 million years ago including rhinos,elephants, 3-toed horses, camels, oreodonts, giant tortoise andpond turtles.

The first indication that a fossil bed of major significance might lieburied on Melvin Colson's farm came to light during the summer of1971 when Mike Voorhies, emeritus curator of vertebrate paleon-tology University of Nebraska State Museum, noticed the skull of ababy rhinoceros eroding from the wall of a ravine at the edge of acornfield on Mr. Colson's property.

What made the find so unusual was that the skull and lower jawswere in perfect articulation and that the fossil was completely em-bedded in soft, distinctly layered volcanic ash. Not only did thisfirst rhino turn out to be intact but other equally good skeletonsseemed to be extending back into the hill, covered by the twentyfeet of ash and sandstone. Because of the unusual nature of the

site, special care had tobe taken in exploring it. Aseries of test excavationswere done in 1977 fol-lowed by more extensiveexcavations in 1978 and1979. The results ex-ceeded even their mostoptimistic expectations.Not only did they finddozens of rhinoceros andhorse skeletons, theyalso found the remains of

camels, birds, turtles and small saber-tooth deer. It became clearthat a major disaster, claiming hundreds of victims, had occurredat the site.

Early on it became apparent that there was a definite arrangementof the skeletons in the ash bed with larger animals first, smaller

animals deeper and finally birds and turtles. The latter were al-ways at the very bottom of the ash bed, in a layer containing nu-merous footprints of rhinos and other hoofed animals. It seemedevident that the small creatures died first, then the middle-sizedones, and finally the rhinos. The animals definitely did not die all atonce; they were not (with the possible exception of the birds andturtles) buried alive. The larger animals clearly died more slowly,over a period of a few days to a few weeks. Proof that they werenot instantaneously killed and buried can be seen on many skele-

tons, especially those of horses andcamels, which often show bite marksattributed to large scavengers thatmust have had access to the car-casses before they were completelyburied.

Every fossil mammal so far discov-ered at the site has abnormal patchesof highly porous superficial bone onvarious parts of its skeleton, espe-cially on the lower jaw and the shaftsof the major limb bones and ribs.Veterinarians have reported verysimilar growths on animals that have

died of lung failure.

All the Ashfall skeletons are buried in a layer of pure volcanic ash.Volcanic ash consists of tiny shards of glass from broken glassbubbles. The glass bubbles form and then break apart during pow-erful volcanic eruptions. The ash particles are small enough tohave been breathed deeply into the lungs of animals when vol-canic ash blanketed northern Nebraska 12 million years ago. Inha-lation of large amounts of volcanic ash almost certainly caused thedeaths of the Ashfall victims.

Most of the animals which lived here survived the actual ash fallfrom a volcano in southwest Idaho which spread a blanket of ashover a very large area, but as they continued to graze on the ashcovered grasses, their lungs began to fill up with the abrasive pow-der. Soon their lungs became severely damaged and they beganto die. Undisturbed except by the occasional scavenging meat-eater, the skeletons of these animals are preserved in their deathpositions, complete with evidence of their last meals in theirmouths and stomachs and their last steps preserved in the sand-stone below.

If you've never been to Ashfall, this educational park is well worthexperiencing. And if you've been there before, go and check outthe new expanded Hubbard Rhino Barn. You'll be glad you did.For more information check out their website: http://www.ashfall.unl.edu.

References:2009 University Of Nebraska State Museum/Royal, Nebraska/

[email protected] / Rick Otto, Superintendent/A CooperativeProject of the University of Nebraska State Museum & Ne-braska Game Fish and Parks Commission

Mike Voorhies, emeritus curator of vertebrate paleontology Univer-sity of Nebraska State Museum /· Museum Notes No. 81, Feb.1992, http://ashfall.unl.edu/life_death.html

"Ashfall State Park", Posted: Thursday, November 27, 2008 /Copyright 2009 siouxcityjournal.com

"Groundbreaking set for Hubbard Rhino Barn", By the LincolnJournal Star, Wednesday, June 4, 2008, http://journalstar.com/articles/2008/06/05/news/nebraska/ doc484713

From Rock Dust 6/12 via The Rock Collector 6/12 via Stratagems, 7/12(Thanks, Dennis Chapman, Editor)


Fig. 7

Fig. 6

22¢¢ OFOF A ADVICEDVICE ONON S STINGINGTINGING I INSECTSNSECTS FROM A DEAR OKIE FRIEND

This information is something to remember as summer wears on. It might be wise to carry a penny in your pocket while working inthe yard or hunting rocks in the wild.......... BEE STINGS!

A couple of weeks ago, I was stung by both a bee and hornet while working in the garden.

My arm swelled up, so I went to the doctor. The clinic gave me cream and an antihistamine. The next day theswelling was getting progressively worse, so I went to my regular doctor. The arm was infected and needed an antibi-otic. The doctor told me - "The next time you get stung, put a penny on the bite for 15 minutes".

That night my niece was stung by two bees. I looked at the sting, and it had already started to swell. So, I taped a pennyto her arm for 15 minutes. The next morning, there was no sign of a sting. We decided that she just wasn't allergic to thesting.

Soon, I was gardening outside. I got stung again, twice by a hornet on my left hand. I thought, here I go again tothe doctor for another antibiotic.

I promptly got my money out and taped two pennies to my bites, then sat and sulked for 15 minutes. The pennies took the stringout of the bite immediately.

In the mean time, the hornets were attacking, and my friend was stung on the thumb. Again the penny. The next morning I couldonly see the spot where the hornet had stung me. No redness; no swelling. My friend's sting was the same; couldn't even tell whereshe had been stung. (I suppose this would also work on wasps and yellow jackets!)

She got stung again a few days later upon her back---cutting the grass! And the penny worked once again.

Wanted to share this marvelous information in case you experience the same problem. We need to keep a stockof pennies on hand. The doctor said that the copper in the penny counteracts the bite. It definitely works!

Please remember and pass this information on to your friends, children, grandchildren.

TTAKINGAKING Y YOUROUR K KITCHENITCHEN C CAMPINGAMPING Don Monroe, SFMS Safety Committee, Lodestar, 7/12

Many of us like to do serious camping when we are on a rockhounding expedition. In many cases this camping involves living theway we did when we were Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts and truly camped. Ann and I really enjoy this life style, but there are cau-

tions that we must observe.

Cleanliness is mandatory. This means you must wash your hands often using soap which we may not havedone religiously in the scouts. Other things we need to remember include the following: Use multiple cutting boards (two or more) and, if necessary, get some of the disposable cutting boards. Always turn your pot lids upside down so that you do not pick up dirt or germs from your work area. Keep your knives clean. A close examination of the junction between the knife blade and knife handle

will often show you some nasty stuff. When preparing any kind of drink, wash your oranges, limes and lemons. You really don’t know who

has handled the produce. Do you go places that have picnic tables? All of them are not clean, and you are wise to use some sort of

cover. Disposable covers are inexpensive and can prevent a problem. Paper plates, paper napkins, and plastic forks, knives, andspoons can often be a wise investment.

