Author: Alan Molineux

The
bulletin
Newsletter of the
victor valley
Gem and
mineral club
Ph. (760) 243-2330
January 2013

1 2

Your officers for 2012
2013 Executive Committee
President……………………...Ed Berresford .…………388-4229
1st V.P (Membership)..Corey Beck…….….…………242-3366
2nd V.P (Education)…….Terry Booth…..…(909) 223-1386
Recording Secretary….(Vacant)………………………………………...
Treasurer…………………….Anne Mazzarella…………………………..
Corresponding Secretary..Debbie Savacool….(720) 620-9845 Board Members Don Pomerenke………….……………..868-5264 All ‘phone numbers have Cyndy Mandell....……………………...244-7169
(760) area codes unless George Kawasaki…..…………………..247-4121
otherwise indicated. Bill Woody…………………………………………………..
Past President……..… John Printz….…………………..(951)255-9158
Federation Director...Janet Fletcher………...……...……388-4229
Standing Committee Chairpersons
Wagon Master………….Blaine Witte………………..….244-8211
Historian……………………Jonathan Vanderloop…….245-2313
Maintenance………………Terry Booth…………(909) 223-1386
Librarian….…………….….Lois Papner…….………………..244-7169
Newsletter…………...…..Alan Molineux…….………….951-7064
Sunshine Lady……Don & Marilyn Pomerenke….868-5264
Displays………….………….Don Pomerenke......………..868-5264
Raffles……………………….Cyndy Mandell....…………….244-7169
Scholarships……………..Lois Papner………………………244-7169
Photography………….....(Vacant)…………..……………………………….
Hospitality………………..Vacant……………………………………………….
Webmaster……………….Jim Fosse……………………….245-8644
Tailgate……….…………….Brett Ward…………………….948-1232
Jonathan VanderLoop……245-2313
Training Coordinator..……………..……………………………… Vacant
Instructors
Bill Woody, John Hill, Cyndy Mandell, John Printz, Debbie Savacool, Don Pomerenke, Steve Hendrix, Tina La Bau, Jessie La Bau, Terry Booth and Morris O’Brien.
Club Website—www.vvgmc.org

2 2

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 65 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
Our December general Christmas Party was held on Saturday, 15th at 5:00p.m. and the January general meeting will be on Tuesday the 22nd .
On The Front Cover
The front cover celebrates New Year’s Day. It is a collage of all things New Year’s.
Buy, Sell or Swap.
I will put in a free ad for club members in an issue of the grubstake. It must be rock club oriented and an accompanying photograph would certainly help. Please contact me on (720) 620 9845 and e-mail me at

Dues Renewal
Cory Beck, the membership V.P is accepting renewal of membership from now on. Seek him out, he’ll be happy to take your money. To avoid a $5.00 late fee, the dues must be paid (or postmarked) by December 31st, 2012. To be safe, Kerry and I will renew ours at the November general meeting.
Renewing the dues will cost $20 for a single member.
There will be a renewal fee of $30 for a couple.
The Petrified Pups will pay $5.00 for children 17 years and under.
Get your renewal in now. It helps out the club and gives you peace of mind too!
New Bulletin Editor
I, Alan Molineux am working on this issue of the Bulletin with the new editor, Debbie Savacool. My tenure as editor is drawing to a close and I will put out my last issue to be made available at the Christmas party - next month, December 15th. Bare with Debbie and give her the same allowance you gave me….Ed
Club Board Members
The club board members have been elected in the electoral process that the club uses each year. There are a lot of committee positions still left and the club president will probably approach people to fill these positions. All you have to do is say ….yes!.....Ed

3

V.V.G & M.C Christmas Party.
Where? - It’s to be held at the Hesperia Grange Hall.
Main Street, Hesperia, (North Side) Right by the bridge.
How do I get there? - Go to the Hesperia Grange Hall, on 16685 Yucca St. (Cnr. of B and Yucca Streets).
When? - The doors open at 5p.m on Saturday, December 15th. Dinner will be served at 6p.m.
What should I bring? - There will be a gift exchange. Spend no more than $15.00 on a gift and mark it Male/Female or child. We will be having an auction afterwards and so if you donate something to the cause it would be great.
This is not a potluck. You don’t have to bring anything but it does cost to get in!
$15.00 per adult and $7.50 for children ( 12 and under)

