Author: Alan Molineux

The
bulletin
Newsletter of the
victor valley
Gem and
mineral club
Ph. (760) 243-2330
December 2010

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Your officers for 2010
2010 Executive Committee
President……………………...Cyndy Mandell……………..244-7169
1st V.P (Membership)..Gayland Graves……………..902-3249
2nd V.P (Education)…….Val Costello…………………..963-3974
3rd V.P (Gem & Mineral Show chairman)
Lois Papner……...…………………………………………………… 244-7169
Recording Secretary….Alan Molineux……………….951-7064
Treasurer…………………….Kerry Molineux .…………...951-7064
Corresponding Secretary..Lynn Hallock…………...951-1736
Board Members
Don Pomerenke………….…868-5264
Lloyd Guilliam..………….….962-6844
John Printz….………(951) 255-9158
Carole Mc Michael..……..961-7659
Past President……………..Gil Gilbert………………….…868-6900
CFMS Representative...Pat Estes ………….…..……948-7324
Standing Committee Chairmen
Wagon Master…………..Blaine Witte…………………….244-8211
Historian…………………….Jonathan Vanderloop…….245-2313
Maintenance……………...Ed Deren .………………….252-7009
Librarian………………….…Lois Papner…….………………..244-7169
Newsletter…………...…..Alan Molineux…….…………...951-7064
Sunshine Lady……Bobbie Kaufman……………………. 868-5120
Displays………….………….Andrew Turner………………..962-0095
Raffles……………………...Ellen Gilbert..…...……………..868-6900
Scholarships……………..Andrew Turner….…………...962-0095
Photography………….....Alan Molineux…………………..951-7064
Hospitality……………..…Mike Stafford…….…………..248-7404
Purchasing Officer…..Don Pomerenke……………...868-5264
Tailgate……….…………….Brett Ward………………………948-1232
Virgil Melton…………………….948-2849
Training Coordinator..Lloyd Guilliam…………………962-6844
Instructors
Ed Deren, Jim Fosse, Gil Gilbert, Pat Estes, Virgil Melton,
Gayland Graves, Don Pomerenke, Charles Toles, Cyndy Mandell and Lloyd Guilliam, John Printz, and Ed Skidmore.

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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 an active role 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
Our November meeting was on Tuesday the 23rd and the club Christmas Party will be held on Tuesday, December 21st at 5:00p.m.
Club Website—www.vvgmc.org
Au revoir—for now
Kerry, my wife and I are going on vacation and will not be able to make this year’s Club Christmas Party and so from us, the club president, the board and committee members, we wish you all a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.….Ed

Club Christmas Party
We will be having our Christmas Party on Tuesday, December from 5—9p.m. at the Taste Buffet on Bear Valley Road on the corner of Bear Valley Road and 7th Street—in the Food For Less Center.
The price is $11 per person (including drinks and tax). The club will be paying the tip for the group. Also if you sign up on the sheet in the clubhouse by December 1st you will be getting a discount. (We are unsure of the size of the discount but it will probably be around $3—$4 per person.)
Children under 10 years get a reduced price from the buffet.
No Checks please—cash or debit cards only. You must be a member (or a junior member) and signed by December 1st to get our discount.
The buffet offers Asian food with fresh sushi (made throughout the day), seafood, pizza, ribs and much more.
Don’t forget to bring something for our auction
It can be rocks, slabs, cabs, a finished piece or maybe something else.

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V.v.g & M.c Board meeting - november
Brett Ward estimates that the cost of portable toilets for the upcoming tailgate will be $305.
We have (13) applications for new members.
Val Costello said that hopefully, Dinah Shumway will be our educational speaker for November.
It was decided to go with Mesa Electrical’s bid to fix Kaman Bearings broken electrical box.
The deposit has been paid for the Christmas Party.
John Printz will talk with Jim Brace-Thomspon of the CFMS about working with Junior members.
A bolt of fabric has been ordered in able to have sample made of vests for the members.
Johnathan Vanderloop will be 3rd VP next year and Lois Papner will be 2nd VP.
Lois and Gil Gilbert will be stepping down from their raffle duties next year.
We need to bring the budget committee together in order to form next year’s budget.

