www.Facebook.com/DelAirRockhounds
Member of the California & American Federation of Mineralogical Societies
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 7618, Van Nuys, CA 91409
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
The Del Air Rockhounds Club Welcomes You!!
www.Facebook.com/DelAirRockhounds
Member of the California & American Federation of Mineralogical Societies
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 7618, Van Nuys, CA 91409
December 2024 Del Air Rockhounds Calendar of Events
Thursday December 5: 2024 Holiday Party - Paid Members Only
Saturday December 7: Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Thursday December 12: Crystal Tabby Day - Paid Members Only
Saturday December 14: *Flash Shop Day* - Paid Members Only
Sunday December 15: Chatsworth Holiday Parade & Festival
Thursday December 19: Board Meeting
Saturday December 21: First Day of Winter
Wednesday December 25: Christmas & Hanukkah
Thursday December 26: Kwanzaa
Tuesday December 31: New Years Day
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December 2024 Program - This Event is for Paid Members Only
2024 Del-Air Holiday Party & Election of Our 2025 Board of Directors
Happy Holidays Del-Air members. It's time once again for our annual holiday party. This year we will be enjoying a member provided, international themed, potluck dinner and a special presentation revolving around slabs and cabochons. There will be some games and the annual election of our Board of Directors for 2025. Remember to prepare enough of your dish to feed approximately 6-8 people. Our holiday party committee has put together a fun evening you all are sure to enjoy. The party will be held on our regular December meeting date of Thursday December 5th in the Fellowship Hall building of the Northridge United Methodist Church beginning at 6:30 pm, one (1) hour earlier than our usual meeting time. Please remember to wear your name badges to the party.
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January 2025 Club Meetings
Due to the proximity of our January 2025 general meeting to the New Years Holiday, please be advised the January meeting has been moved to Thursday, January 9th at 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room at Northridge United Methodist Church and our January board meeting has been moved to Thursday, January 23, 7:30 pm at Shellie Van Winkle's home.
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*****Flash Shop Day***** This Event is for Paid Members Only
10:00 am to 3:00 pm Saturday December 14 @ Jeff Dengrove's Home 'Slabs to Cabs' Come join us at Jeff Dengrove's house and learn how to transform those slabs you'll be receiving at the Holiday Party into beautiful cabochons. Just in time to make those last minute Christmas gifts for that special someone or maybe for yourself as well. Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn a new lapidary skill. There will be instructors on hand to show you how it's done. It's really easy.
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2024 Chatsworth Holiday Parade & Festival
Sunday December 15, 2024 - Set-up begins 10:00 am
Event runs 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm
The Del-Air Rockhounds will be hosting a booth at this event. Members will be needed to help run this double-wide booth. Please see any board member to let them know you'd like to help out. We participate in this event every year and it's always a lot of fun for everyone. Come see what you're missing!
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November Field Trip Report & January Field Trip Teaser
November 9th saw the Del Air’s meeting in Mojave, CA at 9:30 am for a Field Trip. Chairman, Jeff Dengrove, led 6 cars of people out to the North Edwards collecting areas to pick up rocks. And boy, did we pick up rocks! No digging, just bend over and take the agate that looked pretty. We stopped at 4 different areas and enjoyed a perfect day for rockhounding. There was just a little breeze with temps in the low 70’s. Perfect! After picking up all this nice rock we decided to go to Boron, CA and visit the Rio Tinto Boron Mine Visitor's Center. They say this is the largest open-pit mine in California, operated by the U.S. Borax division of Rio Tinto. A very good visitor center with a lot of information on this mining operation. They also have a couple of dump sites here where you can collect different minerals from their operation. We all did this too! Members on this trip were: Jeff Dengrove, Bob & Maxine Dearborn, Dan Farber, Pam Abbott, Ann Richardson, Vincent Santoro, Trevor Feemster, Dr Oh and his 2 guests. We hope to see even more members join us for our annual whale bone trip to Refugio Beach on Jan 29, 2025. More details to follow in our January Bulletin. Stay Tuned and save the date.
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2025 Quartzsite Info:
Desert Gardens - Jan 1 to Feb. 28
Tyson Wells Rock & Gem Show - Jan 3 to 12
Pow Wow Show - Jan 15 to 19
Tyson Wells Sell A Rama - Jan 17 to 26
RV Show - Jan 18 to 26.
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The Gold Coast Gem & Mineral Show
Has been rescheduled to December 7 & 8 due to the Ventura County Fairgrounds needing to house 3000 firefighters over the original dates.
