Author: Alan Molineux

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

Your Officers for 2013
2013 Executive Committee
President Ed Berresford 388-4229
1st V.P (Membership) Corey Beck 221-5738
2nd V.P (Education) Terry Booth (909) 223-1386
Recording Secretary Lois Papner 244-7169
Treasurer Vacant
Corresponding Sec. Cyndy Mandell 244-7169
Board Members Don Pomerenke 868-5264
Bill Woody 953-3284
George Kawasaki 247-4121
Jim Fosse 245-8644
Past President John Printz (951) 255-9158
CFMS Representative Janet Flecher 949-9347
All numbers are area code (760) unless otherwise indicated.
Standing Committee Chairpersons
Petrified Pups John Printz 951-215-9158 Wagon Master Blaine Witte 244-8211
Historian Lois Papner 244-7169
Maintenance Terry Booth (909) 223-1386
Librarian Lois Papner 244-7169
Newsletter Cyndy Mandell 244-7169
Sunshine Don & Marilyn
Pomerenke 868-5264
Displays Don Pomerenke 868-5264
Raffles Cyndy Mandell 244-7169
Scholarships Lois Papner 244-7169
Photography Terry Booth (909) 223-1386
Hospitality Lois Papner 244-7169
Webmaster Jim Fosse 245-8644
Tailgate Brett Ward 948-1232
Training Coordinator Vacant
Instructors
Terry Booth, Steve Hendrix, John Hill, Jessie La Bau, Tina La Bau, Cyndy Mandell, Morris O’Brien, Don Pomerenke, John Printz, Bill Woody. Ed Skidmore and Ed Berresford.
Club Website—www.vvgmc.org

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 June general meeting will be held on Tuesday, 25th at 7:30pm. and the July general meeting will be on Tuesday the 23rd at 7:30pm.

FOR SALE
Ultra Tec Faceting Machine
New Crystalite Facetor Kit included and all accessories plus four books of different cuts. 96 and 64 Index wheels.
$1800.00 obo
Call Curtis Pierson
760.952.9986

Two Positions Available
The board is looking for two volunteers to fill these recently vacated positions: Treasurer and Wagon Master. If you are possibly interested in either position please contact Ed Berresford.

Free Shop Passes Available
Come to clean up day or any open workshop day and do some clean up work to earn a free shop day pass.

Wishing all of our
members this month a very
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
The birthstone for the month of
June is: Pearl
Robert Arias, Linda Ingle Calloway, Pat Estes, Rita Hatheway, John Heusler, Megan Miller, Marilyn
Pomerenke, Earl Vizina,
Ryan Vizina

Ellen Gilbert
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Ellen Gilbert a life time member of VVGMC and wife of Gil
Gilbert.
Internment will be held at the Riverside National Cemetery on June 29th at 1:45 p.m.
A Celebration of Life will take place on Monday, July 1st, at the Phelan Senior
Citizen Center. The time is to be announced (probably around noon). Please RSVP to Cyndy at 760.508.1080 so Gil
can make arrangements for the food service.

Lapidary Swap Shop
There is a group on Facebook called Lapidary Swap Shop that features lapidary equipment, rocks, tools, findings, fossils, gems, rough material, minerals, crystals, or anything else used in the lapidary hobby that may be swapped or sold. This is a place to swap and exchange with anyone from around the world. The cost is just postage. Log into Facebook and type in lapidary swap shop to join.

May’s General Meeting Potluck

San Bernardino County Fair Pictures

Barbara Minard

Cyndy Mandell’s Display

Jesse LaBau, Patti Deer and Ed Berresford

Cody Poppert’s Display

Patti Deer and attendee

Petrified Pups booth

Pups working

Barbara Pedrow and Sylvia Kelly enjoy a chain maille class being taught by Cyndy Mandell.

July 2013

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

Instructor’s Mtg. @ 6:00
Board Mtg. @ 7:00

Education Night
7:00 p.m.

Potluck @ 6:30
General Membership Mtg. @ 7:30

Deadline for the July issue of the Bulletin is Thursday, June 11th .Ph.(760) 508-1080 or email editor@vvgmc.org

Gopher Snake –Pituophis catenifer
Gopher snakes are among the “Tony-winning” actors of the snake world. Not only do they resemble rattlesnakes, when harassed, a gopher snake will coil up, flatten its head, hiss, vibrate its tail and strike like the real thing. In dry grass or leaves the vibrating tail creates a sound just like the rattling generated by the rattle at the end of a rattlesnake’s tail. The loud hiss is a result of air being expelled past a unique cartilaginous filament in front of the snake’s glottis. Although a good tactic to ward off predators, this act also gets many gopher snakes killed by people fearing they are rattlesnakes – unfortunate cases of mistaken identity.
Described in some references as the largest snake in temperate North America, the subspecies of gopher snake found in Utah reaches lengths in excess of 5 or 6 feet. A relatively robust-bodies, muscular snake, its back is trimmed with brownish-black to reddish-brown saddle-shaped blotches atop a straw or creamy yellow-colored background. The dark pattern contrasts more around the head and tail regions, smaller, lighter blotches stretch down the sides, and the underside is a pale yellow color. A prominent dark stripe also bridges the top of the head, reaching from eye to eye and down along the angle of the jaw. Each of the scales covering their back has a small ridge or keel that makes gopher snakes feel a little rough to the touch. Unlike rattlesnakes, gopher snakes have a small, oval-shaped head that is only slightly distinguishable from its neck, and the pupils of their eyes are distinctly round, versus elliptical.
Gopher snakes and bull snakes (as they are commonly called in the Midwest) are a wide-ranging species. Some taxonomists group them together into one species along with a similar, related species, the pine snake. Pituophis melanoleucus of eastern United States. The generic name for both species come from the Greek words pity, meaning pine or ophus, meaning serpent. Catenifer comes from the Latin words catena, meaning a chain and fer, meaning to bear, in reference to the chain-like pattern covering their back.

