Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 49, Issue 4 Page 1
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Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 49, Issue 4 Page 1 Rocky Mountain Federation News April 2018 Volume 49, Issue 4 The official publication of the Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc. The RMFMS is a regional member of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc. and is issued monthly (except June and July). It is a privilege of membership of the RMFMS and cannot be exchanged by the editor for individual club newsletters from other regional federations. www.rmfms.org Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 49, Issue 4 Page 2 Contents From the Editor From the Editor ................................................. 2 It is such a joy to have articles sent my way for this publication. From my experience with other Affiliations ......................................................... 2 newsletter writing endeavors, it more often Letter from the President – March 2018 .......... 3 takes begging and bribery to obtain good AFMS Show & Convention: Raleigh, North content. Thanks for making this fun to do! Carolina – April 6‐8, 2018 ................................. 4 Special thanks to Erin Delventhal for contributing spectacular photos with a smile. Journey of a Rockhound ................................... 5 Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society’s Pebble Please submit your contributions for the next Pup and Earth Science Scholar Presents Paper issue by May 10th to [email protected]. at Iowa State University .................................... 7 Heather Woods, PG Geology of Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks ....... 8 Works Cited ....................................................... 9 Affiliations Heading to the Federation Meeting in the Black Hills: Agates ..................................................... 10 The Rocky Mountain Federation of Calling All AFMS Uniform Rules Judges .......... 16 Mineralogical Societies (RMFMS) is a member RMFMS Convention and Show ....................... 17 of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS). April/May Upcoming Shows and Events ......... 25 New Show Announcements ............................ 26 Show Flyers ..................................................... 27 RMFMS Board and Committees...................... 33 Cover photo courtesy and copyright of Erin Delventhal of the San Juan County Gem and Mineral Society. “Modified cubes of blue fluorite in situ, Cooke’s Peak District, Luna County, New Mexico” Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 49, Issue 4 Page 3 Letter from the President – March 2018 By Liz Thomas Well, what an interesting spring we are having. But that's okay we will get through it. I just returned from Raleigh, North Carolina for the American Rock and Mineral Society Convention and show. The biggest thing I took away from this show is please do not try to have all your meetings in one day. It will wear you out and you get a little hangry (hungry + angry). But it turned out to be a great convention and show. My husband, Ben and our vice president Bob Regner and his beautiful wife Donna had a chance to attend the field trip out at the hiddenite mine. Or that is where we thought we were going. We actually ended up at a private location looking for hiddenite as well as other material. We did come away with a few items but not too much. It was fun just enjoying the day with all the rock hounds from all the other regions as well. How many of you plan on attending our RMFMS show and convention in Hiddenite crystal from Rapid City, South Dakota? It is shaping up to be a great show with a lot in Afghanistan. store. I am excited. The show starts on July 20 and ends on July 22 but Creative Commons CC0 1.0 by Gery there are field trips planned for before and after. Make sure you go onto Parent our website to see what is coming, as well as, sign up for the show and meetings. Speaking of meetings. It is very important that each club gets their vote in on anything that might be brought up at the convention. So in order to make sure this happens, if your club will not be represented at the convention, we need to get a proxy form from you allowing someone else to vote for you. This is very important because this counts as a quorum for the meeting. No quorum, no meeting. So I am asking, please make sure you get a proxy signed and sent to someone to vote for you. We will also need to be thinking about a show location for next year. If your club is interested please contact me and ask any questions and I can get you all filled in on how the process works. Remember you will not do this alone. We have a convention advisor to help you in every step of the way. We will have the double show/convention in 2021 where we hold the RMFMS but add in the AMFMS but its just one more day of