Nametags
Gayland Graves our membership chair is working really hard to get all the new members name tags made up by our trophy business. They should be out soon, please be patient as we have had a large increase in membership recently. This is a very good thing and I hope all of you are enjoying the club's sponsored events.
Thank you.
Cyndy

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V.v.g & M.c General meeting - october
There will be (2) CFMS field trips in November—to Kramer Junction and Wiley Wells.
We are still trying to sell tickets at $5.00 to members to win a seat at the jewelry camp at Camp Paradise or Zyzyx in Southern Cal.
It was mentioned the CFMS would be offering a field trip into the Cadee Mountains by Ludlow.
Our Wagon Master, Blain Witte would be organizing a field trip north of Barstow to look for Palm Agate the members would leave the club at 7a.m or Peggy Sue’s at Barstow at 8a.m.
Ed Skidmore will be organizing a field trip to Tonapah, Nevada—360 miles away to look for turquoise.
Cyndy Mandell was elected as next year’s club president.
1st VP will be Sheryl Grinnel.
Secretary will be Alan Molineux.
Corresponding Secretary will be Lynne Hallock.
Jim Fosse and Gayland Graves have been elected to the board.
Pat Estes has been re-elected the CFMS rep.

Attention all Newsletter Editors
and Prospective Editors
There is a society devoted to helping you with your monthly newsletter—both content and grammatical
construction.
S.C.R.I.B.E is the Special Congress Representing Involved Bulletin Editors.
Members have years of editorial experience and are only too willing to help you.
Dues are just $6 a single or $8 for a couple.
See Doug Arnold at (760) 885-7409.

Silent Auction
We are holding a silent auction at the club to sell off our used rock saws.
We are auctioning off a 12” Loritone saw with a minimum bid of $30. We have a 16” Loritone saw with a minimum bid of $40 and a 16” Highland Park saw with a minimum bid of $40. We also have a 24” Highland Park saw with a minimum bid of $100. The last day for bids is Wednesday, November 24th and a bid form is located on the Bulletin board at the shop.

Club closed?
The past two Sundays we have not had a volunteer instructor to open the club for members I apologize from now on, with the exception of holidays, it will be open on Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. We will attempt to send out emails on the dates it is closed for holidays.
I hope to see all of you next Tuesday night for the general meeting. Please
don't forget to bring your trays and flatware we will be taking down some tables to make room for more people to sit and eat. We enjoy seeing all of you and are striving to accommodate everyone in our small dining room.
Cyndy Mandell.
Available classes
Several classes will be offered this month and next month. They include a Cold Connections class (creating jewelry from copper, brass, and silver without soldering) November 10th and 17th taught by Cyndy Mandell, a casting class on December 9th taught by Connie Weinberg, and a silver class December 1, 8, and 15th taught by Pat Estes. There is no instructor fee for any class taught at the club. A list of materials or a kit will be available from the instructors. Come and learn some new techniques and skills sign up sheets are available at the clubhouse.

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December 2010

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
			1 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	2 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	3	4 / Workshop / 12 noon—5p.m.
5 / Workshop / 12 noon—5p.m.	6	7 / Instructor’s / Meeting at 6p.m. / Board Meeting at / 7p.m.	8 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	9 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	10	11 / Workshop / 12 noon—5p.m.
12 / Workshop / 12 noon—5p.m.	13	14	15 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	16 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	17	18 / Workshop / 12 noon—5p.m.
19 / Workshop / 12 noon—5p.m.	20	21 / Club Christmas / Party at 5p.m.	22 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	23 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	24	25 / Club closed on / Christmas Day.
26 / Workshop / 12 noon—5p.m. / (Maybe—call first)	27	28	29 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	30 / Workshop / 1—9p.m.	31

Deadline for the January issue of the Bulletin is Monday, Jan.17th.Ph.(760) 951-7064 or email me at amolineux@gmail.com

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Ant hill garnets
By Gayland Graves
Arizona pyrope garnet is called ant hill garnet because ants bring up the smaller crystals from below ground and deposit them in the ant hill when building or remodeling.
Ant hill garnets are recognized as possessing the finest bright ruby-red color of the garnet family. During the 1800's Navajos in this locale used the water-worn and rounded ant Hill garnet crystals as bullets.
This use had both a practical side (the stones were there, and free) and an emotional appeal… the Navajos believed the blood-red color helped produce fatal wounds.
Ant hill garnets occur in a remote section of the Navajo Nation in Arizona. The gems have never been mined commercially because there aren't enough of them.
That means these gems are beautiful... and rare. Gems over a carat are even more rare!
The world supply of these gems depends on those living nearby who collect a few stones after the occasional rainstorm and trade them at the local store.
The Four Corners area of northeastern Arizona derives its name from the fact that there the state borders of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet. Nowhere else in the United States can a person simultaneously stand in four states at one time. Monument Valley, the site of awe-inspiring sandstone pinnacles, spans the Arizona-Utah border, not far from the four corners. Just south of Monument Valley is the town of Kayenta and Garnet Ridge. Gem quality garnets have weathered from the underlying intrusive rock and can be found scattered throughout the area. This location is on the Navajo reservation and is strictly off limits to non-tribal collectors. Most of the garnets are smaller than a pea, are smooth, and rounded. Often they are referred to as ant hill garnets because the tiniest garnets are thrown out on the surface of the ground as ants excavate their nests. The garnets are collected by the Navajo and sold in bulk for the gem trade. Ninety percent of the material is the deep ruby red color of pyrope garnet, but small quantities of rhodolite and spessartine garnets are also found. Although the hue of this pyrope is gorgeous, the saturation is so great as to make cut stones over a carat or two in size too dark. Nevertheless, if properly cut, Four Corner Pyrope garnets are stunning gems."
The ants carry up stones excavated from the soil they dig in, and can amass quite a collection over time. Such anthills are a place where the Lakota historically sought out sacred, perfectly round stones used in making ceremonial rattles or for personal tokens. Elsewhere in the Badlands and Black Hills, we found smaller, active anthills where tiny shells and even tinier garnets were being brought up by the ants. The treasures returned to the surface by the tireless work of ants collect very slowly. How many billions of ant hours went into making the massive fossil anthill, I wonder?"