4

Arguments:
Women always have the last word in an argument. Anything a man adds after that is the beginning of a new argument.
Future:
A woman worries about the future — until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future — until he gets a wife.
Success:
A successful man is one who makes more money than can be spent by his wife. A successful woman is one who can find that a man.
Marriage:
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn’t. A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change, and she does.
Travel:
Men can go on a week’s vacation and pack only one suitcase. Women can go on a weekend trip and have 2 carry ons, a large suitcase, and a garment bag.
Tools:
Men don’t have to stop and think which way to turn a screw. Women have to recite, “Righty-tighty, lefty-Lucy.”
Final Thought…
Married men should forget their mistakes. There is no need for two people to remember the same thing.
Livedifferentuncommonchick.com

5

This is a pretty good website on the differences between men and women.
Going out:
When a man says he is ready to go out, it means he is ready to go out. When a woman says she is ready to go out, it means she will be ready to go out, as soon as she finds her other earring, finishes putting on her makeup…
Bathrooms:
A man has at most six items in his bathroom – a toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of Dial soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn. The average number of items in a typical woman’s bathroom is 437. A man would not be able to identify most of these items.
Eating Out:
When the bill arrives, John, Brad, Tony and Daniel will each throw in $20, even though the total is only $34.25. None of them will have any smaller bills and none will admit they want change back. When Mary, Susan, Claire and Barbara get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
Money:
A man will pay $10 for a $5 item he needs. A woman will pay $5 for a $10 item that she doesn’t need, because it’s on sale.

January 2013

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
		1New Year’s Day / (Club Closed)	2 / Workshop / 12—7p.m	3 / Workshop / 12—7p.m	4	5 / Workshop / 12—5p.m
6 / Workshop / 12—5p.m	7	8 Instructor’s Meeting / 6p.m / Board Meeting / 7p.m	9 / Workshop / 12—7p.m	10 / Workshop / 12—7p.m	11	12 Workshop / 12—7p.m / Petrified Pups / 9—12 noon.
13 / Workshop / 12—5p.m	14	15 Education/ / Demonstration / Night—7p.m	16 / Workshop / 12—7p.m	17 / Workshop / 12—7p.m	18	19 / Workshop / 12—5p.m
20 / Workshop / 12—5p.m	21	22Club Potluck 6:30p.m Monthly General Mtng. / 7:30p.m	23 / Workshop / 12—7p.m	24 / Workshop / 12—7p.m	25	26 Workshop / 12—5p.m / Club Clean-up 9a.m
27 / Workshop / 12—5p.m	28	29	30 / Workshop / 12—7p.m	31 / Workshop / 12—7p.m

Deadline for the February issue of the Bulletin is Mon. January, 14th.Ph.(720) 620-9845 or email editor@vvgmc.org

6

7

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.

Rocks & Equipment
Bought and Sold
Clean Ups & Clean Outs
Handyman Work Done.
See Charles Toles (760) 220-6748

HMC Co.
Victorville, CA 92392
(760) 245-2313
Jonathan P. Vanderloop
B.S Ch. E; M.S Met. E.
(25 years experience) Metallurgy & Mining Consultant

8

Minutes of the November Monthly Meeting of the V.V.G & M.C
Alan Molineux told of the location of the club minutes—summarized in the Bulletin and in full in the minutes folder. Ed Berresford gave the Treasurer’s report. Cyndy Mandell reported there will be a CFMS field trip on Thanksgiving at Wiley Wells. The CFMS is putting out a flyer. The CFMS are holding their Gem & Mineral show and convention at the Ventura County Fairgrounds on May 31st to June 1st. There’s an upcoming CFMS field trip to the Santa Monica Mountains on Nov. 28th. The next club field trip is to Calico and Ash Hills on Dec. 8th, then Coyote Dry Lake on Jan. 12th, followed by a field trip to Kramer Jct on Feb. 23rd. We are looking for a new recording secretary. Cory Beck introduced Gary Douglas as a new member. The Club Christmas Party will be held on Saturday, Dec. 18th. See the Bulletin on p.4 We will be holding a pancake breakfast and craft sale on the last Saturday in Feb. The club motion to accept buying a new security system from Hi Desert Alarm—it will cost all in all about $1,000.