Be aware of your refrigeration needs. Fish and other seafood can cause a variety of digestive problems. We prefer to cook meatbefore we leave home or freeze all meat before departing. Buying small quantities of food and being aware ofthe dates on food can be important. It is common to find dates on bottled water. Do you sometimes wind up eating food prepared by other folks? This is not usually a problem, but itemsserved a picnic are really an unknown factor. Dishes that contain eggs may not do well on a hot day. If you are a true woodsman and like to pick unusual things growing in the woods, you really need to be awareof what you are planning to eat. I have first-hand knowledge of situations where consuming such items as mush-rooms, watercress, wild onions & garlic, and other greens can result in a really unpleasant gastric disturbance.

The purpose of this article is certainly not to dissuade anyone from camping and living off the land, but we do wantall of our friends to stay well.

BBENCHENCH T TIPSIPS BYBY B BRADRAD S SMITHMITH MORE TIPS AVAILABLE FROM BRAD SMITH ATGROUPS.YAHOO.COM/GROUP/BENCHTIPS

RAISING A CABOCHON

W hen a cabochon sits too low in a bezel, the bezel hides a lot of the stone. Solution is to either sand down the bezel height orboost up the stone. Question is what do you use to elevate your cab? I was taught to use fine sawdust but now think that

there is a better solution, especially for use in rings. I reason that rings will frequently get wet, which would cause the sawdust to swellin size and push the stone against the bezel. Then when the sawdust dries out, the stone would be a little loose. In any case, I nowprefer pieces of plastic sheet to boost up my stones. Pieces are readily available from product packaging or from old credit cards. Ijust cut a piece to loosely fit the bezel and drop in the stone (with some dental floss) to check its height.

CUTTING A BOLT

W henever you have to cut a threaded bolt shorter, it's al-ways difficult to get the nut to thread back onto it. And the smaller thebolt, the more difficult this is. The problem is easily solved by screwing a nut onto the bolt before cutting it.

So here's how to do it. Screw a nut onto the bolt, grip the bolt by the piece to be sawed off, saw the bolt to the de-siredlength, taper the end with sandpaper or file, and unscrew the nut from the bolt. Unscrewing the nut over the freshly cut endof the bolt straightens out any damage to the threads. Gripping the bolt by the piece to be sawed off localizes any crushingdamage to the piece you're throwing away.

SMOOTHING EARWIRES

Next time you make your own earwires, the hardest part for me is to sand and polish the end that's inserted into the ear. Anysharp edge there is no fun. I've tried using sanding sticks, cup burs, and silicone polishing wheels. I've tried buffing on a Zam

wheel, and I've tried spinning the wire in the Foredom to polish the tip. While all of these techniques do eventually work, none are veryeasy, and none are as fast as I'd like.

Then it occurred to me - I could melt the wire smooth. One quick touch in the flame of the propane/oxygen Little Torchdoes the trick - not enough to form a bead on the wire but just enough to round off the tip. It's best to practice the maneu-ver a couple times on some scrap wire before trying it on completed earrings.

SSYNTHETICYNTHETIC OROR N NATURALATURAL G GEMSTONESEMSTONES——SSOMEOME D DEFINITIONSEFINITIONS

Synthetic gemstones have the same properties as natural gems, but they are created in a laboratory. Lab gems are becoming morecommon and more popular throughout the jewelry industry. It's important to educate yourself about synthetic gemstones so that

you understand what you are buying when you purchase jewelry.

What Are Natural Gemstones? Natural gemstones are delivered to us courtesy of nature, with no interference from humans. By thetime they appear in our jewelry they've been cut or polished, but they've not been treated or altered in other ways.

What Are Genuine Gemstones? A genuine gemstones is the real thing, but isn't naturalanymore if it was treated in some way to enhance its appearance. A large percentage ofgemstones are treated to enhance their appearance. The enhancements allow jewelrymanufacturers to improve the look of stones that consumers wouldn't otherwise purchase.Treated gemstones are genuine, but they are no longer considered natural. If naturally"perfect" stones were the only ones available, most of us couldn't afford them.

What Are Synthetic Gemstones? Synthetic and Simulant are terminology used by theUSBM for laboratory grown gemstones. Others in the gemstone industry may use differentterms to refer to laboratory grown gemstones. Laboratory grown "synthetic" gemstoneshave essentially the same appearance and optical, physical, and chemical properties as the natural material that they represent.Laboratory grown "Simulant" gemstones have an appearance similar to that of a natural gemstone but have different optical, physical,and chemical properties. Additionally, certain colors of "synthetic" sapphire and spinel, used to represent other gemstones, would beclassed as "Simulants." Colored and colorless varieties of cubic zirconia are the major "Simulants" produced. Lab Created, LabGrown, and Synthetic are synonymous terms. To use any of these terms, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), thegemstone must be identical to the natural in every way. Composition, Hardness, and Optically.

There are a lot of sellers on the internet, who try and denote a difference in these terms, but according to the FTC they are identicalterms. The FTC is very clear on the use of the term Lab or Laboratory Created. The stone must be identical to the natural in everyway. Here's the quote from the FTC guidelines for gemstone sales for your reference. "(c) It is unfair or deceptive to use the word"laboratory-grown," "laboratory-created," "[manufacturer name]-created," or "synthetic" with the name of any natural stone to describeany industry product unless such industry product has essentially the same optical, physical, and chemical properties as the stonenamed."

From Stony Statements 9/08, via The Rock Collector 10/08, via Shawnee Slate, 5/12 (Thanks, Llewellyn Alspach, Editor)


Fig. 7

Fig. 6

22¢¢ OFOF A ADVICEDVICE ONON S STINGINGTINGING I INSECTSNSECTS FROM A DEAR OKIE FRIEND

This information is something to remember as summer wears on. It might be wise to carry a penny in your pocket while working inthe yard or hunting rocks in the wild.......... BEE STINGS!

A couple of weeks ago, I was stung by both a bee and hornet while working in the garden.

My arm swelled up, so I went to the doctor. The clinic gave me cream and an antihistamine. The next day theswelling was getting progressively worse, so I went to my regular doctor. The arm was infected and needed an antibi-otic. The doctor told me - "The next time you get stung, put a penny on the bite for 15 minutes".

That night my niece was stung by two bees. I looked at the sting, and it had already started to swell. So, I taped a pennyto her arm for 15 minutes. The next morning, there was no sign of a sting. We decided that she just wasn't allergic to thesting.

Soon, I was gardening outside. I got stung again, twice by a hornet on my left hand. I thought, here I go again tothe doctor for another antibiotic.

I promptly got my money out and taped two pennies to my bites, then sat and sulked for 15 minutes. The pennies took the stringout of the bite immediately.

