Nov 2015
01:
Daylight Savings Time Ends: Set those clocks back 1 hour.
05:
General Meeting: 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room.
11:
Veterans Day: Honor those who have served our country!
19:
Board Meeting: 7:30 pm at the Backus’ home
26:
Thanksgiving: Time to give thanks for all we have.
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Del Air General Meeting: Thursday Nov 05, 2015
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.
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Nov 2015 Program: “CATLINITE” - THE
SACRED STONE
Presented by: Bob & Maxine Dearborn
Bob & Maxine
Dearborn will take us to Minnesota where this stone has been mined and
collected for 1000’s of years. In the early 1800’s, George Catlin, an
adventurer and artist, visited these American Indian quarries. He created
pictures of the quarry site and the material was named Catlinite. To the
American Indian, both then and today, it is called Pipestone. There will be a
video narration of the quarry site, samples of the material as well as
pipestone pipes and carvings on display and more.
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Support Our Hobby....Support A Local Show
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November 7 - 8: ANAHEIM,
CA
American
Opal Society
The
Phoenix Club
1340
South Sanderson Avenue
Hours:
Sat 10 - 6; Sun 10 - 5
Contact:
Veronica Purpura, (714) 501-9959
Email:
info@opalsociety.org
Website:
www.opalsociety.org/
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November 7 - 8: OXNARD,
CA
Oxnard
Gem & Mineral Society
Oxnard
Performing Arts Center
800
Hobson Way
Hours:
Sat. 10 - 5; Sun. 10 - 4
Contact:
Josephine Martinez, (805) 701-1826
Email:
josephinecmartinez@gmail.com
Website:
www.oxnardgem.com
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November 7 - 8:
RIDGECREST, CA
Indian
Wells Gem & Mineral Society
Desert
Empire Fairgrounds
520
South Richmond Road
Hours:
8 - 5 daily
Contact:
John DeRosa, (760) 375-7905
Email:
jfrocks@dslextreme.com
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November 7 - 8: SAN
DIEGO, CA
San
Diego Mineral & Gem Society
Al
Bahr Shrine Center
5440
Kearny Mesa Road
Hours:
Sat 9:30 - 5; Sun 10 - 4
Contact:
Bob Hancock, (619) 889-6886
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November 14 - 15:
SACRAMENTO, CA
Sacramento
Mineral Society
Scottish
Rite Temple
6151
H Street
Hours:
Sat 10 - 5 daily
Contact:
Alyssa Mesiznger, (916) 662-5819
Website:
www.sacramentomineralsociety.org
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November 14 - 15: YUBA
CITY, CA
Sutter
Buttes Gem & Mineral Society
Yuba-Sutter
Fairgrounds - Franklin Hall
442
Franklin Avenue
Hours:
Sat 10 - 5; Sun 10 - 4
Contact:
Katie Slightam, (530) 673-9649
Email:
mktalternatives@comcast.net
Website:
www.sutterbuttes.net
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November 21 - 22: APPLE
VALLEY, CA
Valley
Gem Gem & Mineral Club
Victor
Valley Museum
11873
Apple Valley Road (x Bear Valley Rd.)
Hours:
Sat 9 - 5; Sun 9 - 3
Contact:
Ed Skidmore, (760) 243-2330
Email:
vp-shows@vvgmc.org
Website:
www.vvgmc.org
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November 21 - 22: SANTA
CRUZ, CA
Santa
Cruz Mineral & Gem Society
Live
Oak Grange Hall
1900
– 17th Avenue
Hours:
10 - 5 daily
Contact:
Julia Cornblatt, (831) 687-0509
Email:
julia.cornblatt@gmail.com
Website:
www.scmgs.org
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Nov
2015: Arkansas State Mineral of the Month:
“Quartz”
Arkansas designated the quartz crystal as the official
state mineral in 1967. Arkansas is one of a small number of places in the world
with enough quartz crystals to justify commercial mining. Quartz is composed of
silicon and oxygen and is common throughout the world, although most of it is
not crystallized. Crystallization occurs when the silicon dioxide or silica is
heated. The source of the heat can be extremely hot water from underground
sources, which fills open fissures to create quartz filled veins.
In Arkansas, this reaction is estimated to have
occurred during the last part of the formation of the Ouachita Mountains, about
280 to 245 million years ago. During the cooling, the silicon and the oxygen
recombined as molecules formed by one silicon atom and four oxygen atoms. All
of the crystals have six sides or faces because of their molecular structure.