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Wednesday, October 30, 2024
November 2024 Del Air Calendar of Events
Sunday November 3: Daylight Savings Ends
Thursday November 7: General Meeting
Monday November 11: Veterans Day
Thursday November 21: Board Meeting
Thursday November 28: Thanksgiving Day
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November 2024 Program:
The Diversity of American Gems: The Western States
Presented by Renee Newman
Renee’s PowerPoint will include gems from sources in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and parts of California. However, it will focus on the most notable ones such as jade, benitoite, sunstone, opal, turquoise, chrysocolla, Four Peaks amethyst and fire agate. Renée Newman developed her interest in gems in the early 1980's while conducting tours to Asia, South America and the South Pacific. Her passengers wanted to know how to judge the quality of the gems they saw. After searching in bookstores and libraries for this information, Renée discovered that little had been written on the subject of gem quality evaluation, so she decided it would be worth creating books with photos that showed how to judge gem quality. After receiving a graduate gemologist diploma from the GIA, she was hired as a gemologist at a wholesale firm in downtown Los Angeles. It provided hands-on experience grading diamonds and selecting colored gems and pearls for their jewelry. Armed with trade experience and gemological credentials, Renée decided to create books that showed readers how to visually evaluate the quality of gems. Her first book, the Diamond Ring Buying Guide, was published in 1989. Since that time, she has written thirteen more books on gems and jewelry. They are used as gemology course textbooks, sales training tools, appraisal references and consumer guides. The books will be available for sale at the meeting for a discounted price. Bring cash or check.
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Report on Beading Class with Martina Rodriguez 10-26-2024
Martina Rodriguez instructed us all on how to make A BEAD BRACELET. She had many different beads to choose from and spacer items to make the bracelet even prettier. After stringing the beads and in some cases dropping the string and losing the beads, which means starting over again, we had to tie the knot to hold it all together. This knot was not easy and Martina helped most of us. Most made 2 bracelets and a pair of earrings. With a light lunch, it was a good day. Members attending the class were: Pam Abbott, Dean Tran, Olga Wolf, Alexander Tran, Dr. Jeong Guk Oh, Louise Ratliff, Marilyn Murata and Bob Dearborn. A fun day for all and we did learn something new. These special yearly quarter workshop classes are for members only and if you miss them, you are missing out on learning something new and interesting.
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Proposed 2025 Slate of Officers
President: Jeff Dengrove
Vice President: Aileen Beckers
2nd Vice President: Dan Farber
Secretary: Bob Dearborn
Treasurer: Shellie Van Winkle
Federation Director: Bob Knox
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December Holiday Party Teaser
Happy Holidays Del-Airs. Next month is our annual holiday party. This year we will be enjoying a member provided international themed potluck dinner, a special presentation revolving around slabs and cabochons, some games, and our annual election of officers for 2025. Holiday party chair, Bernadette Friedman will have a sign-up sheet for you to advise on what dish you will be bringing to the party. Remember to prepare enough to feed approximately 6-8 people. Our holiday party committee is currently hard at work planning out all the fine details. The party will be held on our regular December meeting date of Thursday December 5th in the Fellowship Hall building of the Northridge United Methodist Church. So, save the date as you will not want to miss this fun annual event.
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Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Del-Air Rockhounds October 2024 Calendar of Events
Wednesday October 2: Rosh Hashanah Begins
Thursday October 3: General Meeting
Friday October 11: Yom Kippur Begins
Thursday October 17: Board Meeting
Thursday October 31: Halloween
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September 2024 Program: The Allure of Diamonds Presented by: Sandie & Tony Fender
They say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, so we would like to present to you a program on diamonds. We will talk about where to find diamonds, characteristics of diamonds and a comparison of natural and lab grown diamonds. Tony and Sandie Fender are retired teachers and are involved in both the CFMS and AFMS.
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Beading Class with Martina Rodriguez
Saturday October 26, 2024 - 10:30 am
FOR PAID MEMBERS ONLY
On October 26th, the Del-Air Club will be holding its final quarterly workshop. This is one of 4 classes held each year and a perk for being a club member. Our member, Martina Rodriguez will be teaching a beading class. You will learn the correct way to tie those knots between each bead and the special knots needed to end your necklace or bracelet. At this class, you will be making a beaded bracelet but, these are the same knots needed for a necklace as well. Yes, men make bracelets and necklaces too! The class will be held on October 26th from 10:30 am to 2:00 pm or when everyone completes their project. The class will be held at Bob & Maxine Dearborn’s house and we will have space for 10 members to participate. Claim your spot on the sign-up sheet at the October meeting. You don’t have a bracelet to restring? This is OK as Martina will have supplies to make and finish your own bracelet. There will be a $10.00 charge for supplies.
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New Members to the Del-Air Rockhounds Club
We are extremely proud to welcome new members Dean Tran, Alexander Tran & Olga Wolf to our club. They were all voted in unanimously at our September 2024 meeting. Welcome… Dean, Alexander, & Olga!
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November Field Trip Teaser: Saturday November 9th 2024
FOR PAID MEMBERS ONLY
Come join field trip chair and club President, Jeff Dengrove, on a field trip to North Edwards. North Edwards is a place in Kern County, California. Situated in the Mojave Desert, North Edwards is located about 7.2 miles north-east of Edwards Air Force Base, at an elevation of 2,293 feet. We will be collecting agates, petrified wood, bloodstone and jaspers. Watch your November bulletin for more details.
