Author: Alan Molineux

The
bulletin
Newsletter of the
victor valley
Gem and
mineral club
Ph. (760) 243-2330
march 2009

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Your officers for 2009
2009 Executive Committee
President……………………...Gil Gilbert……………………...868-6900
1st V.P (Membership)..Gaylan Graves………………..948-1918
2nd V.P (Education)…….Val Costello…………………...963-3974
3rd V.P (Gem & Mineral Show chairman)
Virgil Melton……………………………………………948-2849
Recording Secretary….Alan Molineux……………….951-7064
Treasurer…………………….Carole Mc Michael .……..949-9347
Board Members
Don Pomerenke………………868-5264
Lloyd Guilliam..………………..962-6844
John Printz………….…………..957-7414
Charles Toles……………………951-0372
Past President……………..Tom Laszlo…………………..….247-5369
CFMS Representative...Pat Estes ……………..………..961-7659
Standing Committee Chairmen
Wagon Master…………..(Vacant)
Historian…………………….Joe Kosik…………………………..241-0894
Maintenance……………...Charles Toles.…………………..951-0372
Librarian………………….…Dwayna Barron………………...963-3974
Newsletter…………...…..Alan Molineux…….…………....951-7064
Sunshine Lady…………..Marie Gramata…………………245-3775
Displays………….………….Andrew Turner………………...962-0095
Raffles……………………...Charles Toles…...……………....951-0372
Scholarships……………..Andrew Turner….…………....962-0095
Photography………….....Alan Molineux…………………...951-7064
Hospitality……………..…John Prinz…………………………..957-7414
Tailgate……….…………….Brett Ward…………………………948-1232
Virgil Melton………………………948-2849
Training Coordinator..Lloyd Guilliam……………………962-6844
Instructors
Ben Weiden, Jim Fosse, Gil Gilbert, Tom Laszlo, Virgil Melton, Joe Kosik, Pat Estes, Gaylan Graves, Charles Toles and Lloyd Guilliam
Club Website—www.vvgmc.org

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The victor valley gem and mineral Club
was organized in 1947 and has been the focal point of High Desert rock hounds for the past 61 years. The club takes active roles in various civic activities. Membership is open to all persons interested in the gem and mineral hobby and lapidary arts. Meetings are held at the clubhouse located at 15056-B, 7th Street (behind Kaman Bearing) in the center of Victorville. Visitors are always welcome. For further information, call (760) 243-2330.
Meeting dates
The February meeting was held on Tuesday, February 24th at 6:30p.m. and the March meeting and pot luck will be held at the clubhouse on Tuesday, 24th at 6:30p.m.
Thanks, so much!
Besides the many members who come to the club to work on Sunday afternoon, you will see Kerry Molineux teaching wire wrap classes every Sunday from 12—3p.m.
No experience is necessary and supplies are available for purchase right there at the club for a nominal fee. You should see the happy and beaming faces of the members after they finish their first pendant.

You can make a pendant from start to finish in one afternoon. Members of all ages are welcome to come and learn. Our youngest junior member, Andrea Skidmore has made three wire wrapped pendants. Chico Printz has made two pendants and Katie Boyd has also made several pendants.
After teaching her 4th grade class all week we are so thrilled that Kerry has the time, energy and willingness to teach on her days off.
One of the most rewarding byproducts of teaching is the look of pride and satisfaction when a student completes something new and challenging.
Kerry, Together with Terry Combe learned some basic wire wrapping techniques and designs. They read books, looked online and saw examples of other wire wrap artists in some of the many magazines we have available in the club library.
They were both new to wire wrapping and have come a long way with their beautiful pendants and earrings—all available for sale.
Thank you Kerry.
This article was written by Pat Estes.
The month of march
This month’s birthstone is the Aquamarine.
This month’s flower
is the Jonquil.

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Rock of the Month
Picasso Marble
Ruby in Zoisite,Chrysanthemum stone and Malachite are just a few of the crystals that have beautiful abstract patterns in them. Another of these crystals. one that has a broad spectrum of colors to its palette is Picasso Marble.
The colors of Picasso Marble can vary from brown, black, to cream and various shades of gray and can have abstract landscape patterns through out.
Picasso Marble goes by a few names, Picasso Jasper and Picasso Stone, these are the most popular names. Picasso is a metamorphic lime stone, Metamorphosis is one of three different ways rocks are formed ( igneous and sedimentary are the other two ).
Picasso Marble is found in Utah, it is a soft stone by most standards 4 to 5 on the mohs scale of hardness. Polishes best with tin oxide or diamond.
Folklore, Legend, and Healing Properties:
Self-control, Clarity, and total recall of dreams. Assists in meditation. Protects, nurtures, strengthens. Aids in mind expansion and manifestation of physical and material goals. Stability. Helps to heal viral infection.
Mohs scale of hardness 4 to 5
Specific Gravity—2.9 to 3.4
Thank you to Gayland Graves for this item.

