www.Facebook.com/DelAirRockhounds
Member of the California & American Federation of Mineralogical Societies
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 7618, Van Nuys, CA 91409 - Phone # 818-439-0217
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
The Del Air Rockhounds Club Welcomes You!!
www.Facebook.com/DelAirRockhounds
Member of the California & American Federation of Mineralogical Societies
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 7618, Van Nuys, CA 91409 - Phone # 818-439-0217
Del Air Rockhounds September 2023 Calendar of Events
September 2023 Calendar of Events
Monday September 4: Labor Day Time to honor America's workforce.
Thursday September 7: General Meeting 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room at Northridge United Methodist Church
Saturday September 9: Del Air Rock Sale
Friday September 15: Rosh Hashanah Celebrate the Jewish New Year
Thursday September 21: Board Meeting 7:30 pm at Bernadette Friedman's home
Saturday September 23: First Day of Fall My favorite time of the year!
Saturday September 23: Thornhill Broome Field Trip
Sunday September 24: Yom Kippur A holy day of atonement.
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September 2023 General Meeting Program:
The Death Valley Rock: Wingate Plume Agate Presented by Charles O. Walker Jr.
15 years of collecting hard to find specimens from the United States. I started collecting petrified woods, off-limits rocks, and specimens from exhausted collecting sites. Some examples are Death Valley, Porterville and Morgan Hill. I have read and have an almost complete set of lapidary journals. I spent many hours listening to those that were the founding members of some Southern California Gem Clubs and Societies. A plethora of information about the old days and the good times collecting the most popular agates in harsh environments back in the 1950's 1960's and 1970's.
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The Rockhound Dennis Miller Show
Dennis will fill us in on September's birthstone, Sapphire. Dennis also asks all members to bring in their summer finds for show & tell and share with our members and guests. Dennis will share his summer finds as well.
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Del Air Rockhounds Club - Early Club History Compiled by - Carolyn Morris - Del Air Historian, 1974
The Del Air Rockhound Club was founded by James Moore in October of 1954, with 12 members. These were all fellow employees of the Adel Precision Co. At this time the “Club “ was called the “Adel Rockhounds” and Jack Reynolds was the first President. The first meeting was held at a local rock dealer store and the first field trip was in November 1954. This first field trip was to Gem Hill near Rosamond, CA. It is obvious that everyone enjoyed this trip and the club really officially started. Jack Reynolds was authorized to set up the first Club “By-Laws”. In 1955 the club grew to 17 members, with more field trips. The camping at this time was done in motels or tents. In 1956 a group from Hydro-Aire Co. joined the club (10 members). The club then voted to drop the “A” from Adel and added Aire, dropping the “E” to become known as the “Del Air Rockhounds Club”. From here the club became more active and attracted more members. At this time the club started going on a field trip each month, as we also do today! Then on July 6, 1957 the Del Air Rockhounds Club became affiliated with the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc. In 1961 the club voted to allow 50 members, instead of 40, because it was growing each year. The club became Incorporated and filed as a nonprofit club in that same year. Also in 1961, the club became involved with the “Golden Bear Gem Fair” and made 1750 prizes for the show! We had our 1st workshop in 1964. It is noted that on early field trips the club would show slides in the field. This was before campers. The club had a portable generator which ran the slide projector. It also heated tents on cold nights. In 1966 the extra rocks collected on their various field trips were boxed and donated to the Los Angeles Zoo, which were used in the early reptile cages. 1967 had the club involved in a campaign supporting the recommendation of the State of California adopting ”Benitoite” as the state gemstone. In 1968 the Del Air Rockhounds formed its first Junior group, called the Pebble Pups. It had 13 juniors present at its first meeting. At this first meeting, the juniors voted to change their name to the "Air-Dels”, which has been changed at the present time to “The Rock Finders”. In 1968 the first official San Fernando Valley “Gem Fair” was held, with the Del Air Rockhounds Club as one of the 5 club sponsors. As you know, this Gem Fair is still an annual show today, with 3 sponsor clubs, Del Air Rockhounds, being one of them. The first “San Fernando Valley Gem Fair was held on Feb. 22 and 23, l969. In 1971, the Del Air Rockhounds won the “BEST OF SHOW” at the Gem Fair and was awarded an engraved, gold plate as the prize. This brings us to 1974 and through the first 20 years of our club. This year, 1974, we are still going on monthly field trips - from Castle Butte to Salton Sea and still involved in the annual “Gem Fair” as well as our club picnic’s and Holiday Parties. I hope you liked this early history of our club as it helps you see where we came from and how we started. Also I hope it helps us all understand where we are today, still a very active club and a group who likes to be together doing things together.