North Edwards - California
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Report on the Club Field Trip On September 8th , 2024
The Del-Air Club had a field trip to the Nevada Mineral & Book Co in the town of Orange, CA. This is a store/museum/gallery owned and run by Walt Lombardo, who gave us a program a few months ago on some of his treasures. Oh the fun of it! This is a building full of books, fossils, rocks and interesting stuff. There are big long drawers that are full of fossils and minerals. Many, many shelves of wonderful things from around the world to look at and think “Do I Want That?” There are big rocks, little rocks, expensive rocks and even rocks that say “Yes, I Can Buy That”. Each time you look back on a shelf, you see something new and different and think - How Did I Miss That? I had a fun day, and hope others on this trip also had a fun day looking at all this neat rockhound stuff. And yes, I did come home with a new book on the Oldest Fossils! It is a neat book on the history of different minerals, fossils, gems and more. The next time we go down to Orange, I am taking Bob to this really neat store.
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December Holiday Party Teaser
Happy Holidays Del-Airs. As that time of the year is rapidly approaching, we ask you to start thinking about our annual holiday party. As in past years, we will be enjoying a member potluck dinner, a special presentation (to be determined), games, our annual election of officers for 2025, fun and great camaraderie. More details to be provided in the November bulletin so start thinking about what dish you'll be bringing, main, side or dessert with enough to feed approximately 8 people. Our holiday party committee is currently hard at work planning out all the details. The party will be held on our regular December meeting date of Thursday December 5th in the Fellowship Hall building of the Northridge United Methodist Church. So, save the date as you will not want to miss this fun annual event.
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Glendora Gems Lapidary Club
Unfortunately, the Glendora Gems Lapidary Club is losing their workshop/meeting location and has to sell some of their equipment and rock. Glendora Gems will be closing the lapidary program and moving to a smaller location and reopening possibly in the Fall of 2025. We will be selling equipment like a 36" saw, 24" saws, sphere machines and misc tile saws & several tons of rocks & specimens.
Location: 1515 W. Mission Blvd, Pomona CA 91766 Directions - Drive through big gate at the building near the back of property Dates for the sale will be Oct 5th from 9-3 pm; Oct 12th from 9-3 pm Need more info please contact Robin P. at 951-906-9365.
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Wednesday, August 28, 2024
Del-Air Rockhounds September 2024 Calendar of Events
Monday September 2: Labor Day
Thursday September 5: General Meeting - 7:30 pm at Northridge United Methodist Church
Sunday September 8: Field Trip - Paid Members Only
Wednesday September 11: Patriot Day
Thursday September 19: Board Meeting - 7:30 pm at Bernadette Friedman's home
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Annual Silent Auction - Presented by your Board of Directors
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Vote on the Club's By-Laws
At this month's meeting, all adult members will be asked to vote on the approval or denial of the revisions to the club's by-laws. After many weeks and much review, the board has approved the revisions and they were emailed to all members approximately two weeks ago. We require a two thirds approval of the entire membership to pass these revisions. If you are unable to attend the September meeting, please submit your proxy vote of yes or no via email to delairrockhounds@gmail.com before Thursday September 5th, 2024.
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New Members to the Del-Air Rockhounds Club
We are extremely proud to welcome new members Adriana Hrenciuc and Sandy Lee to our club. They were both voted in unanimously at our August 2024 meeting. Welcome… Adriana & Sandy!
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WE HAVE MOVED!
The Del-Air Club had an outrageous increase in our storage unit and a plea was put out to our membership for possible better rates at a different location. We had responses from many members about the same size unit and a much better monthly rate. BUT THE BEST OFFER WAS FROM OUR MEMBERS, THE KALMA FAMILY, WHEN THEY SAID WE COULD USE PART OF THEIR GARAGE FOR OUR STORAGE! We took them up on this right away and just before our yearly rent was due again the last of July. Our member team of: Jeff Dengrove, Dan Farber, Michael Tschacher, Dan Durfee and Eitan Kalma filled a U-Haul truck, a pick up truck and a small car full of our storage stuff and got it into the garage in about 3 hours. And on a very hot day! WE WANT TO THANK THE KALMAS AND OUR MOVING TEAM FOR A JOB WELL DONE.
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Just a Friendly FYI…
Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara has now reopened after the damage done by the February 2024 storms. Feel free to meander down the 101 freeway to our favorite whale bone hunting location. Welcome back, Refugio. We missed you!