In the mean time, the hornets were attacking, and my friend was stung on the thumb. Again the penny. The next morning I couldonly see the spot where the hornet had stung me. No redness; no swelling. My friend's sting was the same; couldn't even tell whereshe had been stung. (I suppose this would also work on wasps and yellow jackets!)

She got stung again a few days later upon her back---cutting the grass! And the penny worked once again.

Wanted to share this marvelous information in case you experience the same problem. We need to keep a stockof pennies on hand. The doctor said that the copper in the penny counteracts the bite. It definitely works!

Please remember and pass this information on to your friends, children, grandchildren.

TTAKINGAKING Y YOUROUR K KITCHENITCHEN C CAMPINGAMPING Don Monroe, SFMS Safety Committee, Lodestar, 7/12

Many of us like to do serious camping when we are on a rockhounding expedition. In many cases this camping involves living theway we did when we were Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts and truly camped. Ann and I really enjoy this life style, but there are cau-

tions that we must observe.

Cleanliness is mandatory. This means you must wash your hands often using soap which we may not havedone religiously in the scouts. Other things we need to remember include the following: Use multiple cutting boards (two or more) and, if necessary, get some of the disposable cutting boards. Always turn your pot lids upside down so that you do not pick up dirt or germs from your work area. Keep your knives clean. A close examination of the junction between the knife blade and knife handle

will often show you some nasty stuff. When preparing any kind of drink, wash your oranges, limes and lemons. You really don’t know who

has handled the produce. Do you go places that have picnic tables? All of them are not clean, and you are wise to use some sort of

cover. Disposable covers are inexpensive and can prevent a problem. Paper plates, paper napkins, and plastic forks, knives, andspoons can often be a wise investment.

Be aware of your refrigeration needs. Fish and other seafood can cause a variety of digestive problems. We prefer to cook meatbefore we leave home or freeze all meat before departing. Buying small quantities of food and being aware ofthe dates on food can be important. It is common to find dates on bottled water. Do you sometimes wind up eating food prepared by other folks? This is not usually a problem, but itemsserved a picnic are really an unknown factor. Dishes that contain eggs may not do well on a hot day. If you are a true woodsman and like to pick unusual things growing in the woods, you really need to be awareof what you are planning to eat. I have first-hand knowledge of situations where consuming such items as mush-rooms, watercress, wild onions & garlic, and other greens can result in a really unpleasant gastric disturbance.

The purpose of this article is certainly not to dissuade anyone from camping and living off the land, but we do wantall of our friends to stay well.

BBENCHENCH T TIPSIPS BYBY B BRADRAD S SMITHMITH MORE TIPS AVAILABLE FROM BRAD SMITH ATGROUPS.YAHOO.COM/GROUP/BENCHTIPS

RAISING A CABOCHON

W hen a cabochon sits too low in a bezel, the bezel hides a lot of the stone. Solution is to either sand down the bezel height orboost up the stone. Question is what do you use to elevate your cab? I was taught to use fine sawdust but now think that

there is a better solution, especially for use in rings. I reason that rings will frequently get wet, which would cause the sawdust to swellin size and push the stone against the bezel. Then when the sawdust dries out, the stone would be a little loose. In any case, I nowprefer pieces of plastic sheet to boost up my stones. Pieces are readily available from product packaging or from old credit cards. Ijust cut a piece to loosely fit the bezel and drop in the stone (with some dental floss) to check its height.

CUTTING A BOLT

W henever you have to cut a threaded bolt shorter, it's al-ways difficult to get the nut to thread back onto it. And the smaller thebolt, the more difficult this is. The problem is easily solved by screwing a nut onto the bolt before cutting it.

So here's how to do it. Screw a nut onto the bolt, grip the bolt by the piece to be sawed off, saw the bolt to the de-siredlength, taper the end with sandpaper or file, and unscrew the nut from the bolt. Unscrewing the nut over the freshly cut endof the bolt straightens out any damage to the threads. Gripping the bolt by the piece to be sawed off localizes any crushingdamage to the piece you're throwing away.

SMOOTHING EARWIRES

Next time you make your own earwires, the hardest part for me is to sand and polish the end that's inserted into the ear. Anysharp edge there is no fun. I've tried using sanding sticks, cup burs, and silicone polishing wheels. I've tried buffing on a Zam

wheel, and I've tried spinning the wire in the Foredom to polish the tip. While all of these techniques do eventually work, none are veryeasy, and none are as fast as I'd like.

Then it occurred to me - I could melt the wire smooth. One quick touch in the flame of the propane/oxygen Little Torchdoes the trick - not enough to form a bead on the wire but just enough to round off the tip. It's best to practice the maneu-ver a couple times on some scrap wire before trying it on completed earrings.

SSYNTHETICYNTHETIC OROR N NATURALATURAL G GEMSTONESEMSTONES——SSOMEOME D DEFINITIONSEFINITIONS

Synthetic gemstones have the same properties as natural gems, but they are created in a laboratory. Lab gems are becoming morecommon and more popular throughout the jewelry industry. It's important to educate yourself about synthetic gemstones so that

you understand what you are buying when you purchase jewelry.

What Are Natural Gemstones? Natural gemstones are delivered to us courtesy of nature, with no interference from humans. By thetime they appear in our jewelry they've been cut or polished, but they've not been treated or altered in other ways.

What Are Genuine Gemstones? A genuine gemstones is the real thing, but isn't naturalanymore if it was treated in some way to enhance its appearance. A large percentage ofgemstones are treated to enhance their appearance. The enhancements allow jewelrymanufacturers to improve the look of stones that consumers wouldn't otherwise purchase.Treated gemstones are genuine, but they are no longer considered natural. If naturally"perfect" stones were the only ones available, most of us couldn't afford them.

What Are Synthetic Gemstones? Synthetic and Simulant are terminology used by theUSBM for laboratory grown gemstones. Others in the gemstone industry may use differentterms to refer to laboratory grown gemstones. Laboratory grown "synthetic" gemstoneshave essentially the same appearance and optical, physical, and chemical properties as the natural material that they represent.Laboratory grown "Simulant" gemstones have an appearance similar to that of a natural gemstone but have different optical, physical,and chemical properties. Additionally, certain colors of "synthetic" sapphire and spinel, used to represent other gemstones, would beclassed as "Simulants." Colored and colorless varieties of cubic zirconia are the major "Simulants" produced. Lab Created, LabGrown, and Synthetic are synonymous terms. To use any of these terms, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), thegemstone must be identical to the natural in every way. Composition, Hardness, and Optically.

There are a lot of sellers on the internet, who try and denote a difference in these terms, but according to the FTC they are identicalterms. The FTC is very clear on the use of the term Lab or Laboratory Created. The stone must be identical to the natural in everyway. Here's the quote from the FTC guidelines for gemstone sales for your reference. "(c) It is unfair or deceptive to use the word"laboratory-grown," "laboratory-created," "[manufacturer name]-created," or "synthetic" with the name of any natural stone to describeany industry product unless such industry product has essentially the same optical, physical, and chemical properties as the stonenamed."