Minutes of the December Board Meeting of the V.V.G.& M.C
The club fees are due by Dec. 31st (See the Bulletin on p.3)
Shop hours on Wednesdays & Thursdays are 12 noon till 7p.m
We need a volunteer to lead the phone tree.
A by law review needs to be done.
An accurate account needs to be determined of a members start date.
The upcoming Christmas Party is to be held on Saturday, Dec. 15th.
Our Quickbooks will be updated.
The suggestion box was opened and it was mentioned that there was too much acrimony at the board meetings.
Several members were recommended for lifetime memberships and some honorary memberships were bestowed too.
Terry Booth is researching the possibility of a club claim.
It was motioned that the club floor cleaning contract be cancelled because they were not doing a good job.
It was motioned that the front door be painted and signs showing the club hours be put up.

9

The new club officers
As you’ve seen, there are new club officers as new members fill the positions. What I would ask is that you help these new officers—they are members just like you. Because of the qualities they possess, they have been asked to fill certain positions. Will they get everything right the first time—no they won’t. Will they stumble occasionally and make mistakes, I would expect so. Every club needs leadership so help and understand them and respect the time they give to help the club run.
The new club officers will be presented to the membership soon and to give you an idea of who they are, I’ve put their names on p.2 of the Bulletin.
Sunshine News
Don and Marilyn Pomerenke are handling the Sunshine duties (amongst many others!). If you know of a member who is ill, bereaved, or just needs a card, let Don or Marilyn know on (760) 868-5264.
Club Bulletin
The club has gone green and so the newsletters—Bulletins can be viewed on the club website which is always put on page 2. If you cannot access the website then let the editor—Debbie Savacool know and a hard copy of the Bulletin will be mailed out to you—or you can pick it up from the club if you’re able. We’re trying to save on postage and printing costs and so only take a copy if you absolutely need one.
Club Displays
In addition to his many duties, Don is also handling the club displays. The way it works is a club member gets to display his or her wares for a month and they can be viewed by all who attend the club that month. The display case is locked and so the pieces will be protected. We need someone to display their pieces each month. They show our newer members just what can be done with the rocks and slabs that we work with.
The Club Website
The club website is maintained and updated regularly by Jim Fosse. As a club member, I am proud of it because it is very informative and has won several awards. The club web address is regularly posted on p.2 of each Bulletin.

10

Especially For Sphere Cutters
A problem encountered by some sphere cutters is rust on iron sphere cubes. A remedy is to use a mixture of eight parts water and one-part soluble oil instead of plain water as a carrier for the abrasive grit. In addition to preventing rust, the soluble oil causes the grit to adhere to the sphere for a longer period of time.
Rock Chipper via Rock Rollers, 1/01 via RockCollector 2/01
HOBBY HINTS
Palm root can be cut at different angles to get different effect. Cutting across the roots will show the round eye with the colored center and right around it. Cutting along the root will expose a wood grain surface.
San Diego Lapidary Soc. 10/95, via Beehive Buzzer 8/97
Polishing a stone all over, front, back, and edges, acts as a sealer. It seals and keeps the water in opal; it prevents natural corrosion in rhodonite (that corrodes to a black ore called wad) and it helps stop the absorption of harmful substances such as perspiration.
The Ammonite 6/94, via Beehive Buzzer 8/97
via News & Views 9/97
POLISH PROBLEMS?
Many people think of polishing as comparable to shining a shoe. Actually, each grit used on a stone leaves scratches in the surface of the stone. So, when you go to a finer grit, its purpose is to remove all the scratches from the last grit. An estimate of the depth of scratches left on the stone by each grit is:
80 grit - 2.6mm 180 grit - 0.86mm
220 grit - 0.6mm 325 grit - 0.3mm
600 grit - 0.16mm 1200 grit - 0.07mm
3000 grit - 0.03mm
With reflected light, the unaided eye can see imperfections far smaller than 0.03mm. On a cabochon, small grit scratches are hidden by surface imperfections and the stone looks shiny.
(From AFMS Newsletter 4198)
via T-Town Rockhound 6/98
Taken from the 2010 Scribe CD.

11

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.

Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31