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Buy, sell, or swap
My parents, Bill and Laura Glenn of La Crescenta, CA were avid rock hounds accumulating quite a “mountain” of rocks and equipment.
My father died on October 1 and my mother is of an age that she won’t be working again with the collection. My brother and I want to help our mother dispose of the collection to fellow rock hounds, to a club or a business that will care as much about the hobby as they have. We would like to sell as much as possible and then dispose of the rest of the collection as best we can. There are also many years of hobby & lapidary magazines as well as design books.
I have included a photo to give you an idea of what is at the house. If you are interested or know of others that might be, please contact my brother,
Warren Glenn, at (805) 341-4591. He lives in Saugus, CA.
Sincerely,
Julie Molen
Auburn, WA (253) 833-1114

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Several years ago when I was 3rd Vice President of Education on the Victor Valley Gem and Mineral Club board I proposed that the club fulfill their community education goal by making and distributing some rock display boxes to the local schools. As a result of my suggestion the board voted in favor of spending money on this worthy project. I was put in charge of overseeing the project and several members offered to help by building the boxes and donating the rocks to fill them. Well, it has been several years and a lot of effort, but all the boxes have now been distributed to local Victor Valley Schools and local libraries.
Some of the schools include: Topaz, Mesquite, Mission Crest, Juniper, Eucalyptus, Kingston elementary, Cedar Middle School and Sultana High School in Hesperia; Lomitas, Yucca Loma, Mojave Mesa, Victor, Park View, and Helendale elementary.
An editor’s dilemma
I have a problem and I must say—this would be every editor’s envy! I have so many contributions volunteered by members, I have difficulty in deciding what to put in and what to leave out. If there is something you want to see in the newsletter, let me know, nicely that way I’ll know there is interest in a particular subject and will try and fit in an upcoming issue….Ed ( it stands for Editor!)

My promise

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

White Buffalo & other turquoise
—from various states. Priced per piece
Contact Virgil Melton (760) 900-0507

Up to 25% off retail—
See the Sports Memorabilia Man
Jonathan Vanderloop at (760) 245-2313
We specialize in hard to find teams!
NBA, NASCAR, NFL
NHRA, COLLEGE, NHL

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Around the club

Our club president took these photos of members working in her cold fusion class.

President’s Message
The club has been very active the last couple of month with some new programs and some field trips. Many members of our club joined the CFMS field trip to the Cady Mountains with Adam Dean showing us the way. We were looking for Christmas Agate with green and red coloring, but at least one of our members found some amethyst after much digging.
At least 40 people attended our Omya mine trip put together by our wagon master, Blaine Witte, and led by mine director and club member Howard Brown. This was an evening trip to find florescent material at the mine site. Mr. Brown gave a wonderful presentation before we set out to explore the material. Several people brought black lights and Mr. Brown had a couple of large ones that helped people find some nice pieces. We made two stops at sites that were currently being worked and found minerals in a variety of colors including: purple, blue, red, orange, and yellow. Everyone went away with a couple of buckets of material and some with some rather large rocks for their yards. I heard many say they hope we can do this again some time in the future and I know of more than one person who is buying a portable short-wave black light.
Our first demonstration night was very successful. Many new and non-members attended the Tuesday, October 12, activity where they watched as silver fabrication, sawing, hardness, making cabochons on a genie and on the All-U-Needs, were demonstrated by our instructors. We have decided to continue to offer demonstration night and we will be switching to the third Tuesday of the month, Education night, beginning the month of January. Our next demonstration night November 9 will feature some of the above activities and also wire wrapping and cold connections.
Please check the sign-up sheets at the club for classes in cold connections, silver fabrication, and casting. Also please sign up for the upcoming December 21st Christmas party at Taste Buffet on Bear Valley Road.

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Snail
Mail
Stamp

Another
bulletin
Expressly for

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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