From Stony Statements 9/08, via The Rock Collector 10/08, via Shawnee Slate, 5/12 (Thanks, Llewellyn Alspach, Editor)


To have your RMFMS member club sponsored event listed here,email [email protected]. You may include other infoabout your show if you wish but will only be printed as spacepermits.All RMFMS clubs are also encouraged to register theirevent listings on the RMFMS web site at:www.rmfms.org. Email your submissions to the Web-master at [email protected].

August 3-5, 2012 Prescott, AZPrescott Gem Mineral Club’s 9th Annual Show andSale, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, 3700 WillowCreek Rd; contact: Judy Sullins, www.prescottgemmin-eral.org.August 17-18, 2012 Lake George, COLake George Gem & Mineral Club, US 24 next to Post Office;contact Dan Alfrey, 719-440-6234 [email protected] 17-18, 2012 Tahlequah, OKTahlequah 2012 Rock & Mineral Show & Sale, 9a-6p, 300 W1st St, Tahlequah, OK; contact Sara (918) 284-5770 orMaxine (918) 456-8198.September 1-3, 2012 Silver City, NMGrant Co. Rolling Stones Gem & Mineral Society; contactMarcia Andre, 575-534-0006, [email protected] 14-16, 2012 Enid, OKEnid Gem & Mineral Society, Oakwood Mall, Enid; contactBilly Wood, 580-234-5344, [email protected] 24-30, 2012 Idabel, OKMcCurtain Gem & Mineral Club show, Museum of the RedRiver, Idabel; contact Cephis Hall, (580) 494-6612September 28-30, 2012 Tooele, UT400 N. 400 West St., Toole, UT; contact Craig McKee, (435)884-6059.September 28-29, 2012 Bismarck, NDCentral Dakota Gem & Mineral Society; contact Susan Ger-enz, 701-400-7440, [email protected] 30-October 1, 2012 Roswell, NMCharparral Rockhounds show, Convention & Civic Center,10th & Main, Roswell; contact Jeri House, (575) 622-3688,[email protected]

October 13-14, 2012 Grand Junction, COGrand Junction Gem & Mineral Club, Two Rivers ConventionCenter; contact Wayne McMaken, 970-255-8374,

[email protected] 13-14, 2012 Moab, UTMoab Points & Pebbles Club show, Old Spanish TrailArena, 3641 S. Hwy 191, Moab; contact Jerry Hansen,(435) 259-3393, [email protected] 13-14, 2012 Sierra Vista, AZHuachuca Mineral & Gem Club, contact Maudie Bailey,

520-378-6291, [email protected] 13-14, 2012 Topeka, KSTopeka Gem & Mineral Society, Kansas Expocenter AG Hall,17th & Topeka Blvd; contact Mike cote, 785-220-3272,[email protected] 20, 2012 Riley, KSNorth Central Kansas Rock & Gem Club Swap Meet, 9:30a—4:30p; contact Martin Weber at 785-763-4316 [email protected] 10-11, 2012 Lake Havasu City, AZ(May change to February 2013) Lake Havasu City Gem &Mineral Soceity, Lake Havasu Aquatic CenterNovember 17-18, 2012 Littleton, COLittleton Gem & Mineral Club; contact Keith Sheel, 303-750-0763, [email protected] 17-18, 2012 Payson, AZPayson Rimstones Rock Club, Mazatzal Casino, Payson, AZ;contact Margaret Jones, 928-476-3513, [email protected] 24-25, 2012 Wickenburg, AZWickenburg Gem & Mineral Society, Wickenburg CommunityCity, contact Beth Myerson, 928-68-0380, [email protected] 2-4, 2012 El Paso, TXEl Paso Mineral & Gem Society, El Maida Shrine, 6331 Ala-bama St; contact Jarry Bruntz.December 7-9, 2012 Boulder, COFlatirons Mineral Club, Boulder County Fairgrounds, mainexhibits hall, Longmont, CO; contact Ray Gilbert, 303-774-8468, [email protected]

Shows

andMore

WWHYHY D DOO THETHE C CIRCLEIRCLE OFOF S SAFETYAFETY W WALKALK A AROUNDROUND V VEHICLESEHICLES??GARY WARREN, CACHE GEOLOGICAL & ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Enterprise Products requires all drivers to do a Circle of Safety Walk (360 Walk AroundInspection: Safety Policy 1.10.2.3) of their vehicle prior to operating the vehicle. Below isone good reason this walk should be conducted.

In the picture shown, one can see this young child in the wheel well of the truck. A crew work-ing for a utility company found this child while conducting a CIRCLE OF SAFETY of the com-pany truck that the crew members were driving. It is hard to imagine what would have hap-pened if the employee had jumped in the truck and driven off without doing a walk aroundinspection. Please share this eye opening, bone chilling photo and experience with your co-workers and family members.

This same work crew has also reported children climbing into the back of company vehicles.Keep in mind children will be out of school on summer break soon so keep a watch out forthem.

Follow Enterprise Products policy of walking around your vehicle prior to operating it. Hope-fully you will never experience this situation, but if you do, you just saved a child’s life!

Work safe … work smart … work hard.

you will – is to give yourself a safety cushion. There are two safety cushions that make sense. The first involves time. Give yourselfextra time to get where you need to go – to allow for unexpectedly heavy traffic, changing weather conditions or other incidents alongthe road. The second involves distance. Leave a cushion of about ¼-mile between you and the vehicles ahead. Make sure you havea way out in case you need to make a quick maneuver.

Be prepared with water, food and other essentials. You may not expect to get stranded, but the possibility isthere. It’s better to be prepared by bringing along plenty of water for you and your passengers, along with non-perishable food and snacks, blankets, road emergency medical kit and other essentials. Remember that unex-pected warm or cool weather this summer can necessitate appropriate precautions.

Be safe around big trucks. First, remember that big rigs have blind spots. If you can’t see the truck driver inhis or her mirrors, then the truck driver can’t see you either. Second, don’t cut in front of big trucks. Largetrucks are heavier and take longer to make a complete stop, so it’s important to avoid cutting quickly in frontof them. Keep this in mind. A fully-loaded tractor trailer takes the length of a football field and both endzones to come to a complete stop when traveling at highway speeds.

MMOREORE D DRIVINGRIVING S SAFETYAFETY T TIPSIPS ((ESPECIALLYESPECIALLY FORFOR HOLIDAYHOLIDAY WEEKENDWEEKEND TRIPSTRIPS))Inspect before you go. Make sure you inspect your car thoroughly before you head out on that road trip – even if you’re only goingalong a route you have traveled many times before or it’s less than 50 miles. Remember to check the brake system, filters and fluids,hoses and belts, tires for proper air pressure and tread, condition of windshield wiper blades, and the gas cap (to make sure it fitstightly, isn’t damaged or missing). Just using some simple maintenance as a precaution can help avert a potentially dangerous situa-tion somewhere down the road.