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Bench Tips from Brad Smith
NEW MELTING DISH
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PROJECTS IN MOTION By Jennifer Haley, AFMS Historian - www.cfmsinc.org
I love my volunteer job as the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies historian. It is fun for me to think about you, and about what you might enjoy reading. You make my day, in this way! I have a bundle of creative projects I would love to do for you as special projects. These are going to take some time pulling together, but it will be well worth the time that goes into it. These projects, when they are completed, will be able to be given to the Federations for their clubs to use in their newsletters, and as club programs. One of the projects will be a collection of vintage cartoons going back to our early days when the generations of rockhounds before us were creating wonderful cartoons for their bulletins all the time. Another project will be a collection of all those wonderful poems, again from vintage bulletins. I’ve been going through some I currently have, and they are so creative and fun. They express the love and joy for our hobby, and are such gifts to bring out and enjoy again for today. Plus, they are such an inspiration for those of you inclined to create your own poems. One other project is for creating a special edition of articles dedicated to telling the true stories of how rockhounds with their talent in lapidary and geology, helped in the war effort during WWII. I have a couple of these stories already, and they are meant to be told. One of these involves a copy of an old Navy report I was able to hunt down that would also make a fantastic program for our clubs. So, wonderful things are in store for you. I am one of those people who enjoys creative chaos, so I can work on all these projects at once as I find more of what I am looking for. I could really use your help in making these projects become a reality. I know many of you have boxes of older club bulletins in which to find the early cartoons and poems. Please look for them and let me know what you’ve found. I wish to borrow them and will return them to you or you can scan them to forward them to me. Contact me, and we’ll work out the details. And of course, I will give credit to the author and your club. Sometimes these vintage poems and cartoons were in a bulletin or just typed out on a piece of paper without an author’s or club’s name on them. Some are very faded, almost hard to read or see. I can still use these and most likely be able to bring them back to life, and I will give you the credit for bringing them to my attention. We have so much to celebrate as rockhounds. Help me celebrate the delights and the honor of being AFMS rockhounds. Reprinted from September 2024 CFMS Newsletter
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From the Desk of the President, JC Moore, AFMS President - www.amfed.org
As I begin this message, an update has been received from Roger Burford concerning Liz. After being in the hospital for the last 3 weeks with major back pain, tests indicate that the cancer has spread to her spine with infections in the bones and, as a result, Liz has decided to go into Home Hospice. Please keep Liz and Roger in your prayers and thoughts at this extremely difficult time. Since my last message, the AFMS Convention in Ventura has concluded and was a great success. There were 55 competitive exhibits that took all day to judge, with several excellent junior entries. I added a learning experience concerning a Japanese art form that has different parameters than what we normally see in exhibits. Of course, there were more vendors with material we do not see in the Midwest, and I could not keep my wife, Donna, away from the silent auction. During the meeting, vacancies were filled for Publications (Ron Carmen), Show Consultant (Jean Charsky), By-Laws (Matt Charsky) and Uniform Rules Eligibility Files (Larry Hulstrom). Again, I would like to thank Ron, Jean, Matt, and Larry for stepping up to fill these positions. We are still looking for someone to be the Chair for Judges Training and Media Director. Again, thank you to the Ventura Club for hosting a wonderful convention. Following our return from California, we spent a quiet few days before heading to New Jersey on June 7th for the Eastern Federation meeting at the Sterling Hill Mine. Since retiring in 2004, this visit has been on our bucket list, and now we can scratch off one item from our list. The meeting was an enjoyable re-connection with people we knew and making new friendships with fellow rockhounds. The mine tour was great, and the collecting even better. If you ever get a chance, this is one site you really want to visit. Now we are preparing for the MWF Convention in East Peoria, Illinois and wish to invite everyone to come and attend August 24-25. Again, please keep Roger and Liz in your prayers as these are difficult times for them. Reprinted from the August 2024 AFMS Newsletter
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Friday, July 26, 2024
Del-Air Rockhounds August 2024 Calendar of Events
Thursday August 1: General Meeting 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room at Northridge United Methodist Church
Saturday August 10: 3rd Quarter Shop Day
Thursday August 15th: Board Meeting
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| 1916 to 2024 |
Sunday August 25: 108th Anniversary of the Nat'l Park Service
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August 2024 Program:
'Ice Cream, Bingo & Summer Finds Social'
It's that time of the year where we once again return after a hot, hot, hot July and enjoy an evening of delicious ice cream and play exciting Bingo games for fabulous prizes.
Plus… bring in and share with the group all your fabulous finds whether self collected or bought at a show or while on vacation. This is the time to show off the newest additions to your collections.
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Education Corner:
This month's Education Corner will be brought to you by our very own Bob Dearborn. He's going to demonstrate how to oxidize sterling silver to give it that unique antique look without having to use any caustic chemicals
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September Field Trip Teaser: Field Trip is for Paid Members Only! Sunday September 8, 2024 - 11:00 am
Club friend & owner of Nevada Mineral & Book Company, Walt Lombardo, has invited the Del-Air Rockhounds on a field trip to his bookstore & natural history gallery located at 342 S. Tustin St., Orange, CA 92866. Not normally open on Sundays, Walt has agreed to exclusively take the Del-Airs on a personal tour of his shop and museum & will be on hand to answer your questions and inquiries. Carpooling is recommended so if you are interested in riding with others or having others ride with you, please let President Jeff Dengrove know as soon as possible so he can possibly help facilitate this.
