The Del Air Rockhounds Club Welcomes You!!

www.Facebook.com/DelAirRockhounds

The Del-Air Rockhounds Club was founded in 1954 with members mostly residing in the San Fernando Valley area of California. Our club is a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing knowledge of the lapidary arts and techniques, geology, mineralogy and related fields. We own our own lapidary equipment with members available to teach and demonstrate lapidary techniques to other members. Our members enjoy lapidary related programs, demonstrations, exhibitions, displays and lectures. We also take monthly field trips to our local deserts & mountains for exploration and the study and collection of lapidary and mineral specimens.

Member of the California & American Federation of Mineralogical Societies

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 7618, Van Nuys, CA 91409 

Del-Air Rockhounds Club T-Shirts & Tote Bags

Del-Air club t-shirts and tote bags are now live and ready to order on Amazon. They are only available to order through the following two links.                  

T-shirts: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSDXH4NT

Tote Bags: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSDBKDX5

They are not available by searching directly on amazon.com. Once you click on the links, it works just like any other Amazon order. If you are a Prime member, shipping is free. Returns are accepted. The shirts are available in mens, womens, and junior styles with 27 colors to choose from and a wide variety of sizes from small to XXXLT and beyond. The tote bags are a great size with our logo on both sides and are of high quality. They'll be great to carry your rocks in on club field trips. Pricing is very affordable so check them out and order your swag today!

Del-Air Rockhounds August 2026 Calendar of Events

Monday August 3: National Watermelon Day

Thursday August 6: General Meeting

Thursday August 20: Board Meeting

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August 2026 Program

August brings us one of the Del-Air Rockhounds favorite annual events… Our Ice Cream/Bingo Social! Come join us for some delicious ice cream and some rousing games of bingo for fabulous prizes. Also, bring in your summer rockhound finds to share with the group. It's fun for the whole family.

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August 2026 Rocks of the Month

August has three official birthstones: peridot, spinel, and sardonyx. While peridot is widely celebrated as the primary gemstone for the month, this trio offers a unique variety of colors, histories, and meanings. Bring in your examples of these three beautiful gems to our August meeting and President, Jeff Dengrove, will give a brief talk on each of them.

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Holiday Party Information

This year's holiday party falls on Thursday December 3rd which means planning for it needs to start right away. Bernadette Friedman, our holiday party chairwoman, will be hosting her first planning meeting on Wednesday August 26th at her house at 2:00 pm. She is asking all you creative individuals to join her team and help her make our 2026 holiday party the best one yet. Any member can join. Let her know if you'd like to be part of the team. Bring your best and most creative ideas for colors, themes and possible programs for discussion with the group.

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Field Trip Report

Natural History Museum - Saturday June 27, 2026

We all need to thank our president, Jeff Dengrove, for a really great field trip this month.  His easy directions to the LA Natural History Museum's parking lot where we were to meet and his efforts in getting us a special group entrance rate made it a great day. We had 20 members and some of their guests on this field trip to see the new gemstone show room.  And what a show room it is! Really a lot of exceptional specimens of gemstones and most of the huge tourmaline crystals were from southern California. We all then looked at the special minerals in the adjoining gem room and the super faceted stones in the vault. I think I like the tourmaline better than the black diamond! We had time for lunch at the museum, if you wanted, and then go look at everything else in all of the museum buildings.  A fun day for sure. If you were not one of the 20+ from our club taking part in this event, you really missed out on seeing the best of the best specimens and displays all at a really great discounted entrance fee.

  

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 Continuing Our Salute to America's 250th Birthday

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Pay a visit to the Pearblossom Gem & Mineral Show in October and stop by Club Vice President Aileen Beckers' booth to say hi and to peruse all the wonderful items she has for sale. You won't be disappointed.