Plan out your trip. Don’t be that indecisive driver who makes the last-minute swerve to take an exit. Not only could you jeopardizeyour safety and that of everyone in your car, but you could be contributing to a major traffic tie-up or worse. Know exactly whereyou’re going by taking a few minutes to plan out your trip in advance. If you will need to stop for gas, map it out and check.

Buckle Up. Make sure everyone in the car buckles up. It’s not just the driver and front seat passenger who need to buckle up. Be-fore you depart on your road trip, check to ensure that everyone in your car has their seat belt securely fastened. Remember thatsafety belts save lives.

Be careful backing up. If you find yourself impatient, in a hurry, or just plain on automatic pilot, be careful of the tendency to forget tocheck the rearview and side mirrors before you back up. Maybe you did a quick visual sweep and then got distracted, checking yourmap or making a last-minute phone call before you set out. In those few seconds, another vehicle or a pedestrian could be in yourblind spot or directly behind you. In fact, experts say that one in four preventable collisions involve backing up. As a precaution, do awalk-around your car before you get in. (Editor’s Note: Even backing out of a parking spacecan cause damage. I was ‘rear ended’ by such a driver last week. Just what I didn’t need –painful whiplash!!)

Stay alert and pay attention. Driving requires all your concentration. When you’re distractedby talking on a cell phone or texting, applying makeup, eating, fiddling with the radio or CDs,you’re diverting your attention from driving. That’s a dangerous habit that could get you in trou-ble and is a leading cause of crashes. Even looking away for two seconds doubles yourchance of an accident. Let others know you’re going to be unavailable while driving. Turn offcell phones and PDAs. In addition, if you’re driving a long distance, have someone spell you fora bit or get out and stretch your legs at a rest stop or restaurant. Do not continue to travel ifyou’re sleepy or tired.

Take it slow – you’ll get there safer. Resist the temptation to make up time by going faster than the posted speed limit – even if itseems like everyone else is speeding. Drivers who speed faster than surrounding traffic triple their chances of getting into a crash.You don’t have to poke along at 10 miles under the limit. That can contribute to impatient drivers around you taking chances to pass.

Obey traffic laws. Stop signs, yield signs, construction or work zones, and traffic signals – they’re there for a reason: to help ensureeveryone’s safety. But for this to work, drivers need to obey them. Don’t think you can get away with ignoring them. That spl it-second before a crash is too late to avert what could have been prevented.

Maintain a safety cushion. One way to help ensure you arrive at your destination safely – or at least to increase the likelihood that


To have your RMFMS member club sponsored event listed here,email [email protected]. You may include other infoabout your show if you wish but will only be printed as spacepermits.All RMFMS clubs are also encouraged to register theirevent listings on the RMFMS web site at:www.rmfms.org. Email your submissions to the Web-master at [email protected].

August 3-5, 2012 Prescott, AZPrescott Gem Mineral Club’s 9th Annual Show andSale, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, 3700 WillowCreek Rd; contact: Judy Sullins, www.prescottgemmin-eral.org.August 17-18, 2012 Lake George, COLake George Gem & Mineral Club, US 24 next to Post Office;contact Dan Alfrey, 719-440-6234 [email protected] 17-18, 2012 Tahlequah, OKTahlequah 2012 Rock & Mineral Show & Sale, 9a-6p, 300 W1st St, Tahlequah, OK; contact Sara (918) 284-5770 orMaxine (918) 456-8198.September 1-3, 2012 Silver City, NMGrant Co. Rolling Stones Gem & Mineral Society; contactMarcia Andre, 575-534-0006, [email protected] 14-16, 2012 Enid, OKEnid Gem & Mineral Society, Oakwood Mall, Enid; contactBilly Wood, 580-234-5344, [email protected] 24-30, 2012 Idabel, OKMcCurtain Gem & Mineral Club show, Museum of the RedRiver, Idabel; contact Cephis Hall, (580) 494-6612September 28-30, 2012 Tooele, UT400 N. 400 West St., Toole, UT; contact Craig McKee, (435)884-6059.September 28-29, 2012 Bismarck, NDCentral Dakota Gem & Mineral Society; contact Susan Ger-enz, 701-400-7440, [email protected] 30-October 1, 2012 Roswell, NMCharparral Rockhounds show, Convention & Civic Center,10th & Main, Roswell; contact Jeri House, (575) 622-3688,[email protected]

October 13-14, 2012 Grand Junction, COGrand Junction Gem & Mineral Club, Two Rivers ConventionCenter; contact Wayne McMaken, 970-255-8374,

[email protected] 13-14, 2012 Moab, UTMoab Points & Pebbles Club show, Old Spanish TrailArena, 3641 S. Hwy 191, Moab; contact Jerry Hansen,(435) 259-3393, [email protected] 13-14, 2012 Sierra Vista, AZHuachuca Mineral & Gem Club, contact Maudie Bailey,

520-378-6291, [email protected] 13-14, 2012 Topeka, KSTopeka Gem & Mineral Society, Kansas Expocenter AG Hall,17th & Topeka Blvd; contact Mike cote, 785-220-3272,[email protected] 20, 2012 Riley, KSNorth Central Kansas Rock & Gem Club Swap Meet, 9:30a—4:30p; contact Martin Weber at 785-763-4316 [email protected] 10-11, 2012 Lake Havasu City, AZ(May change to February 2013) Lake Havasu City Gem &Mineral Soceity, Lake Havasu Aquatic CenterNovember 17-18, 2012 Littleton, COLittleton Gem & Mineral Club; contact Keith Sheel, 303-750-0763, [email protected] 17-18, 2012 Payson, AZPayson Rimstones Rock Club, Mazatzal Casino, Payson, AZ;contact Margaret Jones, 928-476-3513, [email protected] 24-25, 2012 Wickenburg, AZWickenburg Gem & Mineral Society, Wickenburg CommunityCity, contact Beth Myerson, 928-68-0380, [email protected] 2-4, 2012 El Paso, TXEl Paso Mineral & Gem Society, El Maida Shrine, 6331 Ala-bama St; contact Jarry Bruntz.December 7-9, 2012 Boulder, COFlatirons Mineral Club, Boulder County Fairgrounds, mainexhibits hall, Longmont, CO; contact Ray Gilbert, 303-774-8468, [email protected]

Shows

andMore

WWHYHY D DOO THETHE C CIRCLEIRCLE OFOF S SAFETYAFETY W WALKALK A AROUNDROUND V VEHICLESEHICLES??GARY WARREN, CACHE GEOLOGICAL & ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Enterprise Products requires all drivers to do a Circle of Safety Walk (360 Walk AroundInspection: Safety Policy 1.10.2.3) of their vehicle prior to operating the vehicle. Below isone good reason this walk should be conducted.