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Del Air Rockhounds Rock Sale Saturday September 9 - Setup 7:00 am - Sale Starts 8:00 am 10037 Louise Ave., Northridge, CA 91325
Attention all club members! We will be needing help running our rock sale. We need people beginning at 4:00 pm on Friday September 8, the day before the sale, to organize and price the inventory and again on Saturday September 9 beginning at 7:00 am, the day of the sale, to help run the sale and help customers with their purchases. Cashier services will be handled by our treasurer, Shellie Van Winkle. Please find a little time in your busy schedules to come and help us out.
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September Field Trip - Thornhill Broome Beach Saturday September 23, 2023 - 10:00 am 9000 Pacific Coast Highway in Point Mugu State Park.
We will meet up in the parking area which is either directly across PCH from the beach entrance. (Be extremely careful when crossing the highway) Or, to be on the safe side, you can park on the beach side of PCH just a bit down the road from the beach entrance. Google Maps will get you there. Just enter Thornhill Broome Beach in the search box. Look for the cars with the blue and red Del Air Flags on them. Do not park in the campground parking area. This is for paid reservation guests only. It is just about an hour drive from Northridge. Bring lunch and drinks with you as there is no shopping nearby. Also bring a bucket or sack to carry home your finds. We will be hunting for Coquina, a beach tumbled conglomerate made up of a host matrix rock and small skeletal remains of long dead sea life and crushed sea shells. Non members will be required to sign a waiver of liability form to participate.
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Wednesday, July 26, 2023
August 2023 Del Air Rockhounds Calendar of Events
Thursday August 3: General Meeting 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room at Northridge U.M. Church
Saturday August 12: Shop Day @ Jeff Dengrove's Home
Thursday August 17: Board Meeting - 7:30 pm at the Dearborn's home
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August 2023 General Meeting Program: Annual Ice Cream/Bingo/Summer Finds Social Presented by Del Air Board of Directors
Come join us for our annual Ice Cream/Bingo/Summer Finds Social! We will be serving Neapolitan cream with toppings. Members are encouraged to bring in their summer rock finds to share with the group and we'll top the evening off with 6 to 8 rousing games of Bingo where you can win fabulous prizes.
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The Rockhound Dennis Miller Show
Dennis will fill us in on August's birthstone, Peridot. Dennis also asks all members to bring in their summer finds for show & tell and share with our members and guests. Dennis will share his summer finds as well.
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Wrightwood CA Potluck/Field Trip Report
A big shout out to member Shellie Van Winkle for allowing us to use her Wrightwood home for our potluck/field trip on Saturday July 8th. We had 17 members and one guest attend the event. Members present were Shellie Van Winkle, Bernadette Friedman, Bob & Maxine Dearborn, Rudy & Martina Rodriguez, Dan & Diana Durfee, Chris Ward, Bob Knox, Jeff Dengrove, Dan Farber, Steven & Lourdes & Coriolis Koch, Jeff & Emmy Silverman and guest Mason Wynn. As always with the Del Air Rockhounds, the potluck was exceptional with a huge and plentiful variety of foods, salads, fruits and deserts. The weather was superb with a cool breeze blowing through the tall pines. We started with breakfast muffins, bagels, coffee and hot tea at 10:00 am and then headed down to the collecting site at about 10:40. Everyone returned a couple of hours later and we all started in on the potluck lunch. It was a lot of fun and we shared tons of camaraderie. After lunch some returned to the collecting site while others wandered into town to partake in the Mountaineering Days festival that was also going on that weekend. All in all, a great time was had by all. Thanks to all those who attended and also to Shellie for her wonderful hospitality.
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Friday, May 26, 2023
June 2023 Del Air Rockhounds Calendar of Events
Thursday June 1: General Meeting 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room at Northridge U.M. Church
Friday June 2: Vintage Magnet NASA STEAM Night See article
Thursday June 15: Board Meeting 7:30 pm at Shellie Van Winkle's home
Sunday June 18: Father's Day Remember your dad on his special day
Saturday June 24: DWP Earth Day See article
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A Surprise in Every Rock Presented by Maxine Dearborn, Chris Ward & Bob Knox
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a dinosaur bone cell and a fossil whale bone cell? Or how can you look at petrified wood and decide what kind of tree it might have been when living? There is a secret hidden in many of our rocks and we hope to help you find them. Chris Ward, Bob Knox and Maxine Dearborn will bring their digital microscopes and project a secret or two for you. How about, what is that bug in a piece of amber? They will show you. Please bring a slab or two or an object of your own that is no more than a inch and a half thick to the meeting and you can see the secrets in your rock too!