Nevada Mineral & Book Company (NMBC) was established in 1985, when they started selling mineral specimens and out-of-print publications at gem & mineral shows and through mail order. In 1989 they acquired the inventory of the Mineralogical Record Book Dept., and incorporated in-print books and journals into their offerings. Over the past 30 years, they have evolved to offer the researcher, educator and collector a wide variety of publications and specimens in a "one-stop" shopping environment. In 2001 they opened their first retail location in Henderson, Nevada. In August, 2009 they relocated and opened their new store and gallery in Orange, California. They offer a wide variety of new, used and out-of-print publications, as well as mineral & fossil specimens, lapidary & decorator items, mining stock certificates & other ephemera. They have one of the largest inventories of earth science-related publications in North America, so plan on attending this extraordinary field trip. You will not be disappointed.
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REPORT ON OUR QUARTERLY CLUB CLASS - AMBER:
June had us at Jeff Dengrove’s house for a club workshop on WORKING AND POLISHING AMBER, hosted by member Jon Meredith. We had a full class & Jon had a piece of rough amber for each one of us, plus a kit of many different grits of wet/dry sand paper to finish the project. There was also a container to hold water while working the amber & this stored your kit to take home with you.
John gave simple instructions and said how easy it was to work this fossil tree resin. He also gave ideas on how we could speed up the process with chemicals, but suggested that we just use the sandpaper, as instructed, for a nice finished specimen. So, we got busy dipping our amber and sandpaper in water and sanding. The class ended 2 1/2 hours later and everyone took home a finished & polished piece of amber. And those who chose to, glued a pendant backing on their piece and took a really nice pendant home.
Those who didn’t sign up for this special class really missed out on working with a new hobby material. Some even had bugs in the amber! These quarterly workshop classes are special events, just for our membership and you are really missing out on a learning experience by not joining in for the fun. Members attending this workshop were: Dan Farber, Martina & Rudy Rodriguez, Dr Oh, Anita Lichtman, Bob & Maxine Dearborn, and Kyle Morris. Again, many thanks to club member Jon for teaching us this fun new skill!
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Thursday, June 27, 2024
Del Air Rockhounds July 2024 Calendar of Events
Thursday July 4th: Independence Day
NO GENERAL MEETING IN JULY – WE ARE DARK
Thursday July 18th: Board Meeting - 7:30 pm at the Dearborn's home
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July's Teaser for Our August Program: 'Ice Cream & Bingo Social'
It's that time of the year where we once again return after a hot hot hot July and enjoy an evening of delicious ice cream and play exciting Bingo games for fabulous prizes. Watch your August bulletin for more details.
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Revised Club By-Laws:
All adult club members 18 years of age and older are kindly asked to read the newly revised club By-Laws that will appear in the August 2024 edition of our monthly bulletin. This is very important as the membership will be asked to vote on acceptance of these new By-Laws at our September general meeting and will require a two-thirds majority to pass. All members are encouraged to attend the September meeting so everyone's vote can be counted regarding this important matter.
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RIP Bob Jones:
For those of you who have been long time rockhounds, Bob Jones, a very long time friend of the mineral collecting community, passed away on May 31st. He was in his 90's. Bob's enthusiasm and unstoppable optimism along with his appreciation for mineral collecting and his passion for introducing people to the joy of mineral collecting could not be ignored. He was editor of Rock & Gem Magazine for decades and his many articles where he wrote about collecting localities will never be replicated. Bob was a generous and enthusiastic man who knew no strangers and he will be sorely missed by many.
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Photos From Our Amber Workshop on Saturday June 22
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WE DID IT:
The Del Air Education Outreach Program ended its half way mark for 2024 with a BANG!!! Just before the school break we had two events going at the same time. One a school we have not been to before and the huge CFMS/AMFS Show! On a Thursday evening, we had a booth at a school STEAM NIGHT. Members, Shellie Van Winkle, Pam Abbott, Diana Durfee, Bob & Maxine Dearborn, Jon Meredith, Steven & Coriolis Koch were setting up, running and taking down the booth for a few hours. Our first time at this school and they were happy to talk to us about rocks. On this same Thursday, Jeff Dengrove and Bob Knox were at the Ventura Fairgrounds, setting up our club display case and educational booth. They did this for hours too! Now the CFMS/AFMS Show was a BIG weekend for our club. Besides the setting up and taking down our display case and educational booth, we had many members attend the show to run our booth. Members Jeff Dengrove, Bob Knox, Pam Abbott, Maxine & Bob Dearborn, Diana Durfee, Jon Meredith, Michael Lawshe, Keri Dearborn, Dan Farber were all there on and off for the Fri., Sat., Sun show and spent many hours at our booth talking to lots of people interested in our booth and rocks and minerals. Also two of our members were special speakers for the show. Keri Dearborn - Geology of the Coastal Islands and Maxine Dearborn - Amber. Both of their talks had a well attended audience. We also had a member, Emmy Silverman, who had a dealer booth at this show. You can see our club was very busy at the end of this booth/talk season and many members were involved with these events. We hope you all can take a break now - take a vacation somewhere - and rest up for the second part of the year coming up!
