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 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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Del-Air Rockhounds May 2026 Calendar of Events

Thursday May 7: General Meeting

Sunday May 10: Mother's Day

Sunday May 17: Wire Wrapping Class - Paid Members Only

Thursday May 21: Board Meeting

Monday May 25: Memorial Day

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May 2026 Program: "The Mines of Minas Gerais, Brazil"

Presented by: Paolo Sanchez

 

This month’s presentation, by Pasadena Lapidary Society member Paolo Sanchez, focuses on the famed mineral-rich districts of Minas Gerais, Brazil, following his June 2025 expedition to this region. Paolo spent two and a half weeks exploring gem and lithium-rich pegmatites of grand proportions as part of his research to understand how the melting ancient ocean floor could contribute to the creation of these deposits. This talk will touch upon historic gem mining in the area as well as an international rush for lithium and industrial minerals happening today, with a focus on the mining districts of Linopolis, Araçuai, and Diamantina.

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May 2026 Rock of the Month: Pyrite

Our May rock of the month is Pyrite. Bring in your samples of this beautiful iron sulfide mineral to our May meeting and share them with the group.

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Del-Air Rockhounds 2nd Quarter Shop Class - Paid Members Only

Wire Wrapping with Debbie Schoenmann

Sunday May 17, 2026, 11:30 am - 2:30 pm at Bob & Maxine Dearborn's Home

SUPPLY FEE - $10.00

There will be spaces available for 10 people.

Contact Maxine Dearborn to hold your space. 

Please PAY OUR TREASURER - Shellie Van Winkle at the May Meeting to hold your space. A light lunch will be served while you work on your project.

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Report on Rock Sale Saturday April 18, 2026:

WHAT A ROCK SALE! Our club had its advertised rock sale and it was a BIG ONE! 40% of our membership was involved in this project either by advertising, helping to set-up, running the sale, helping take down or just by being there talking to us and our customers. We had other club rockhounds ready to look at our rocks and slabs way before we were ready to open up. So, we just said “the rocks are on the ground, take a look.” And boy, did they! And they bought, too! The rocks got hot in the sun, so we hit them with water and the sale kept going. The purpose of this sale was to dispose of all the club rock stored at Bob Knox’s house and we probably moved 75% of them to other peoples houses. The balance will be taken care of very soon. WE DID GOOD! And we put a little into our coffers at the same time. THE DEL AIR CLUB WISHES TO THANK ALL OUR MEMBERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS CLUB EVENT AND TO THOSE WHO BROUGHT THE GOODIES FOR US TO SNACK ON THROUGHOUT THE DAY. 

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June 2026 Field Trip Teaser: - Paid Members Only

Natural History Museum - Unearthed: Raw Beauty Exhibit

10 am Saturday June 27, 2026

Come join us and experience Unearthed: Raw Beauty, a one-of-a-kind exhibition featuring some of the largest and rarest mineral specimens ever to be displayed in their natural, uncut form, with some on view for the first time. The specimens, including many from the museum's own collection, are truly magnificent in scale and create an otherworldly experience. Parking is $20 so the club recommends carpooling to help save money. Aileen Beckers will provide info on admission costs and full parking details at the May general meeting. Hope to see you all there.

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March 28th -  A Great Day For The Del-Air Rockhounds:

Our club participated in the annual DWP Spring Equinox again this year and we had a great time. The DWP provided us with the same booth location as in the past few years with a canopy, table, and 2 chairs.  We brought our own extra canopies and tables to make a really nice booth. We displayed many dinosaur fossil items to talk about, had our free educational game, a touch and feel area and a good display of items for sale. There was a Native American Ceremony to open the event, then guests were able to walk around and visit the many non-profit booths in the area. The attendance may not have been as high as in the past, but we were very busy talking about rocks and fossils to many people. We had a good time for the three hours that the event was open. Club members who helped set up, talk to guests and take down the booth were: Jeff Dengrove, Bob Knox, Sandy Lee, Pam Abbott, Shellie VanWinkle, Bernadette Friedman, Dan Farber and his friend Alex, Maxine & Bob Dearborn. Club member Louise Ratliff was working in a booth for California Native Plants directly across from us and we could wave back and forth.

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April 2026 Del-Air Rockhounds Calendar of Events

Thursday April 2: General Meeting

Sunday April 5: Easter

Thursday April 16 - Board Meeting

Saturday April 18: Del-Air Rock Sale

Wednesday April 22: Earth Day

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Welcome New Members: Scott & Aimee McNatt

To The Del-Air Rockhounds Club!

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April 2026 Program: “Fluorites”

Presented by: Kai Kalma

This month’s program will be on “Fluorites” presented by club member, Kai Kalma. He will present specimens from his personal collection and talk about their formation and some of the more famous locations where they can be found. A presentation not to be missed.

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April 2026 Rocks of the Month: Any Blue Rocks, Gems or Minerals

Our April rocks of the month are anything blue. Bring in any samples you may have of these beautiful blue stones to our April meeting and share them with the group.

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

10 am Saturday June 27, 2026 - Paid Members Only

Come join us and experience Unearthed: Raw Beauty, a one-of-a-kind exhibition featuring some of the largest and rarest mineral specimens ever to be displayed in their natural, uncut form, with some on view for the first time. The specimens, including many from the museum's own collection, are truly magnificent in scale and create an otherworldly experience. Parking is $20 so the club recommends carpooling to help save money. Aileen Beckers will provide info on admission costs and full parking details at the April general meeting. Hope to see you all there.

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