Help!!! We Need A New Club Show Site!!!

Help!!!    We Need A New Club Show Site!!!

As you may or may not know, our club has lost its show site and we will not be having our annual GEMboree Show this year on the last weekend of February 2013 as we usually do. We ask all members and friends to be looking for a replacement site. Some of the requirements needed for a show site are:

1.     We need to be able to use the site for 3 days. Set up and 2 show days over a weekend.

2.     Site should be about 4000 sq. ft. in size or more. At the church, we have approximately 2000 sq. ft. inside and 2000 sq. ft. outside (all inside would be better)

3.     The room(s) needs to have electrical outlets around the walls and even better if in the floor near the middle of the room. At least 20 amp circuits to handle our electrical needs.

4.     Needs to have restrooms.

5.     Needs ample parking.

6.     A kitchen would be nice but we can work around this.

7.     Cost: This one is hard to figure. It will depend on the size and amenities of the facility. We can afford no more than a couple thousand dollars.

8.     Dates: In the past, we have held our show over the last weekend of February. We all know and plan for this date however, we are amenable to different dates and can adapt if necessary. First though, we need to find a site.

9.     If you should see or know of a possible site, please let the board know about it. We will be happy to check it out and see if it works for us.

     Del Air Rockhounds Club Board of Directors

January 2013 field Trip & Quartzsite Info

January 2013 Field Trip: Whale Bone Hunting

Our Club is again taking our annual January Field Trip to the beach to collect Fossil Whale Bone. This year we are heading to Gaviota Beach State Park on January 19^th and plan to meet in the parking lot at 10:00am. Look at your map. This park is on Hwy 101 north of Santa Barbara and south of Buellton where highway 101 turns inland from the coast. It will probably take you 2 hours or so to get to this location. The low tide is at 12:00 noon and this will give us time to look around both north and south on the beach. You probably want to bring a lunch, something to drink and something to carry your rocks in - a heavy bag works. You might also want a change of shoes because you probably will get your feet wet. Remember, this is a daily fee area. This fee will cover all the State Park beaches so on your way home you can stop at the other parks along the coast and look for rocks there too

Jeff Dengrove: Field Trip Chairman

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2013 Quartzsite, Arizona Pow-Wow & Rock Show

Are you thinking about going to Quartzsite in 2013? Some of our members are already planning an annual trip to this HUGE ROCK AND MINERAL SALE. If you have never been to Quartzite, you have missed  one of the largest & most fun places for rockhounds. This year’s schedule is: MAIN EVENT: JAN 7-JAN 27; TYSON WELLS: JAN 18-JAN 27; RV TENT: JAN 19-JAN 27; POW WOW: JAN 23-JAN 27; DESERT GARDENS: JAN 1-FEB 28.

The above is the major look and buy areas plus there are many, many smaller areas with many booths to shop for most anything you can think of. These areas are open most of the above times and many much longer. If you would like to camp with us, we will be at our campsite Jan. 22nd - Jan 29th. To find us, take the Quartzsite exit (2nd one) east of town, turn right to intersection. Then turn left at intersection that takes you on a side road which swings around parallel to Hwy 10 east. Go approx. 2 miles on this side road, over a small concrete bridge and turn right on the dirt road where there is signs for the Del Air Club. Signs will be white paper plates with “Del Air” and an arrow printed on them. Following these signs with arrows will take you to the campsite.

Bob Dearborn: Secretary

January 2013 Program

General Meeting-Thurs, Jan 03, 2013

The Meeting Begins At 7:30 pm In Our Regular Meeting Room At:

Northridge United Methodist Church

9650 Reseda Blvd, Northridge, CA 91324

Guests Are Always Welcome At Our Meetings & Events.

Jan 2013 Program: Dinosaur Digging in Montana

Presented by Jim Van Winkle & Everett Barton

             Jim Van Winkle and his 14 year old grandson Everett Barton will tell us about their summer trip to Montana, traveling through 7 states. They spent one week with Paleontologist, Nate Murphy, from the Judith River Dinosaur Institute. Working with 12 other dig team members, they excavated bones for a long necked Camarasaurus and from a Stegosaurus at a lower level. Everett will talk about his experience and tell of the three Camarasaurus bones that he uncovered. Jim will tell about the sites they visited on the way up and back. The two of them brought back a large 50 pound piece of petrified wood from the Shirley Basin in Southern Wyoming.

  Emmy Silverman: Program Chairwoman

January 2013 Metal of the Month

Gold

        Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. It is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. Gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water.  The metal therefore occurs often in free elemental or native form, as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits.  Gold has been a valuable and highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since long before the beginning of recorded history. A total of 171,300 tons of gold have been mined in human history, according to the GFMS as of 2011. This is roughly equivalent to 5.5 billion troy ounces or, in terms of volume, a cube measuring 20.7 meters on a side.  Besides its widespread monetary and symbolic functions, gold has many practical uses in dentistry, electronics, and other fields. Its high malleability, ductility, resistance to corrosion and most other chemical reactions plus conductivity of electricity led to many uses of gold, including electric wiring, colored-glass production and gold leafing.  Most of the Earth's gold lies at its core, the metal's high density having made it sink there in the planet's youth. Virtually all of the gold that mankind has discovered is considered to have been deposited later by meteorites which contained the element.  Native gold occurs as very small to microscopic particles embedded in rock, often together with quartz. These are called lode deposits. The metal in a native state is also found in the form of free flakes, grains or larger nuggets that have been eroded from rocks and end up in alluvial deposits called placer deposits. Such free gold is always richer at the surface of gold-bearing veins owing to the oxidation of accompanying minerals followed by weathering, and washing of the dust into streams and rivers, where it collects and can be welded by water action to form nuggets.