In the picture shown, one can see this young child in the wheel well of the truck. A crew work-ing for a utility company found this child while conducting a CIRCLE OF SAFETY of the com-pany truck that the crew members were driving. It is hard to imagine what would have hap-pened if the employee had jumped in the truck and driven off without doing a walk aroundinspection. Please share this eye opening, bone chilling photo and experience with your co-workers and family members.

This same work crew has also reported children climbing into the back of company vehicles.Keep in mind children will be out of school on summer break soon so keep a watch out forthem.

Follow Enterprise Products policy of walking around your vehicle prior to operating it. Hope-fully you will never experience this situation, but if you do, you just saved a child’s life!

Work safe … work smart … work hard.

you will – is to give yourself a safety cushion. There are two safety cushions that make sense. The first involves time. Give yourselfextra time to get where you need to go – to allow for unexpectedly heavy traffic, changing weather conditions or other incidents alongthe road. The second involves distance. Leave a cushion of about ¼-mile between you and the vehicles ahead. Make sure you havea way out in case you need to make a quick maneuver.

Be prepared with water, food and other essentials. You may not expect to get stranded, but the possibility isthere. It’s better to be prepared by bringing along plenty of water for you and your passengers, along with non-perishable food and snacks, blankets, road emergency medical kit and other essentials. Remember that unex-pected warm or cool weather this summer can necessitate appropriate precautions.

Be safe around big trucks. First, remember that big rigs have blind spots. If you can’t see the truck driver inhis or her mirrors, then the truck driver can’t see you either. Second, don’t cut in front of big trucks. Largetrucks are heavier and take longer to make a complete stop, so it’s important to avoid cutting quickly in frontof them. Keep this in mind. A fully-loaded tractor trailer takes the length of a football field and both endzones to come to a complete stop when traveling at highway speeds.

MMOREORE D DRIVINGRIVING S SAFETYAFETY T TIPSIPS ((ESPECIALLYESPECIALLY FORFOR HOLIDAYHOLIDAY WEEKENDWEEKEND TRIPSTRIPS))Inspect before you go. Make sure you inspect your car thoroughly before you head out on that road trip – even if you’re only goingalong a route you have traveled many times before or it’s less than 50 miles. Remember to check the brake system, filters and fluids,hoses and belts, tires for proper air pressure and tread, condition of windshield wiper blades, and the gas cap (to make sure it fitstightly, isn’t damaged or missing). Just using some simple maintenance as a precaution can help avert a potentially dangerous situa-tion somewhere down the road.

Plan out your trip. Don’t be that indecisive driver who makes the last-minute swerve to take an exit. Not only could you jeopardizeyour safety and that of everyone in your car, but you could be contributing to a major traffic tie-up or worse. Know exactly whereyou’re going by taking a few minutes to plan out your trip in advance. If you will need to stop for gas, map it out and check.

Buckle Up. Make sure everyone in the car buckles up. It’s not just the driver and front seat passenger who need to buckle up. Be-fore you depart on your road trip, check to ensure that everyone in your car has their seat belt securely fastened. Remember thatsafety belts save lives.

Be careful backing up. If you find yourself impatient, in a hurry, or just plain on automatic pilot, be careful of the tendency to forget tocheck the rearview and side mirrors before you back up. Maybe you did a quick visual sweep and then got distracted, checking yourmap or making a last-minute phone call before you set out. In those few seconds, another vehicle or a pedestrian could be in yourblind spot or directly behind you. In fact, experts say that one in four preventable collisions involve backing up. As a precaution, do awalk-around your car before you get in. (Editor’s Note: Even backing out of a parking spacecan cause damage. I was ‘rear ended’ by such a driver last week. Just what I didn’t need –painful whiplash!!)

Stay alert and pay attention. Driving requires all your concentration. When you’re distractedby talking on a cell phone or texting, applying makeup, eating, fiddling with the radio or CDs,you’re diverting your attention from driving. That’s a dangerous habit that could get you in trou-ble and is a leading cause of crashes. Even looking away for two seconds doubles yourchance of an accident. Let others know you’re going to be unavailable while driving. Turn offcell phones and PDAs. In addition, if you’re driving a long distance, have someone spell you fora bit or get out and stretch your legs at a rest stop or restaurant. Do not continue to travel ifyou’re sleepy or tired.

Take it slow – you’ll get there safer. Resist the temptation to make up time by going faster than the posted speed limit – even if itseems like everyone else is speeding. Drivers who speed faster than surrounding traffic triple their chances of getting into a crash.You don’t have to poke along at 10 miles under the limit. That can contribute to impatient drivers around you taking chances to pass.

Obey traffic laws. Stop signs, yield signs, construction or work zones, and traffic signals – they’re there for a reason: to help ensureeveryone’s safety. But for this to work, drivers need to obey them. Don’t think you can get away with ignoring them. That spl it-second before a crash is too late to avert what could have been prevented.

Maintain a safety cushion. One way to help ensure you arrive at your destination safely – or at least to increase the likelihood that


PresidentDeLane Cox8152 Spanker Ridge Dr.Bentonville, AR [email protected]

Vice PresidentDebbie LeschnerHC60 Box 512Quemado, NM [email protected]

SecretaryPeggy Maggard8418 SE Hwy 77Leon, KS [email protected]

TreasurerGene MaggardSee Peggy Maggard

HistorianCinda Kunkler210 NE35th StTopeka, KS [email protected]

Bill SmithPO. Box 311Hardtner, KS [email protected] Nowak2805 Sage DrEnid, OK [email protected]

ArizonaVacantColoradoBeth Simmons1420 S. ReedLakewood, CO [email protected] Koerper1644 Valleyview CourtWichita, KS [email protected] Mexico/TexasRobert L. Carlson1585 Los PueblosLos Alamos, NM [email protected] DakotaRay Oliger516 N 20th StBismarck, ND [email protected]

Oklahoma/ArkansasVirgil Richards26815 51st StBroken Arrow, OK [email protected] Dakota/NebraskaSony HemscherPO Box 376Piedmont, SD [email protected] Burchard875 E. 4500 S.S. Ogden, UT [email protected] McGarveyPO Box 116Kinnear, WY [email protected]

CirculationBill CainAddress on page 2Convention AdvisoryRobert L CarlsonSee NM/TX State DirectorFinanceRobert Haines, Chair104 S. Brookside St.Wichita, KS 67218316.683.9021Wayne Cox8152 Spanker Ridge Dr.Bentonville, AR [email protected] TechMike Snively8495 W. Starr CircleLittleton, CO [email protected] TechJim Hurlbut2240 S AdamsDenver, CO [email protected] Beck, Chair3021 E Country Club RdSaline, KS [email protected] Jaeger3515 E 88th StTulsa, OK [email protected] NowakSee Past PresidentsProgram LibraryJennifer Biddle1620 Kingsway StSapulpa, OK [email protected]

