Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 50, Issue 7 Page 1
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Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 50, Issue 7 Page 1 Rocky Mountain Federation News November 2019 Volume 50, Issue 7 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 50, Issue 7 Page 2 Contents From the Editor Please send us your Rockhounds of the Year. In From the Editor ................................................. 1 the words of Mike Rowe, we need to celebrate Affiliations ......................................................... 2 all those “bloody do-gooders.” Letter from the President ................................. 3 I recommend taking a moment to visit the ALAA “Recreational Rockhounding and Public revamped RMFMS.org website. Our Lands” ............................................................... 4 webmaster, Joel Johnstone, has been hard at It is Time to Get All Club Entries Ready for work on it. RMFMS Contests ............................................... 5 Please submit your contributions for the next Pezzottaite, Londonite & Rhodizite: More Pesky issue by December 5th to Cesium Minerals ............................................... 6 [email protected]. Upcoming Shows and Events .......................... 10 Heather Woods, PG 2019 RMFMS Board and Committees............. 12 Affiliations Cover photo courtesy and copyright of Erin Delventhal of the San Juan County Gem and The Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineral Society. “Collecting in the Sunshine Mineralogical Societies (RMFMS) is a member no. 1 Adit, Blanchard Mine, New Mexico”. of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS). Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 50, Issue 7 Page 3 Letter from the President By Liz Thomas, RMFMS President Well, This is the last newsletter article that I will have the privilege to write as the President of Rocky Mountain. I do want to say I have had the best two and a half years of my life. I have had the best people around me so if I make a mistake, and I did make mistakes, they were there to put me back together. I am most thankful for Richard Jaeger and Gene Maggard. They were always a phone call away to answer my many questions. But every person on the board and committees has been a blessing to me in many, many ways. I thank each of you. It has been a very hard summer on me and my husband, Ben. We moved into a new house for many reasons but the most is for our health and many problems you get when you get older. I feel like I am home. But if it was not for my very best friend, Roberta Wagle, we would still be in the process of moving. She came every day to help pack, move everything especially the tons of rocks. We have a very nice shop that Ben has set up so he can work on all our rocks, make the wonderful flutes and much more. We moved in a twenty-foot shipping container on the side and it is the saw room. We have five saws going now. So, we are back in business doing what we love. I have put together some very nice necklaces and wire wrapped a little. So, we move forward in our life. The next RMFMS President is Bob Regner. I hope everyone treats him half as good as you all have treated me. He will be in heaven with you all. He will do a great job. He and his lovely wife, Donna, live in Albuquerque New Mexico. He does a lot of rock hounding around his place. He has a little claim that he gets some really nice rocks out of. I do envy him because he is in a great place to do a lot of rock hounding. I hope a lot of you attend the next RMFMS Conference in Big Piney, Wyoming. It is going to be great. They are going to host four field trips. I am so excited to go and find some really great stuff. Fossil Fish, Blue Forest Pet Wood, and much more. The following year will be a combination RMFMS and the AFMS in Sandy, Utah. They will offer many field trips also. Great show to attend. Then the year 2022 we will be in Boulder City, Nevada. Man, what a line up. I am so excited that we have so many clubs that want to host these shows and conferences. They are fun, you learn a lot, and you get to see a lot of old friends. What more could you ask for? Please do not forget about the AFMS endowment auction. We need donations for the auction. Please contact Richard Jaeger if you want to donate something to the auction. Also do not forget to get your yearbooks ready to send in. It’s not hard to do and it is an honor to see what all the clubs have been doing. We only had two entries last year. I know we have lots of clubs, so I hope you each try to turn one in. They are not due until February 2020, so you have plenty of time to put it together. It is on the web site at AFMS. The rules and how to’s. Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 50, Issue 7 Page 4 I truly believe that everything that we do and everyone that we meet is put in our path for a purpose. There are no accidents; we're all teachers - if we're willing to pay attention to the lessons we learn, trust our positive instincts and not be afraid to take risks or wait for some miracle to come knocking at our door. In my life I've learned that true happiness comes from giving. Helping others along the way makes you evaluate who you are. I think that love is what we're all searching for. I haven't come across anyone who didn't become a better person through love. Thank you, Liz Thomas RMFMS President ALAA “Recreational Rockhounding and Public Lands” Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 50, Issue 7 Page 5 It is Time to Get All Club Entries Ready for RMFMS Contests By DeLane Cox, All American Club Award Chair You know what time it is??? It is getting close to time for all of our RMFMS clubs to get their entries ready for the wonderful Federation contests for this year! And, of course, I am publicizing the All American Club Award entries. This is the one where your club puts together a scrapbook of all your club activities for the year, using the AFMS entry form as a guideline, and then submitting it to the Rocky Mountain Federation chair. The deadline for this year’s entries is February 1, 2020. After all entries are judged for the RMFMS, the top three entries will be forwarded to the American Federation chair for judging in that contest. The 2019 entry form will be on the American Federation website soon, but in the meantime, use the 2018 form that is posted. The rules are not changing this year. So, what exactly is a Club scrapbook, or yearbook, and why should a club have one? Every club does things throughout the year, from January through December. Hopefully, these activities are fulfilling your club’s Mission Statement. Mission Statements are the statement in your By-Laws (and should be on your website) of what your club’s goals are in meeting the needs of its members. The Mission Statement should look at the ways the club plans its programs for the year and sets goals to fulfil these plans. So, the scrapbook is a compilation of pictures, newspaper clippings, and lists of people and ways the club is helping members learn more about the lapidary and geology fields. Whether it is through field trips, your junior rockhounds program, programs to civic or youth groups, letters written to state and national officials in support or in non-support of state and federal laws and regulations that will affect rockhounds….all add up to the quality program your club is giving to members and community. One of the best things that comes out of such an active program for your club is the influx of new members you are going to get. And every club needs to have a steady supply of new members to keep the club alive. So, who in your club is putting together your club scrapbook? Who will be submitting that information to the RFMSM contest? By the way, this is not a “Contest” in the strictest sense of the word. Actually, every entry is judged against itself. The AFMS put together a format several years ago of things a great club should be doing during the year, and that is what the AFMS Entry Form covers. These are the guidelines used for judging an entry. So, an entry starts with 100 points, and then points are deducted from that number when a topic is not completely covered. Entries may be either actual scrapbooks with everything neatly arranged, or the entry can be in electronic form with all of the information and pictures on a disc. Either way is acceptable. Just be sure the AFMS format has been followed. And be sure your entry is in before the February 1 deadline. I’m looking forward to seeing what YOUR club has done this year. My address can be found on the Officers and Committees page of the Newsletter. Rocky Mountain Federation News, Vol 50, Issue 7 Page 6 Pezzottaite, Londonite & Rhodizite: More Pesky Cesium Minerals By Mike Nelson, Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society, [email protected] The more I live, the more I learn.