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Thursday, June 20, 2024
June 2024 Del Air Monthly Calendar of Events
Thursday June 6: General Meeting 7:30 pm at Northridge United Methodist Church
Saturday June 15: Delvers G & M Society Parking Lot Sale
Sunday June 16: Father's Day
Thursday June 20: Board Meeting 7:30 pm at Shellie Van Winkle's home
Saturday June 22: Working & Polishing Amber Class
Saturday June 15: Delvers G & M Society Parking Lot Sale
Sunday June 16: Father's Day
Thursday June 20: Board Meeting 7:30 pm at Shellie Van Winkle's home
Saturday June 22: Working & Polishing Amber Class
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June's General Meeting Program: 'Bonsai Trees & Rocks, Melding the Two Together' Presented by Dan Durfee
Come join us at our June meeting where club member Dan Durfee will show us how he creates his beautiful bonsai trees and how he incorporates colorful rocks and minerals to help showcase his masterpieces. It's sure to be an informative and creative experience for all.
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June 2024 Workshop
Working & Polishing Amber
Presented by Jon Meredith
Club member and amber enthusiast, Jon Meredith, will be hosting a class on working and polishing amber at Jeff Dengroves house. Amber is fossilized tree resin and can be found in a select few locations around the globe. There will be space for ten (10) participants and a sign up sheet will be available at the June general meeting. Jon will be providing all necessary materials. The slab saws and a genie will also be available on this day for those who wish to take advantage of them. Don't miss out… get your name on that sign up sheet at the June meeting.
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Have you ever wondered about the MOHS hardness scale? Here are some facts about it!
- The MOHS scale is a system used to identify the hardness of rocks and minerals.
- There are many things that people use to help describe or discover a rock’s identification, but the MOHS scale is a good, efficient one to identify types of minerals.
- The MOHS process suggests scratching two minerals together in order to find the hardness of the two minerals.
- Who? The person who invented the MOHS scale was Friedrich E. Mohs.
- When? The MOHS scale was created in the year 1812. How? Observing the mineral’s surface when it is scratched by a substance of known or defined hardness.
- When? The scale was found in the early 1800's in one of Friedrich’s books.
- What? The MOHS hardness scale means Scale of Mineral Hardness.
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Del Air Club Annual Wrightwood Field Trip Report:
Thanks to member Shellie Van Winkle, we met again at her house in Wrightwood, CA for our annual field trip. There were breakfast snack items on the table when we all got there and fresh coffee. Boy, what a way to start collecting rock! Our members trooped off, about 2 city blocks, to the collecting area and had a great time filling their bags. Some had large rocks too big for their bags. After about 2 hours of collecting, we all headed back to the house for a huge pot-luck lunch of warm food, salads, finger food and rich desserts. Every field trip should be like this one! Members present were: Shellie Van Winkle, Bernadette Friedman, Jeff Dengrove, Dan & Diana Durfee, Aileen Beckers, Michael Tschacher, Louise Ratliff, Bob & Maxine Dearborn and Peggy Donner. Again, Thank You Shellie for a great, easy and fun way to have a field trip.
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Wednesday, May 1, 2024
May 2024 Del Air Calendar of Events
Thursday May 2: General Meeting 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room at NUMC
Sunday May 5: Cinco de Mayo
Thursday May 9: Board Meeting
Sunday May 12: Mother's Day
Thursday May 16: Patrick Henry Middle School STEM Night
Saturday May 18: Annual Wrightwood Potluck & Field Trip
Friday, Saturday, Sunday May 24-26: AFMS/CFMS/VGMS Show
Monday May 27: Memorial Day
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May's General Meeting Program: 'Southern California Tourmalines' Presented by Walt Lombardo
Come join us at our May general meeting where Walt Lombardo will be discussing Southern California Tourmalines. Walt is a geologist with over 35 years experience related to mining and mineral exploration. For 16 years, he managed the Las Vegas Office for the Nevada Division of Minerals. He has also worked for Desert Research Institute (part of the University of Nevada system) and served as a consultant for several mining and exploration companies. Walt has lectured nationwide on topics relating to geology, mineralogy, gemology, mineral resources and mining fraud.
Nevada Mineral & Book Company (NMBC) was established in 1985, when Walt started selling mineral specimens and out-of-print publications at gem & mineral shows and through mail order. In 1989 he acquired the inventory of the Mineralogical Record Book Department, and incorporated in-print books and journals into his offerings. Over the past 30 years, we have evolved to offer the researcher, educator and collector a wide variety of publications and specimens in a "one-stop" shopping environment. In 2001 we opened our first retail location in Henderson, Nevada. In August, 2009 we relocated and opened our new store and gallery at 342 S. Tustin St. Orange, CA 92866. They offer a wide variety of new, used and out-of-print publications, as well as mineral and fossil specimens, lapidary and decorator items, and mining stock certificates and other ephemera. They have one of the largest inventories of earth science-related publications in North America, so plan on staying a while if you come to visit his store. You will not be disappointed.