Public RelationsVacantPublication/EditorBetty CainAddress on page 2SafetyVacantWebmasterJennifer BiddleSee Program LibraryWebmaster ContestBrian Paterson203 Saddle Mountain RdColorado Springs, CO [email protected]

BoundariesRobert L CarsonSee NM/TX State Director

CredentialsVacantDirectoryKay Waterman1334 N. McFarland PlaceClaremore, OK [email protected] Club Rockhound ofthe Year Award (ACROY)Bill CainAddress on page 2All American ClubDan AlfreyPO Box 4164Woodland Park, CO [email protected] TechnicalPete Modreski3555 Mill StWheat Ridge, CO [email protected] TechnicalRoger Burkhalter16560 E. Maguire RdNoble, OK [email protected] Burkhalter1267 Kingbird LaneChoctaw, OK [email protected] RelationsMike Nelson645 Popes Valley DrColo. Springs, CO [email protected] ProgramDiane C Weir2300 S Union AveRoswell, NM [email protected] PlanningJudy Beck, ChairSee NominationsRichard JaegerSee Nominations

Robert L CarlsonSee Convention AdvisoryName BadgesRichard JaegerSee NominationsParliamentarianGene MaggardSee TreasurerPermanent AddressRobert CarlsonSee NM/TX State Director

Program ContestJennifer BiddleSee Program LibraryRibbonsVacantScholarshipSandy Cannedy15071 County Rd 1170Binger, Okla. [email protected] Blanton728 E. Sand Dunes Dr.Sandy, UT [email protected] L. CarlsonSee NM/TX State Director

ArizonaBill Jaeger3441 E Astro StHereford, AZ [email protected] Kilb3411 Tomahawk DrLake Havasu City, AZ [email protected] Austin2918 Plymouth RdGrand Junction, CO [email protected] Nelson645 Popes Valley DrColo. Springs, CO [email protected] Nelson645 Popes Valley DrColo. Springs, CO [email protected] Meininger50029 Sunflower RoadMitchell, NE [email protected]

N Mexico/TexasYonis Lone EaglePO Box 1975Bloomfield, NM [email protected]

N DakotaRodney Hickle1631 28th Ave SWCentral, ND 58530701.794.3342Oklahoma/ArkansasBill Lyon112 N. Hillcrest StAda, OK [email protected] Perkins405 SE Ave G IIdabel, OK [email protected] DakotaJan Baumeister19702 E Hwy 18 Sp 56Welton, AZ [email protected] Alexander360 5th StOgden, UT [email protected] McGarveySee WY State Director

Lee Whitebay, Chair4669 N Prentice RdPonca City, OK [email protected]. Jay Bowman191 Bowman RdPonca City, OK [email protected] BurkhalterSee Fossil TechnicalRobert CarlsonSee NM/TX State DirectorJack Thompson1830 Mesita Ct.Colo. Springs, CO 80906719.636.2978

Updated 6/11/12

STANDING COMMITTEES

PAST PRESIDENTS

RMFMS Officers, Executive Committee, and Committee Chairpersons 2012/2013OFFICERS

STATE DIRECTORS

SPECIAL COMMITTEES

PUBLIC LAND ADVISORYUNIFORM RULES

COMMITTEE

Committees areappointed by the Presi-

dent.

Ofcrs & State Directorsare elected by the Dele-

gates.

Executive Committeeconsists of Officers,

State Directors, and 2immediate Past Presi-

dents

2012 WILDACRES WORKSHOP CLASS SCHEDULE2012 WILDACRES WORKSHOP CLASS SCHEDULEGo to http://www.amfed.org/sfms/_pdf/Lodestar_july2012.pdf for the registration form.

Workshop StaffWildacres Director, Julia Larson

204 37th Ave North, #250St. Petersburg, FL 33704

727-522-1254Email: [email protected]

William Holland Directors, Denise & Carl Talbott216 Spring View Drive

Murphy, NC 28906828-494-7213

Email: [email protected]

Wildacres Registrars, David and Leslie Wayment8802 N US Hwy 1 Suite 10

Sebastian, FL 32958Phone 772-532-6432


William Holland Registrar, Joe & Addy De PietroP.O. Box 928,

Frostproof, FL 33843Cell 863-241-9559

[email protected]

Education Chairman , Kathy Morris551 Grayce Lane

Hiawassee, GA 30546706-896-3256252-571-5050

Email:[email protected]

The intermediate and advanced classes listed with an asterisk (*) require some priorexperience by the student. Experience in a class provided by your local club, Work-shop class or self study may be enough.

SESSION THREE - WILDACRESMONDAY, September 10 - 16, 2012

SESSION FOUR - WILLIAM HOLLANDSUNDAY, October 7-12, 2012

Beading 4 Holidays Barbara Green

Cabochons Pat Davis

Chain, Beg. Marilou Hillen-brand

Faceting Steve Hillenbrand

Fused Glass, Beginning Rich Dillon

Mineral ID Scott Forward

Silver, Filigree Shannon Stafford

Stone Setting Don Roberts

Wire for Beaders Leslie Wayment

Beading,Seed

Barbara Green

Beading Becky Patellis

Cabochons Jerry Mason

Casting Joe DePietro

Channeling Don & Ann Monroe

Faceting Bill Roberts

Lampworking Cindy Reed


Opals Sarah Lee Boyce & Carl Talbott

Polymer Clay Carolyn Stearns

Silver I Mac Thornton

Silver Filigree Paige Warrick & Shannon Stafford

SESSION TWO - WILDACRESMONDAY, August 20 - 26, 2012

Cabochons Anita Westlake

Digital Photography Ron Gibs

Metalsmithing – Adv.* Jeff Sheer


Raku Beads Jim Cullen

Scrimshaw Bill Wetzel

Silver I Annette Gibney

Wire – Beg. Rowan Rose


PresidentDeLane Cox8152 Spanker Ridge Dr.Bentonville, AR [email protected]

Vice PresidentDebbie LeschnerHC60 Box 512Quemado, NM [email protected]

SecretaryPeggy Maggard8418 SE Hwy 77Leon, KS [email protected]

TreasurerGene MaggardSee Peggy Maggard

HistorianCinda Kunkler210 NE35th StTopeka, KS [email protected]

Bill SmithPO. Box 311Hardtner, KS [email protected] Nowak2805 Sage DrEnid, OK [email protected]

ArizonaVacantColoradoBeth Simmons1420 S. ReedLakewood, CO [email protected] Koerper1644 Valleyview CourtWichita, KS [email protected] Mexico/TexasRobert L. Carlson1585 Los PueblosLos Alamos, NM [email protected] DakotaRay Oliger516 N 20th StBismarck, ND [email protected]

Oklahoma/ArkansasVirgil Richards26815 51st StBroken Arrow, OK [email protected] Dakota/NebraskaSony HemscherPO Box 376Piedmont, SD [email protected] Burchard875 E. 4500 S.S. Ogden, UT [email protected] McGarveyPO Box 116Kinnear, WY [email protected]