meetings. So please talk to your club, get them enthused about a show and give me a call or email me. These types of shows will really boost your attendance. See you all in Rapid City! Liz Thomas RMFMS President Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 49, Issue 4 Page 4 AFMS Show & Convention: Raleigh, North Carolina – April 6‐8, 2018 By Richard Jaeger, RMFMS Past President I attended the AFMS Show & Convention in Raleigh, North Carolina. Our Federation was represented at the AFMS Board Meeting by Liz Thomas, RMFMS President and Bob Regner, RMFMS Vice President. DeLane Cox also represented the RMFMS on the board as AFMS 2nd Vice President. Dr. Robert Carlson represented the RMFMS at the Uniform Rules meeting and helped with judging the competitive cases. Judy Beck, was elected as AFMS 1st Vice President. The Board Meeting was without any major controversy. The AFMS Scholarship Foundation meeting followed the AFMS Board meeting. Our Federation was represented by Gene Maggard, the Scholarship Foundation Treasurer, and by Liz Thomas and Bob Regner. Other RMFMS officers and committee members who attend the show were Wayne Cox, Peggy Maggard, and Richard Jaeger. Other members attending were Larry Beck, Josie Middleton, Donna Regner, and Ben Thomas. Ron Carman, who attended, is almost an ‘honorary’ RMFMS member. Hope I haven’t left anyone out. It was an enjoyable show with about 35 dealers but with only 10 display cases, with just 3 of those being competitive. The Awards Banquet and the Breakfast with the Editors were well attended and several Rocky Mountain Federation clubs and members received awards. Richard Jaeger received the AFMS Recognition Award for his years of service to the AFMS and our hobby. The McPherson Gem & Mineral Club received a gold award in the All‐American Club Competition; Judy Beck prepared their entry. Bob Regner won a prize in the AFMS Endowment Fund drawings. Other Rocky Mountain Federation members holding AFMS committee chairmanships this coming year will be Jay Bowman ‐ Publications Chair, Robert Carlson ‐ Boundaries Chair, and Richard Jaeger ‐ Ways & Means Chair. I enjoyed visiting the North Carolina Museum of Natural History where it had been arranged for AFMS members to have a behind the scenes look at the museum’s collections. I also enjoyed hiking in North Carolina’s William Umstead State Park. On the way back I spent three nights in Nashville, TN visiting my son Roger and enjoyed sightseeing around there and in Chattanooga, TN. As usual, the most enjoyable thing for me was getting to visit with fellow rock hounds from across the United States who I only see once every year or two, while at the same time making new friends. I was literally able to visit with friends from Maine, Washington, California, Florida and many states in‐ between. The Eastern Federation and the Tar Heels Club were wonderful hosts for the show and their members were friendly and helpful. Next year the AFMS show is in conjunction with Midwest Federation Show and will be held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from March 16‐17. Hopefully a number of our Rocky Mountain Federation members will be able to attend as this show will closer to our area. Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 49, Issue 4 Page 5 Journey of a Rockhound By Bob Regner, RMFMS Vice President Well as I recall, to the best of my recollection, it all started about 50 years ago when I was just a young’un. I remember going rock hounding with my grandpa, Sandor Botos, aka Sanyi to all of us kids. What I recall most was that he would take what he found and make jewelry with it. The horn coral we found one weekend was a piece of jewelry a few days later. Down in his basement he had a Craftsman Flat Lap machine. He taught me how to use the machine to polish up my own stones (some really fond memories here). I never really lost interest in rock hounding but I Photo of Donna and Bob Regner never pursued it either. I would of course never pass up picking up a cool rock when I was out and about. About 14 years ago, I took a job working in Trinidad, Colorado and this is where it all took off again. When I was out working in the mountains, I would find different fossils like palm leaves, various tree leaves, small crustaceans and of course the occasional insect. Any time I was in an area where there might be something of interest on the ground I would always look, even if only passively. We moved to Albuquerque a couple of years later and I would rockhound where I could, even in river rock that people used to xeriscape their yards with (start looking, you will be surprised with the stuff you can find in river rock). One day I decided to see if there was some kind of club in the area for “collectors”. I could end it all right here by saying that the rest is history but that would be too easy and I know some of you out there are sitting on the edge of your seats to hear more.