A habitat generalist, in the Southwest gopher snakes live from low deserts up into montane forests around 9,000 feet in elevation. The subspecies living in Utah, the Great Basin gopher snake (P.c. deserticola) is found throughout the state except in the highest mountains. It occupies a wide variety of habitats: grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forest, riparian areas, desert scrublands, sagebrush rangelands, pinion-juniper woodlands and agricultural lands.
Active during he day, except in extremely hot conditions, slow moving gopher snakes investigate burrows, rocky crevices and climb trees in search of prey. Adults hunt small rodents, young rabbits, lizards, birds, sometimes their eggs, and occasionally, other snakes. Nonvenomous, they subdue their prey by constriction. Though predators themselves, gopher snakes may become prey to hawks, owls, foxes, coyotes and other predators. When threatened, they initiate their belligerent rattlesnake-like spectacle. This behavior and superficial resemblance to rattlesnakes has inspired some tall tales about these snakes. One tells of a cross-breed snake, a vicious “bull rattler” capable of inflicting a deadly bite with fangs or squeezing its victim to death.
Pure fable, in reality, these two distinct snakes cannot interbreed. Their similarities though, have long served science as an example of Batesian Mimicry, in which a harmless “mimic” avoids predation on behalf of its resemblance to the venomous “model”. A more recent theory suggests both snakes evolved independently to blend in well with their environment (cryptic coloration) through a process called convergent evolution. The behavioral mimicry is thought to have been secondarily derived, and is most prevalent in areas where both species occur in the same habitat.
In the breeding season, male gopher snakes vigorously defend breeding territories. During combat “dances,” head-rearing hissing, intertwining male snakes battle out like intense Grecian wrestlers, sometimes for even up to an hours. Six weeks after mating, females lay a clutch of 2 to 20 eggs. Hatchlings emerge fully developed within 10 weeks and are large enough to eat small mice. In winter they retreat to communal dens they sometimes share with rattlesnakes, whipsnakes or racers. When you next see a gopher snake, don’t run away. Just remember their act is a big bluff and enjoy the play.

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and Prospective Editors
There is a society devoted to helping you with your monthly newsletter—both content and grammatical
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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

Minutes of the May 28th General Meeting
Lois Papner reported that the minutes are in the book by the cash register and that we collected $18.32 in donations last month for birthdays. Anne Mazzarella reported we have two outstanding deposits and $9652.73 is our bank balance. Curtis Pierson motioned to accept the treasurer’s report, Don Pomerenke seconded. Debbie Savacool asked how much money is coming in on the raffle. Cyndy Mandell explained that she has purchased and donated an $800.00 filter for the saw, $159.00 Jump ring maker and a $420.00 sphere pre-former through the donations given to the raffle. This club does not sanction the raffle. The raffle will be brought up at the board meeting on June 4th for further discussion. Motion carried. Four opposed. Lois Papner has purchased new scrapbooks and will be working on transferring the information from the old books which are falling apart. Lois also added that the can recycling brought in $9.87 which will also be put in the kitty for the picnic. Cyndy Mandell stated the newsletters were mailed out early because of the fair. The fair has only given us 21 passes this year and some people did not receive passes to be able to sit this year. This is the 7th year Cyndy has participated in the fair and because of so many hassles this year she may not do it again next year. Marilyn Pierson said the displays are well looked at and people enjoy them very much. John Printz stated we need more slabs for the pups to allow people to cut cabochons.

Minutes of the June 7
Board Meeting
We collected $26.64 in Birthday donations at the May general meeting. Anne Mazzarella motioned that we postpone the raffle activity until she has a chance to investigate the legal reporting issues and discussed with the board. Don Pomerenke seconded. Discussion - Ed Berresford stated every member will be given five door prize tickets at the next general meeting and we will have a drawing for buckets of rocks and magazines. Debbie Savacool stated she has filed a complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on our club for holding raffles. She went on to say it is stated in the treasurer’s job description that a permit must be obtained to hold raffles. We last had a permit in 2006. Debbie Savacool also stated that when she was on the Board she didn’t know that the raffle was not allowed. Debbie then stated that if the raffle continues this will be filed. Motion carried. Two opposed. Janet Flecher motioned that the club begin doing a door prize for every general meeting. Jim seconded. Motion carried. Cyndy Mandell and Lois Papner attended the Serendipity day at Topaz School. The children made a spiral pendant from copper wire with a rock inside and they also made goop. The club is asked back every year. WIM was also there making toothpaste. Cyndy Mandell passed thank you notes around. Janet Flecher reiterated her interest in us hosting a CFMS show and try to get a show up here and try to restart our long standing Gem show. The Ventura show was hosted by three gem clubs. Janet talked with Susan Walburn and Susan suggested we co-sponsor with Orange Belt and Barstow Clubs. Janet will contact Susan to attend our club to give us info on having us put on a show and she’ll invite Orange Belt and Barstow if possible.

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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 newsletters if proper credit is given to the author and the bulletin.

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