Though the amount of unmined quartz in the state is
not yet known, Arkansas does have, in terms of both size and quality, some
world-class deposits of quartz. These crystals have been used to make
oscillators for radios, computer chips, and clocks. Quartz crystals are also
valued for their beauty as mineral specimens and gemstones.
A “quartz belt” that is between thirty and forty miles
wide runs through the core of the Ouachita Mountains into Oklahoma. Quartz has
been mined in the region since the early 1800s. In Mount Ida, Ocus Stanley
began the modern mining of quartz in 1930. Stanley believed that in the history
of quartz mining in the state, only about four percent of the crystals in the
Ouachita Mountains had been removed. He had the longest mining lease in the
Ouachita National Forest, opened Mount Ida’s first rock shop, and has been
credited with helping launch other quartz dealerships. He has been dubbed the “Undisputed
grand old man of quartz in Arkansas.”
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THE EASIEST ROCK
COLLECTING YET!!
Bob
& Maxine Dearborn have been on one of their extended trips again this summer
and rockhounding was really not in the plan. But, in one location, it was so easy
that we just had to pick up a couple rocks. ! We were driving north above
Amarillo, TX. This is what they call the Texas panhandle and we were going
along the west side of a huge lake. It was raining on and off and this was
normal for our trip. Looking at the road map we noticed on the other side of
this lake there was a Alibates Flint National Monument. Never been there and
the map showed farm roads going around the lake with towns listed here and
there, but no mileage on these roads. Our RV was at a 1/4 of a tank, but there
were towns and we would get gas somewhere. Driving these farm roads was OK, but
the towns listed here and there had maybe 2 - 5 houses, no gas station, no
stores, pretty much no people! The miles stretched on and now we are below 1/8
of a tank and the RV is pretty heavy to push even with a jeep attached on the
back! Maxine actually stood in the middle of the farm road to stop the only car
coming in the opposite direction and we did find out that the town of Fritch,
TX had gas and we were only 8 miles away. You better believe we stopped at this
gas station!! ! The Alibates Flint Nat’l Mon. was only 25-30 miles from here
and we knew we could make it now. The flint here is really different than the
flint we collected in southern Texas last year. This has a lot of colors in it
and is found under a thick layer of Quartzite. After learning about this
material and the quarries in the park, we looked in our Texas Rock Collecting Book
and found out we might be able to look for this flint in a area on the other
side of this huge lake. This is where we started!! We have plenty of gas now
and really know the farm roads and there is a campground there. So a rockhounding
we go. We got to the campground about 2pm and we saw 5 roadrunners and many
quail but no sign of people and from the looks of the tracks on the dirt road
probably no one has been in here since last spring? We made camp under a big
cottonwood tree, the rain has stopped and now it is hot! Looking at our rock
book we figured what dirt road they were talking about and took off to look for
flint. Well, this is where the easy collecting comes in. They had a huge flood
in this area early spring and it must have messed up this road a lot. They
cleaned out the road with a grader, pushing the run off stuff to the sides of
the road and even cut the banks wider for cars to pass. Well, like I said, we
were probably the first car on this road for months. We drove slow and Maxine would
say STOP!! She would get out and pick up pieces of flint and walk along to find
more. While I drove real close to the cut bank and took pieces out, reaching
through the open window. I never really got out of the car. After driving a
couple miles like this we had 2 very large bags of flint. Back to the RV and
high graded the material before it got dark and the bugs came out. We left the
next morning going towards New Mexico as planned and had our
collection of Alibates Flint, the only rock we brought
home.
By: Bob &
Maxine Dearborn
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IT WAS OCTOBER 10TH AND A VERY HOT DAY!
A few members of the Del Air Rockhounds
club met at the Granada Hills Street Fair at 8am to set up our club booth. A
few more members arrived to help figure out how we could best use the 10 foot
square space at its best advantage. The first thing up was a canopy, so we
could set up the rest in some shade. We were ready for the crowd at the opening
of 10am and right away we had people trying the spin-a-wheel and buying grab
bags. We also had parents and children looking and feeling our touch and feel
rocks and saying “What is This?” This went on all day, during the heat and us
trying to find shade under the canopy. We went through a lot of water
and with all the help we had a good day. More help from members would have been nice,
so some of us would not have had to stay there all day. Members setting up, taking down the booth and
running it all day were: Jim & Shellie VanWinkle, Bob Knox, Chris Ward,
Julie Marin and her 2 granddaughters, Mina and Zoe, Hiro Matsuo and Bob &
Maxine Dearborn.
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