CirculationBill CainAddress on page 2Convention AdvisoryRobert L CarlsonSee NM/TX State DirectorFinanceRobert Haines, Chair104 S. Brookside St.Wichita, KS 67218316.683.9021Wayne Cox8152 Spanker Ridge Dr.Bentonville, AR [email protected] TechMike Snively8495 W. Starr CircleLittleton, CO [email protected] TechJim Hurlbut2240 S AdamsDenver, CO [email protected] Beck, Chair3021 E Country Club RdSaline, KS [email protected] Jaeger3515 E 88th StTulsa, OK [email protected] NowakSee Past PresidentsProgram LibraryJennifer Biddle1620 Kingsway StSapulpa, OK [email protected]

Public RelationsVacantPublication/EditorBetty CainAddress on page 2SafetyVacantWebmasterJennifer BiddleSee Program LibraryWebmaster ContestBrian Paterson203 Saddle Mountain RdColorado Springs, CO [email protected]

BoundariesRobert L CarsonSee NM/TX State Director

CredentialsVacantDirectoryKay Waterman1334 N. McFarland PlaceClaremore, OK [email protected] Club Rockhound ofthe Year Award (ACROY)Bill CainAddress on page 2All American ClubDan AlfreyPO Box 4164Woodland Park, CO [email protected] TechnicalPete Modreski3555 Mill StWheat Ridge, CO [email protected] TechnicalRoger Burkhalter16560 E. Maguire RdNoble, OK [email protected] Burkhalter1267 Kingbird LaneChoctaw, OK [email protected] RelationsMike Nelson645 Popes Valley DrColo. Springs, CO [email protected] ProgramDiane C Weir2300 S Union AveRoswell, NM [email protected] PlanningJudy Beck, ChairSee NominationsRichard JaegerSee Nominations

Robert L CarlsonSee Convention AdvisoryName BadgesRichard JaegerSee NominationsParliamentarianGene MaggardSee TreasurerPermanent AddressRobert CarlsonSee NM/TX State Director

Program ContestJennifer BiddleSee Program LibraryRibbonsVacantScholarshipSandy Cannedy15071 County Rd 1170Binger, Okla. [email protected] Blanton728 E. Sand Dunes Dr.Sandy, UT [email protected] L. CarlsonSee NM/TX State Director

ArizonaBill Jaeger3441 E Astro StHereford, AZ [email protected] Kilb3411 Tomahawk DrLake Havasu City, AZ [email protected] Austin2918 Plymouth RdGrand Junction, CO [email protected] Nelson645 Popes Valley DrColo. Springs, CO [email protected] Nelson645 Popes Valley DrColo. Springs, CO [email protected] Meininger50029 Sunflower RoadMitchell, NE [email protected]

N Mexico/TexasYonis Lone EaglePO Box 1975Bloomfield, NM [email protected]

N DakotaRodney Hickle1631 28th Ave SWCentral, ND 58530701.794.3342Oklahoma/ArkansasBill Lyon112 N. Hillcrest StAda, OK [email protected] Perkins405 SE Ave G IIdabel, OK [email protected] DakotaJan Baumeister19702 E Hwy 18 Sp 56Welton, AZ [email protected] Alexander360 5th StOgden, UT [email protected] McGarveySee WY State Director

Lee Whitebay, Chair4669 N Prentice RdPonca City, OK [email protected]. Jay Bowman191 Bowman RdPonca City, OK [email protected] BurkhalterSee Fossil TechnicalRobert CarlsonSee NM/TX State DirectorJack Thompson1830 Mesita Ct.Colo. Springs, CO 80906719.636.2978

Updated 6/11/12

STANDING COMMITTEES

PAST PRESIDENTS

RMFMS Officers, Executive Committee, and Committee Chairpersons 2012/2013OFFICERS

STATE DIRECTORS

SPECIAL COMMITTEES

PUBLIC LAND ADVISORYUNIFORM RULES

COMMITTEE

Committees areappointed by the Presi-

dent.

Ofcrs & State Directorsare elected by the Dele-

gates.

Executive Committeeconsists of Officers,

State Directors, and 2immediate Past Presi-

dents

2012 WILDACRES WORKSHOP CLASS SCHEDULE2012 WILDACRES WORKSHOP CLASS SCHEDULEGo to http://www.amfed.org/sfms/_pdf/Lodestar_july2012.pdf for the registration form.

Workshop StaffWildacres Director, Julia Larson

204 37th Ave North, #250St. Petersburg, FL 33704


William Holland Directors, Denise & Carl Talbott216 Spring View Drive

Murphy, NC 28906828-494-7213

Email: [email protected]

Wildacres Registrars, David and Leslie Wayment8802 N US Hwy 1 Suite 10

Sebastian, FL 32958Phone 772-532-6432


William Holland Registrar, Joe & Addy De PietroP.O. Box 928,

Frostproof, FL 33843Cell 863-241-9559

[email protected]

Education Chairman , Kathy Morris551 Grayce Lane

Hiawassee, GA 30546706-896-3256252-571-5050

Email:[email protected]

The intermediate and advanced classes listed with an asterisk (*) require some priorexperience by the student. Experience in a class provided by your local club, Work-shop class or self study may be enough.

SESSION THREE - WILDACRESMONDAY, September 10 - 16, 2012

SESSION FOUR - WILLIAM HOLLANDSUNDAY, October 7-12, 2012

Beading 4 Holidays Barbara Green

Cabochons Pat Davis

Chain, Beg. Marilou Hillen-brand

Faceting Steve Hillenbrand

Fused Glass, Beginning Rich Dillon


Silver, Filigree Shannon Stafford

Stone Setting Don Roberts

Wire for Beaders Leslie Wayment

Beading,Seed

Barbara Green

Beading Becky Patellis

Cabochons Jerry Mason

Casting Joe DePietro

Channeling Don & Ann Monroe

Faceting Bill Roberts

Lampworking Cindy Reed


Opals Sarah Lee Boyce & Carl Talbott


Silver I Mac Thornton

Silver Filigree Paige Warrick & Shannon Stafford

SESSION TWO - WILDACRESMONDAY, August 20 - 26, 2012

Cabochons Anita Westlake

Digital Photography Ron Gibs

Metalsmithing – Adv.* Jeff Sheer


Raku Beads Jim Cullen

Scrimshaw Bill Wetzel

Silver I Annette Gibney

Wire – Beg. Rowan Rose


RMFMS Distribution2702 E. Pikes Peak Ave.Colorado Springs, CO 80909

Educational NonprofitTime ValueDo Not Delay

August 2012

Documents

K & K F EDITORrmfms.org/uploads/newsletters/2012/2012-06-Aug-RMFMS... · 2012-08-06 · Lake Superior and adja-cent sand/gravel pits (Fig. 3). However, later glacial action (Pleistocene)