News

Field Trip

Next Saturday (April 25) we are going on a field trip to the KU Natural History Museum at Dyche Hall, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd. Lawrence, Kansas 66045. Meet us at our usual meeting spot at 11:00 am and we will carpool to the museum. Hope to see you there!

The Bunker Mosasaur at the KU Natural History Museum.

Come see the Bunker Mosasaur! Photo from: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/img/college-photo_24120..jpg

Midwest Federation 2015 Youth Poster Contest

The deadline has passed to enter this poster contest sponsored by Summit Lapidary Club, but here are the rules for posterity.

Theme: The official state gem, mineral, rock, or fossil of the state you live in. Eligibility: Any student in 1st-8th grade. Prizes: Each grade will have a winner. Ribbons will be awarded for 1st-4th place. 1st-3rd place will also receive a prize. Contest Rules: All entries must be presented on 12”x18” paper. Include name, address, age, and school grade of participant on BACK of entry. No three-dimensional posters accepted. The title may be on the front or back. List your state and why you chose the gem, mineral, rock, or fossil. All entries become the property of the MWF and Summit Lapidary Club Scale of Points: Originality and Art Work: 30 points Design: 25 points Title: 25 points Listing of state gem, mineral, rock, or fossil and reason for your choice: 20 points Artwork: Artwork on posters can be pen, ink, crayons, magic marker, paint, or any other artist’s medium. Deadline: Entries must be postmarked by May 1, 2015 Send your entries to: [address removed because contest is over] Questions? Contact Poster Judge Jennifer Fike at [email address removed]. Hint: Missouri’s state rock is Mozarkite, state mineral is galena, and state fossil is the crinoid.

Photos from the Gem Show

New shirt celebrating the Kansas City Gem & Mineral Show.

New T-shirt celebrating the show and featuring a calcite crystal.

Shirts are only $10 and we have plenty left if you want one.

Four Show-Me Rockhounds members discussing pottery.

Show-Me Rockhounds members discussing pottery.

Show-Me Rockhounds members loading the storage container.

Show-Me Rockhounds members loading supplies into the storage container.

Unpacking boxes

Rockhounds hard at work.

Unpacking boxes

Unpacking boxes.

Bob selling minerals to some happy customers.

Bob selling minerals to some happy customers. Bob is a great salesman.

Making glass beads (lampwork) at the Three Trails Trading Post.

Making glass beads (lampwork) at the Three Trails Trading Post.

I took a lampwork class at the Three Trails Trading Post once and it was really fun. I highly recommend it.

Huge pieces of petrified wood from Lincoln Curios. They are in a display that looks like a forest.

Huge pieces of petrified wood from Lincoln Curios.

Arrowheads made by the Flint Knappers.

Arrowheads made by the Flint Knappers.

The Flint Knappers were next to our booth and they were making arrowheads and going tap, tap, tap the whole time.

Tubs full of geodes that you can have opened onsite.

The Geode Gallery lets you pick out a geode and have it opened onsite.

Pearls from Hartman Enterprises.

Pearls from Hartman Enterprises. There are miles of beads for sale at shows like this.

A rainbow crystal pendant for your chakras.

A rainbow crystal pendant for your chakras.

Colorful agate slabs with dragons, cats, penguins, and other creatures painted on them.

Painted agate slabs from Aerie Artwork

A display of metalworking tools made by the Sterling Guild.

A display of metalworking tools made by the Sterling Guild.

A display made by Bruce from IGAMS showing his new acquisitions from 2014.

A display made by Bruce from IGAMS showing his new acquisitions from 2014. Bruce made several displays and made the rest of us look like slackers.

Rectangular slabs of brown and yellow tiger's eye that resemble bacon.

Somebody decided that tiger’s eye looks like bacon slices when cut into slabs.

Special Events at the Gem Show

A schedule of special events happening during the show. If you can only come on one or two days, use this to help plan.

Friday, March 13, 2015
All day- Minerals and jewelry for sale, flint knapping demonstration, walk-through story book, free rock/mineral identification.
3:00 p.m. “Missouri’s One and Only Dinosaur and the End of the Dinosaurus”, Carl Campbell, St. Louis Community College-Meramec, St. Louis, Missouri

Saturday, March 14, 2015
All day- Minerals and jewelry for sale, flint knapping demonstration, walk-through story book, free rock/mineral identification.
1:00 p.m. “Crinoids, Lillies of the Sea”, Rick Poropat, Eastern Missouri Society for Paleontology, St. Louis, Missouri
2:00 p.m. “CSI -Cretaceous Skeletal Investigations and the Life and Hard Times of T. rex ”, Dr. David Burnham, Research Associate, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
3:00 p.m. “Chasing Jumbo’s cousin: Reconstruction of the history of one of KU’s oldest and largest fossils”, Josh Schmerge, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
4:00 p.m. “Flat-skulled beavers of the Miocene: The most unusual mammals of all time?”, Josh Schmerge, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
7:00 p.m. Lecture Room- Public auction in the Lecture Room with complimentary snacks and soft drinks. Proceeds will benefit the Scholarship Fund.

Sunday, March 15, 2015
All day- Minerals and jewelry for sale, silent auctions, flint knapping demonstration, walk-through story book, free rock/mineral identification.
2:00 p.m. “Nannotyrannus – teenage tyrant or tiny theropod?”, Josh Schmerge, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

54th Annual Spring Gem & Mineral Show

Flyer giving information about the gem show

Less than 2 weeks until the big gem show you don’t want to miss! Sponsored by the Greater Kansas City Association of Earth Science Clubs, this is the Spring Gem, Mineral, Jewelry, and Bead Show at the KCI Expo Center. We have over 70 retail and wholesale dealers, educational exhibits from KU and other local universities, lectures, demonstrations, a dinosaur puppet show, door prizes, and scholarships. We (the Show-Me Rockhounds) are working hard on our displays and things to sell, but you’ll have to come to the show to see what we have! For more information on the event and a coupon, go to www.kcgemshow.org

Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year! This year is the Year of the Ram/Goat/Sheep (the language is ambiguous). This statue is in Guangzhou, a city in China that is also known as the City of Rams. The Five-Ram Sculpture is one of the most famous structures in Guangzhou. It was made of marble and installed in 1959, and has become the emblem of the city. Legend has it that more than 2,000 years ago, the city was a barren land with people who despite hard work were suffering from famine. One day five immortals in five-color garments came riding on five rams, playing their legendary music. The rams held sheaves of rice in their mouths. The immortals left the sheaves of rice for the local people, gave blessings to the city and left. The rams turned into stone and the city became a rich and populous place.
Read about famous Rams here: http://www.shenyun.com/whatsnew/article/e/tFQkYjOR8PI/year-of-the-sheep-goat-chinese-new-year-history.html

Happy January Birthdays!

A chocolate cake with green icing and multicolored rocks spelling

Cake and photo by Stephanie Reed

We had several Show-Me Rockhound members with birthdays in January, and I got thinking about what kind of cake a rockhound would like. I’ve seen some amazing geology-themed cakes but I’m not skilled enough at cake decorating to come close to those. Then I saw these chocolate rocks at Price Chopper and I knew exactly what to do. This is the result. Happy birthday, David, Charley, and Sharon!