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Virgil Melton’s
bracelet
By Cyndy Mandell
Virgil Melton, a club member since 2001, put in an estimated ten hours to complete his Bisbee turquoise and silver bracelet. He acquired this beautiful turquoise stone from a fellow club member and felt it was too nice to cut up. Virgil is known around the club as a turquoise expert and recently has done several other pieces using a white turquoise called Buffalo. After thinking about it for a while he decided to design his own piece to suit it and he came up with this extraordinary work of art. He will be the first to say he did have some difficulty with the fabrication along the way, but he overcame all obstacles and now wears it proudly. The turquoise is approximately 200 carats and the bracelet took about two ounces of sterling silver, but Virgil can’t put a price on the finished product. He says, “It’s hard to put a price on it, it’s invaluable.”
Sunshine Club
Marie Gramata tells me that Joe Kosik is now convalescing at home.
Lloyd Guilliam’s mother passed away and Bob Weinberg passed away. Marjorie Gunn had surgery and Ed Skidmore’s wife had shingles.
Marie Gramata can be contacted at (760) 245-3775.

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March 2009

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1 / Workshop / 12noon—5p.m.	2 / Read Across / America	3 / Instructor’s Meeting / 6p.m. & Board Meeting 7p.m.	4 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	5 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	6 / Fall of the / Alamo	7
8 / Workshop / 12noon—5p.m.	9 / Barbie doll / debuts in 1959.	10 / U.S paper money / first issued in / 1862.	11 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	12 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	13 / Deaf History / Month	14 / Pi Day
15 / Workshop / 12noon—5p.m.	16	17 / Education Night / 7p.m. / St. Patrick’s Day	18 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	19 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	20 / Spring Begins	21
22 / Workshop / 12noon—5p.m.	23 / National / Puppy Day	24 / Houdini’s / Birthday / 1874.	25 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	26 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	27	28
29 / Workshop / 12noon—5p.m.	30 / Vincent / Van Gogh’s / Birthday 1853.	31 / SAT / Registration / Deadline.	Irish / Heritage / Month	National / Craft / Month	National / Nutrition / Month	Women / In History / Month

Deadline for the April issue of the Bulletin is Monday, March 16th. Ph. (760) 951-7064 or email amolineux@gmail.com

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Upcoming
Lapidary events
February 27th & 28th.
Del Air Rock Hounds Club
United Methodist Church.
9650 Reseda Blvd (at Superior Street.) Friday, 3p.m—9:30p.m & Saturday 10 a.m.—5p.m. Call Julie Marin (818) 886-7190
http://delairrockhounds.blogspot.com
February 27th, - March 8th.
Imperial Valley Gem & Min. Soc. Gem & Mineral Bldg. on fairgrounds. Fri, Sat, Sun Noon—10p.m. Mon. through Thurs. 4p.m.—10p.m.
Jim Strain (760) 356-2361.
March 6th, 7th & 8th.
Mineral & Gem Soc. of Castro Valley. Centennial Hall.
22292 Foothill Blvd.
Fri. & Sat. 10a.m.—6p.m.
Sunday 10a.m.—5p.m.
Larry Ham (510) 887-9007.
Webpage www.mgscv.org
March 7th & 8th.
Monrovia Rock Hounds Inc.
L.A County Arboretum.
301 N.Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia.
9:00 a.m.—4:30 p.m. daily.
JoAnna Ritchie (626) 359-1624
joannaritchie@gmail.com
www.morocks.com
March 7th & 8th.
Ventura Gem & Mineral Society.
Ventura County Fairgrounds.
10 West Harbor Blvd. Ventura.

Sat. 10a.m.—5p.m. Sun. 10a.m.—4p.m.
Andy Anderson (805) 987-0043.
E-mail vgms_editor@roadrunner.com
Webpage: www.vgms.org
March 13th, 14th & 15th.
Victor Valley Gem & Mineral Club
Tailgate show and Field trips.
Stoddard Wells Road, Victorville, CA.
9:00a.m.—5p.m. daily.
Gil Gilbert (760) 868-6900
http://fosse.schema-root.org/vvgmc
March 14th & 15th.
Pasadena Lapidary Society
San Marino Masonic Center
3130 Huntington Drive, San Marino.
Sat. 10a.m.—6p.m. Sun. 10a.m.—5p.m.
Drew Wilson (626) 298-1534
E-mail todrew@sbcglobal.net
March 14th & 15th.
Mother Lode Mineral Society
Stanislaus County Fairgrounds
900 N. Broadway, Turlock
Sat. 10a.m.—6p.m. Sun. 10a.m.—5p.m.
Bud & Terry McMillin (209) 524-3494
E-mail terry.mcmillin@yahoo.com
Webpage www.turlockgemshow.com
March 14th & 15th.
Salinas Valley Rock & Gem Club.
Veteran’s Memorial Hall.
5th & Llano Streets.
10a.m.—5p.m. daily.
Teri Beck (831) 679-2896
E-Mail taitani@cencentric.net
Webpage salinasrockandgem.com
March 21st & 22nd.
Palomar Gem & Mineral Club
Army National. Guard Armory
304 Park Avenue, Escondido
Sat. 9a.m.—5p.m. Sun. 9a.m.—4p.m.
Val Lynch (760) 749-4164