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Report on Del Air Shop Day - Sat. April 13:
On Saturday, April 13th we had our Spring workshop. Four members attended; Dan Farber, Kyle Morris, Steven and Coriolis Koch. We had a successful day, prior to the rain. We used both grinding and polishing units, the 18 inch and 10 inch saws, the flat lap and the drill press. We cut and polished a variety of stones. We encourage ALL members to take part in these shop days. Our next shop day will be sometime in July, August or September. Keep an eye on your upcoming monthly bulletins for more details.
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Club Display Case @ AFMS/CFMS/VGMS Annual Show in May:
The Del Air club will be installing a display case at the annual show and convention at the Ventura Fairgrounds May 24th thru the 26th. It will be a non competitive entry showcasing our club and the lapidary items we have created at our various shop days, wire wrapping and chain-mail classes, etc. We are asking all members to loan a lapidary item or two that you created, cut, polished or assembled while a member of the club to the board for possible inclusion in the case. We are looking for 12 to 14 items for inclusion in the case depending on size. It could be a polished specimen, a jewelry item or any type of rock related handicraft. Please bring your loan items to our May 2024 meeting labeled with a brief explanation of the item and your name & phone number. All items will be returned to members at our June meeting. This is great exposure for our club to AFMS/CFMS members from around our state and the entire country.
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Agatized Coral - Tampa Bay, Florida:
The photos above are of the world famous Tampa Bay Agatized Coral. They are from an ancient coral bed that encompassed much of the state of Florida approximately 38 to 40 million years ago when Florida was underwater. I acquired this specimen at a rock sale held by my Florida rock club, The Withlacoochee Rockhounds of Hernando, Florida. It measures 7 inches from left to right and 2 ¾ inches from top to bottom. Specimens of this size and quality go for upwards of $85 or more on eBay but I was able to snatch up this beauty for only $20. A steal of a bargain, for sure!
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Wednesday, March 27, 2024
April 2024 Del Air Calendar of Events
Thursday April 4: General Meeting 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room at Northridge United Methodist Church
Friday April 12: Vintage Magnet STEAM Night
Saturday April 13: Del Air Shop Day
Thursday April 18: Board Meeting
Fri, Sat, Sun, April 19, 20, 21: Conejo Gem & Mineral Show
Monday April 22: Passover Begins
Tuesday April 23: Andasol Elementary STEAM Night
Saturday April 27: DWP Earth Day
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April's General Meeting Program
'Generalized Mineral Identification' Presented by Bob Dearborn & Bob Knox
Our club recently participated in a "rock swap" with a club from Riverton, Wyoming. A "rock swap" basically means we sent a box of California rocks to them and they sent a box of Wyoming rocks to us. This month, at our general meeting, the two Bobs will show us how to identify these rocks utilizing some of the basic mineral identification techniques available today. If any of the membership would like to own any of these Wyoming specimens then make sure you attend our May meeting where these specimens will be available via a special silent auction.
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Upcoming May 2024 Field Trip Teaser - Save the Date! Saturday May 18, 2024 - 10:00 am
Join us for our annual field trip to Wrightwood, CA for actinolite, garnet in schist and possibly even lepidolite. We will be doing our usual potluck lunch and Shellie Van Winkle has once again volunteered the use of her vacation home as our staging location which is just steps away from the collecting area. More detailed information in the May bulletin. So… Save That Date!
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Club Display Case @ AFMS/CFMS/VGMS Annual Show in May
The Del Air club will be installing a display case at the annual show and convention at the Ventura Fairgrounds May 24th thru the 27th. It will be a non competitive entry showcasing our club and the lapidary items we have created at our various shop days, wire wrapping and chain mail classes, etc. We are asking all members to loan a lapidary item or two that you created, cut, polished or assembled while a member of the club to the board for possible inclusion in the case. We are looking for 12 to 14 items for inclusion in the case depending on size. It could be a polished specimen, a jewelry item or any type of rock related handicraft. Please bring your loan items to the May 2024 meeting labeled with a brief explanation of the item and your name & phone number. All items will be returned to members at our June meeting. This is great exposure for our club to AFMS/CFMS members from around our state and the entire country.
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MEMBERS QUARTERLY CHAIN MAIL NECKLACE PROJECT REPORT
As you all know, our club is trying to schedule a quarterly project for our members to participate in. Something to learn about or make or think about. This quarter, Maxine Dearborn led a class on making CHAIN MAIL JEWELRY. She had everything set up with instructions and as the jump ring necklaces were starting to be put together we began to hear “DARN” these rings are really small or OOOPS I just put that ring in the wrong place or BOY this is a challenge! But, parts of the necklace did get done and a couple finished necklaces went home. Others took their incomplete project home to finish. Everyone agreed it was a challenge but fun. I don't think anyone would want to make a full suit of chain mail armor because it would take years! We hope to see more club members on our next quarterly project.
