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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