Mark your calendar for the Spring 2016 Gem and Mineral Show, sponsored by the Association. Here is a flyer in PDF format you can print or send to all your friends.
Club Activities
Christmas Parties 2015
Photos from the Show-Me Rockhounds and IGAMS Christmas parties.
The Show-Me Rockhounds Christmas Party. There was also a White Elephant gift exchange in which everyone chose gifts (sight unseen) that were perfectly suited for them.
The Show-Me Rockhounds Christmas Party. Here’s another photo because I couldn’t decide which one was better.
Valerie is so excited about her gift!
The presents at the IGAMS White Elephant exchange. There were things like necklaces, books, calendars, candy, and of course mineral specimens.
The IGAMS December meeting. It was fairly short. There was also dinner.
Preparing for the gift exchange at IGAMS.
New Officers
An important announcement from our November meeting: Our President, Martin Mueller, has accepted the position of Vice President of IGAMS and is stepping down as President of Show-Me Rockhounds. Thus, we had an election and unanimously voted in David Reed as our new President and FC Watts as our new Vice President. Best of luck to all three in their new positions.
Gem Show Photos Fall 2015
We had fun selling and buying specimens at the gem show. If you missed it, here are some of the things you can expect to find at a show.
An overview of the whole show. Photo by Stephanie Reed
This year we sold books about rocks and where to find them, including the highly desired Gemstones of North America by John Sinkankas.
Mark selling minerals.
President Martin and Webmistress Stephanie looking at an aquamarine. Photo by David Reed
This jar of tumbled chips of Lake Superior agates was part of a kit for making a gem tree, sold by the Show-Me Rockhounds. Photo by Stephanie Reed
Polished spheres made of minerals from Dave’s Rocks and Carvings (Hamburg, MI). I see rose quartz, tiger’s eye, sodalite, and snowflake obsidian. Can you name all the minerals?
Mineral specimens for sale from Dave’s Rocks and Carvings (Hamburg, MI) Photo by David Reed
Gem shows always have lots of jewelry for sale, usually organized by mineral. This is an entire box full of rings made with blue larimar sold by Manichia LLC (Kansas City, MO). Blue larimar is a type of volcanic pectolite found in the Dominican Republic.
Glass beads for sale at Park Design (St. Joseph, MO). You can even watch the beads being made. They can also be found at the Three Trails Trading Post in Independence, MO.
Fall Kansas City Gem Show Coming Soon
It’s almost that time again. The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are falling off the trees, and the fall gem show is next week. It will be at the Kansas City Expo Center November 6-8. The fall show is not as big as the spring show (in March) but is still well worth attending, as it’s only $6. IGAMS will be there and if you signed up to help, hopefully you know who you are because I don’t. Also, feel free to print out this flyer and share it with your friends, co-workers, and anyone else who might be interested.
Even Bigger Petrified Wood
Photo by David Reed
Everyone had a great time visiting the Sutton Museum on our last field trip. Valerie just reminded me that I should be posting some photos from the museum so I will over the next week or two. When you come in the door of the museum, the first thing you will notice is this giant piece of petrified wood. A person is standing next to it for scale, so you can see it is about 2 feet tall. Much bigger than the other big petrified wood I wrote about last year.
Association Picnic
The Association’s Summer Picnic will be Sunday, August 23 at Antioch Park, shelter #3. The rock swap begins at 8 am, lunch is at noon, and the scholarship auction is after lunch. This is a good chance to see people from every “facet” of mineralogy, including rocks, minerals, fossils, crystals, paleontology, gem cutting, flint knapping, and more. The Association will provide the hamburgers, hot dogs, and soda, and they ask that everybody bring a side dish, salad, or a dessert to share. Also, bring something for the rock swap and cash so you can buy things at the auction. The auction raises money for scholarships for college students majoring in geology, paleontology, or other rock-related areas.
Here are photos from last year’s picnic. https://plus.google.com/b/109214060991924897753/events/gallery/ct46l01qks94sg53lmqg78st21o
If you use Google+ you can RSVP to the picnic here: https://plus.google.com/b/109214060991924897753/events/c2lhou5h8lkt725kn0hlafeu92k
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!
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 T-shirt celebrating the show and featuring a calcite crystal.
Shirts are only $10 and we have plenty left if you want one.
Show-Me Rockhounds members discussing pottery.
Show-Me Rockhounds members loading supplies into the storage container.
Rockhounds hard at work.
Unpacking boxes.
Bob selling minerals to some happy customers. Bob is a great salesman.
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.
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.
The Geode Gallery lets you pick out a geode and have it opened onsite.
Pearls from Hartman Enterprises. There are miles of beads for sale at shows like this.
A rainbow crystal pendant for your chakras.
Painted agate slabs from Aerie Artwork
A display of metalworking tools made by the Sterling Guild.
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.
Somebody decided that tiger’s eye looks like bacon slices when cut into slabs.
Show-Me Rockhounds Kansas City 