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***June 2024 General Meeting Teaser***
Our June meeting topic will be "What's Your Other Hobby". We ask all members to participate by bringing in and sharing with the group something that you collect or are passionate about outside the realm of rocks or lapidary. This is a great way for all of us to learn something more about each other. So think about what it is you'd like to share and bring it to our general meeting in June.
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Monday, February 19, 2024
March 2024 Del Air Calendar of Events
Thursday March 7: General Meeting 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room at Northridge United Methodist Church
Sunday March 10: Daylight Savings Time Begins
Sunday March 17: St Patrick's Day
Thursday March 21: Board Meeting At the Dearborn's Home
Saturday March 23: Chainmail Jewelry Making Class At Maxine Dearborn's home - See article
Sunday March 31: Easter Sunday
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March's General Meeting Program:
"Rocks & Crocs" Some Lesser Known Geological Features in Australia Presented by Dick & Mary Pat Weber
I am happy to report that Dick Weber is much better and back to his usual self so please come join us at our March 2024 meeting where Dick & Mary Pat Weber have been rescheduled, and will present to us, a tantalizing look at some of the lesser known but still spectacular, geological and paleontological features throughout Australia. Everyone knows about the Great Barrier Reef and Ayers Rock but there are so many more features that are equally impressive but known to only a select few. Hope to see you all there.
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Aileen's Creative Corner - Crafting with Gemstones
This month, Aileen will be talking about crafting with gemstones. She uses Labradorite, Tourmaline, Amethyst, Unakite, Tigers Eye and Agates. These are just a few and there are many, many more. She will use whatever feels or looks good to her. She'll show you some of the things she has created and explain how you, too, can easily create beautiful and fun things out of the loose or extra gemstones from your collection.
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Field Trip Report - Del Air CLUB's ANNUAL FOSSIL WHALE BONE TRIP
On January 27th our club gathered together at Refugio Beach State Park in Santa Barbara, under the guidance of president & field trip chairman, Jeff Dengrove. It was a great, sunny day for the 11 of us and 3 guests who went looking for this special rock. The high tides of the last few weeks undercut the banks and delivered a lot more rock to the area. Members who braved the tide while we were there found fossil whale bones and more interesting rocks that will be displayed at our club meetings. The local islands looked like you could hit them with one of the rocks you didn’t want to keep. We had a great day, took in a lot of fresh air and brought home a couple neat rocks too!
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AN EDUCATION OUTREACH STEM NIGHT AT STANLEY MOSK SCHOOL
Our education group had another fun evening talking to students and their parents at Stanley Mosk Elementary school's STEM NIGHT event. This was a new school for us and, BOY, were we busy with happy faces. We had our volcano display to talk about and with such a crowd most of the time we had two free games going. Our spin-a-wheel never stopped going and even broke the clicker, which had to be replaced mid-evening. We had lots of rock questions and some even brought their own rocks to be identified. Fun, fun, fun. Members attending for this 3 hour event were: Shellie Van Winkle, Bernadette Friedman, Pam Abbott, Bob Knox and Bob & Maxine Dearborn.
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Friday, January 26, 2024
February 2024 Del Air Calendar of Events
Thursday February 1: General Meeting 7:30 pm in our regular meeting room @ NUMC
Wednesday February 14: Valentine's Day
Thursday February 15: Board Meeting
Friday February 16: Stanley Mosk Science Night
Monday February 19: President's Day
Friday February 23: Chatsworth Park Starry Starry Night
Saturday February 24: Shop Day
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February 2024 General Meeting
Pipe Stone; Presented by Bob Dearborn
Geologically, pipestone is a claystone (argillite). Its scientific name is catlinite (named after George Catlin). The red color results from oxidation of trace amounts of iron (hematite). The pipestone formation began over 1.5 billion years ago when a braided river covered what is now southwest Minnesota. The pipestone quarries have been visited for centuries by American Indians to acquire the red pipestone used to craft pipebowls for their sacred ceremonial pipes. This month, Bob Dearborn will show us this wondrous stone and explain how American Indians accomplished this arduous task.
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A Special Silent Auction
The Del Air Rockhounds Club was fortunate enough to have recently acquired a collection of high end crystal and mineral specimens generously donated to the club by a very nice lady named Taryn from Rancho Cascades, CA. The Board has made the decision to offer these specimens for sale to the membership at a special silent auction at our February meeting. There will be 15 or so very beautiful and unique specimens up for auction. There will only be one auction this time and all items will have a pre-assigned starting bid. So bring your checkbooks and be ready to add that special high end specimen to your own collection.
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Del Air Shop Day
Saturday February 24, 2024 - 10 am to 4 pm @ Jeff Dengrove's Home.
The Del Air Club has scheduled our first SHOP DAY for 2024. As usual, it will take place at Jeff Dengrove's home on Saturday February 24 from 10 am to 4 pm. We can accommodate only 10 people at this event. Due to liability and insurance issues, this event is open to paid members only. I will notify each respondent regarding the status of their request to attend and will send out a blast email reminder to the membership a time or two prior to the date of the event advising of any openings or cancellations.
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