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The Rockhound Dennis Miller Show
Dennis will fill us in on June's birthstones, Moonstone, Pearl & Alexandrite. Dennis also asks all members to bring in something for Show & Tell each month to share with our members and guests. He will debut a new stepping stone of the month and will have collectible editions of Lapidary Journal magazine to give away.
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OUR CLUB's SCHOOL EVENTS FOR MAY
The Del Air Club has been very, very busy during the month of May. We have given talks to a couple hundred students and we have gone to two school science events and the Antelope Valley Gem Show. Our booths were very busy at most of these events and we did talk to a lot of people about our club, geology, fossils and rocks. Fun, Fun, Fun.
Members participating in these different events were: Chris Ward, Bob Knox, Shellie VanWinkle, Bernadette Friedman, Marilyn Murata, Jeff Dengrove, LaVere Schmidt, Christine Schmidt and Bob & Maxine Dearborn. These events are not only a great way for us to present our club to the public, but they also help fund our Youth Education Outreach Program and let us purchase needed supplies and new items to show the students at our school talks.
WE STILL HAVE 2 MORE EVENTS COMING UP IN JUNE AND NEED OUR MEMBERSHIPS HELP. LET MAXINE DEARBORN OR CHRIS WARD KNOW WHEN YOU CAN HELP!
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Attention All Del Members & Friends
Remember, the Del Air Rockhounds are dark during the month of July. Except for our Field trip to Wrightwood on Saturday July 8th, there are no scheduled meetings and no bulletin issued in July. We will resume regular operations in August with our annual Ice Cream, Bingo & Share Your 'Summer Finds' social event. See you all then.
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Del Air Club Rock Sale
The planned Del Air Club rock sale originally planned for Saturday June 10 has been moved to Saturday September 9th due to planning, advertising and logistical issues. We need more time to pull all the details together so please watch this space in our August issue for all the final details. We will need the memberships help so please mark this on your calendars.
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Thursday, April 27, 2023
May 2023 Del Air Rockhounds Calendar of Events
Thursday May 4: General Meeting 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room at Northridge U.M. Church
Saturday & Sunday May 6 & 7: AV Gem & Mineral Society's Show 10 am to 5 pm each day. Come join us for a fun filled show!
Sunday May 14: Mother's Day Remember your mom on this special day.
Thursday May 25: Board Meeting 7:30 pm at Shellie Van Winkle's home.
Monday May 29: Memorial Day Let summertime begin!
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May 2023 General Meeting Program: 'Searching for Self Identity' Presented by Ted Garcia
KNOWN FOR HIS WISE WORDS, TED GARCIA IS OFTEN INVITED TO PROVIDE A BLESSING AT FAMILY & COMMUNITY EVENTS. TED HAS BEEN CHOSEN BY HIS FAMILY ELDERS TO BE THE SPOKESMAN FOR HIS CLAN IN THE CHUMASH TRIBE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. FEATURED ON DISCOVERY CHANNEL' S NATIONAL PARKS TV SHOW, TED IS PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE FRIENDS OF SATWIWA NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION WHERE TED AND HIS TEAM ORGANIZE MONTHLY EVENTS AT SATWIWA NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE CENTER IN NEWBURY PARK, CALIFORNIA. TED ALSO SERVES ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE OAKBROOK REGIONAL PARK CHUMASH INTERPRETIVE CENTER IN THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA. AS A NATIVE STONE CARVER, TED ALLOWS THE SPIRIT IN THE STONE TO GUIDE HIM AS HE GIVES LIFE TO THE ANIMAL FORM WITHIN . SINCE 1998, TED HAS PRESENTED HIS ARTWORKS ANNUALLY AT THE SOUTHWEST MUSEUM'S POPULAR NATIVE
AMERICAN MARKETPLACE EVENT IN LOS ANGELES, WHERE HIS STYLIZED BEARS, DOLPHINS AND SWORDFISH ARE ICONS OF CHUMASH SACRED ANIMALS. AS AN ADVISOR TO THE CHUMASH MARITIME ASSOCIATION, TED WAS HONORED WITH HIS EXTENDED FAMILY WHO WERE AMONG THE FORTUNATE FEW LOCAL NATIVE FAMILIES FERRIED TO SANTA CRUZ ISLAND TO GREET THE FIRST CHUMASH CANOE, A "TOMAL", TO CROSS THE SANTA
BARBARA CHANNEL IN 125 YEARS, ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2001. TED IS A PROUD VETERAN OF THE US ARMY AND SERVED IN VIETNAM FROM 1970 TO 1971."MY TALK WILL BE ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE STONE I HAVE WORKED ON IN MY ART THAT STARTED AROUND 20 YEARS AGO, MY CULTURE AND MY LIFE TRAVELS WITHIN MY CULTURE".