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From the February Board Meeting.
Shop Sales—new report.
Internal audit will be done on the club books before the next general meeting.
Instructors will now have a $30 petty cash box.
Carole Mc Michael will visit the club and pay the bills each week.
Silver Fabrication class should start up after the tailgate. Gil Gilbert will be running safety courses.
Instructor’s meeting will move from 1st Monday evening of the month to the 1st Tuesday of the month to coincide with the board meeting. There will be a trial period.
New cleaning crew is Cal Ark.
Bids were submitted to raise the club library and put in plexiglass doors.
It was discussed having an Instructor-at-Large as an instructor in training.
Kerry Molineux was thanked for her teaching efforts.
John Printz will purchase plastic storage tubs for the tailgate kitchen equipment.
Charles Toles will train someone on the saw room.
Tom Laszlo will provide interim maintenance.
Thank you to Bob Menelly for updating the photo board.
prospective members.

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From the January general meeting.
Looking for volunteers for the job as Wagon Master. Will coordinate field trips rather than lead them.
92 Paid memberships.
Phone committee established
Tailgate on March 13th, 14th & 15th. Flyers are available.
New food menu for the tailgate.
Charles Toles will do a club display for February.
Virgil Melton will put one together for March.
Scholarship forms have been sent out.
John Printz—(Hospitality) we need two people each month to help with pot luck at general meeting.
Charles Toles will specialize in saw room instruction—all new members will start there.
Cyndy Mandell reports we have a booth at the County Fair—May 9th—17th.
New kiln has arrived. Instructors are getting training on how to use it.
Gil Gilbert went over the new budget for 2009.
John Printz reiterated we need a map committee to develop a book of lapidary sites in our area.
Meeting started at 7:30p.m. and adjourned at 8:25p.m.

Front Cover
Lapidary is a process. First we “discover” the rock (or we horse-trade for it with someone) . The next step in the process is to cut the rock into slabs—it’s a lot like slicing bread. For this part of the process we generally use one of the rock saws at the club house.
Once this step is done, we inspect the slab. We already have it in mind what we want from the slab. Satisfied that a particular slab meets the criteria we have in mind, we stencil a shape on it, cut it, polish it and turn a once nondescript rock into a thing of beauty.
The slab featured on the front cover is a piece of Strawberry Onyx. Although it’s in black and white here, it’s in color on the
website.
New members
On behalf of the board and the members of Victor Valley Gem and Mineral Club, I would like to welcome Marilyn Pomerenke of Phelan, Dwayna Barron, Susan and David Foreman, Deneice Whorton and Mark and Tamera Cole - all of Hesperia, Ruben Martinez of Pinion Hills, Dalushaka Mugwana of Silver Lakes and David and June Bennett of Apple Valley.
Our members possess a wealth of knowledge on the subject of lapidary which they will be happy to share with you.

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Education Night
The third Tuesday of each month is education night. It is held at the clubhouse at 7p.m.
Val Costello, 2nd V.P in charge of education is always looking for someone to give a talk on lapidary.
In February, Virgil Melton gave a talk on how to cut a cabochon.
Val Costello is the V.P for Education.
Virgil Melton lectured in February.

Wanted—Rocks, Lapidary, Materials & Equipment.
Call Charles Toles.
Home (760) 951-0372 Cell (760) 220-6748.

Rocks, Rocks, Rocks,
Buy slabs, cabs & rough from Joe!
Brazilian, Moss Agate, Wood, Jasper,
and Obsidian.
There is a sale on Bolo cords.
Club members (any club) 20% off at my house
or 10% off at gem shows.
I sell crushed Agate, Wood & Jasper for tumbling
at $1.00 per pound. Call Joe Kosik (760) 241-0894.

Virgil’s props for his lecture. Education night was well attended.

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Snail
Mail
Stamp

Victor Valley Gem & Mineral Club
15056-B Seventh Street
Victorville, CA 92395-3811.
bulletin is the official monthly newsletter published by victor valley gem & mineral club and is distributed free of charge to both members and non members.
Views expressed by authors in the articles which appear in the bulletin do not necessarily reflect those of victor valley gem & mineral club. Responsibility is taken by the editor alone.
Articles from this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part in other lapidary news-letters if proper credit is given to the author and the bulletin.

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