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July 2026 Del-Air Rockhounds Calendar of Events

Thursday July 2: No General Meeting in July

Saturday July 4: America's 250th Birthday

Thursday July 16: Board Meeting

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NO JULY GENERAL MEETING

August 2026 Program Teaser:

August brings us one of the Del-Air Rockhounds favorite annual events… Our Ice Cream/Bingo Social! Come join us for some delicious ice cream and some rousing games of bingo for fabulous prizes. Bring in your summer rockhound finds to share with the group. It's fun for the whole family.

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Welcome new member, Denise Dardarian, to the Del-Air Rockhound Family! We are delighted to have you!

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Creating Rivet Heads 

For a nice looking rivet head, use brass escutcheon pins. You'll have perfectly rounded heads that are all the same size and shape. The pins are a little hard to find, so try the best hardware stores first. Be sure to get solid brass pins, not brass plated steel. If unsure, test them with a magnet. The pins are readily available online. Lee Valley Tools has them in 14-18 gauge and lengths from 1/4 inch to 1 inch. Go to http://www.LeeValley.com and do an item search on "brass escutcheon pin" For best results, select a drill that gives you a hole with a close fit to the rivet. Trim the rivet to leave a little less than one diameter sticking out the back side. Place the head on a scrap of hard plastic on the anvil so as to not flatten the head. I prefer a ball peen hammer (with a small 3/8 inch ball) for setting the rivet.

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Del-Air Rockhounds June 2026 Calendar of Events

Thursday June 4: General Meeting

Thursday June 18: Board Meeting

Sunday June 21: Father's Day

Saturday June 27: Field Trip - Natural History Museum - For Paid Members Only

NO JULY MEETING - SEE YOU IN AUGUST

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June 2026 Program: Howlite

 

Presented by: Bob Dearborn

Club member & secretary, Bob Dearborn, will give a talk on the mineral Howlite. A little on its history, its composition, where it can be found, and how it is used in the commercial world today. You may want to dig some of this out of your collection and make something different.

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June 2026 Rock of the Month: The Feldspar Group

Our June rock of the month is the Feldspar group. Some examples of feldspar include moonstone, sunstone, labradorite, and amazonite, to name some of the more well known varieties (there are 12 in total). Bring in your samples of this beautiful mineral to our June meeting and share them with the group. FYI… June's birthstones are pearl, moonstone, and alexandrite.

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June 2026 Field Trip: Natural History Museum - Unearthed: Raw Beauty Exhibit

10:00 am Saturday June 27, 2026 - Paid Club Members Only

Parking is $20 so the club recommends carpooling to help save money. Directions to the parking lot: Take 101 south toward downtown LA. Merge onto 110 south to Exit 20B, Exposition Blvd West. Pass one light before you reach Vermont Blvd and turn left at the traffic light onto Bill Robertson Lane. Proceed to the first driveway on your left into the parking lot. The parking lot opens at 9:30am and we will meet near the ticket booth at 10:00am. The ticket booth on the Exposition side of the museum/north. Proceed from the parking lot to the ticket booth. You will see other members. Payment will need to be made at the June meeting via cash, check or credit card. Adult: $15, Child under 12: $6, Seniors & Students: $12.

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Report on Event at Patrick Henry Middle School:

On May 15th our educational group went to its last scheduled school event before the summer break. Jeff Dengrove, Bernadette Friedman, Aileen Beckers, Diana Durfee, Pam Abbott, Bob Knox and Maxine & Bob Dearborn were there representing our club. We all gave educational information on rocks, fossils, geology and any questions that might be thrown at us.  The two hours went really fast because we were having a good time. You, too, can have a good time at one of these events. Just come and help out.

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Club Member Joe Mastro's Japan Vacation:

My wife, Antonella and I, are vacationing in Japan. We stopped at a rock shop in Tokyo and bought a few things, including a fossilized walnut and some pyrites, etc. Prices here are very good. I'm wearing the club shirt that is for sale on Amazon. The owner of the store let me take some photos of her store and logo. There were a lot of people in the store at one point. Rock collecting in Japan is a thing. Kind of cool. And yes, some of the store's stock was from Japan, so I bought a few of those too.

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