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The Rockhound Dennis Miller Show
Dennis will fill us in on May's birthstone, the Emerald. Dennis also asks all members to bring in something for Show & Tell each month to share with our members and guests.
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Rockhound Crafts — Let’s Bring More of Them Back! By: Jennifer Haley, AFMS Historian
Part of my job description as a historian is to keep an eye out for ideas from our past that might be beneficial for our societies and club members today. One area I have admired about the history of AFMS affiliated rockhounds is the creativity in the lapidary arts and crafts. The first society I belonged to kept binders full of all the various craft tutorials with photos found in the old lapidary magazines. They did this so their club members could look through the binders to find new things they’d like to make. I loved looking at these. Whenever I am at a society show, I like going through the stacks of these old magazines to see what I might be missing in my personal collection of lapidary craft ideas. I have noticed for quite some time now that it seems like there are not as many people having fun working on the many crafts of our past. These crafts can still be wonderful and inspiring today. I have often wondered why this is. I would love to see the enthusiasm come back for the crafts aspect of our hobby. One of the ways to draw in new members is to show off what you can teach people to make. Bring back those wonderful crafts and display them in exhibits at your shows. Think about creating a program for your society’s library of the various lapidary arts and crafts. You can enter a program like this in your Regional Federation New Programs contest, where it may advance to the AFMS New Programs contest. If all we have are the memories of what we personally have made, and we don’t try to pass our skills to new members and the incoming new generations of rockhounds, our hobby will forget some of those treasured skills. Probably many of your societies have collections of the older craft tutorials from the heyday when the lapidary arts and crafts ideas were bustling. Find them and archive them before the old pages fade away. I recommend making the effort to scan them. Let’s create a new heyday for lapidary arts and crafts. It will be easy to do, and we’ll have a lot of fun too.
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In Memoriam: Roy Ridenour April 13, 1930 - March 31, 2023
Roy Ridenour was born on Palm Sunday, 1930 on a farm near Mallard Iowa. His parents were Ted and Nora Ridenour. His full name was Leroy, but he preferred Roy. He graduated from Mallard High school and enrolled in an electronic trade school in Des Moines. He enlisted in the National Guard. It was in a Des Moines church where he met Dorothy. They were married in that very church 73 years ago. After the birth of their two daughters, Elaine and Connie, Roy moved the family to Dayton, Iowa where he worked for Collins Radio. Roy's parents moved to Burbank, California in 1954 and a few years later, Roy decided to transfer to the Collins Radio division in Burbank. There they bought a small one bedroom home which they remodeled themselves over the next 15 years.
Roy and Dorothy shared a hobby - rock hounding, which resulted in a backyard stacked with rocks. Roy designed machines to cut and polish spheres, slabs, and bookends while Dorothy cut and polished cabochons to make into jewelry. That started a new business! They joined a local rock club and sold their spheres, rocks and jewelry at rock shows. Some of their finished products are displayed on their coffee table.
Sunday mornings were always reserved for church attendance. Roy served on many church boards and committees. He was a Sunday school teacher for teenagers for many years and a Sunday school superintendent for several years at First Lutheran Church in Burbank.
Roy is survived by his wife Dorothy, daughter Elaine and her husband Dennis; daughter Connie; granddaughter Katrina and her husband, Jason; grandson Troy and his wife, Kara; grandson Craig and his wife, Laura; two great-grandsons, Alexander and Kenji; brother Orville and his wife Dorothy and sister-in-law, Lisa.
Roy and Dorothy joined the Del Air Rockhounds Club in 1993. After 27 years of faithful and dedicated patronage (over the years, Roy tumbled and polished literally hundreds and hundreds of pounds of rocks for the club's education team) they were both granted honorary lifetime memberships in 2020. Roy, a beloved member of the club, will be sorely missed by all of us.
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CFMS SHOW AND CONVENTION JUNE 23-25, 2023 - LODI GRAPE FESTIVAL GROUNDS 413 E LOCKEFORD ST., LODI, CA 95240 Hours: Friday & Saturday 10 AM – 5 PM, Sunday 10 AM – 4 PM Educational Exhibits, Speakers - Adults $6, Kids 12 & under FREE Free admission to MILITARY Active, Veterans, Dependents with valid Military ID card. For information: rocksbob@sbcglobal.net - Dealer information: slchaisson@yahoo.com
This year will be a no-host show meaning there is no individual club or society hosting the show along with the CFMS. The CFMS is therefore asking for any members from any club or society within the CFMS to volunteer and help set up and run the show as well as take down the show once it is over. For more information and for anyone interested in helping out the CFMS can contact Bob Rush, show chair, at rocksbob@sbcglobal.net.
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