Lone Pine Gem & Mineral Society Newsletter
September 2008
Jeri and Tambra carving their stones at the Dick Friesen carving class
The finished work of the class
Messages from Francis
The following comes from our president, Francis Pedneau.
New Meeting Location
Our meeting location has changed. Paul Ermatinger has offered the Forum Theatre in Lone Pine to the club for the monthly meeting. By a unanamous vote the members at the August meeting voted to accept Paul's offer of use of the theatre at no cost to the club. Beginning Spetember 8, 2008 we will meeting regularly at the Forum Theatre located at 141 North Jackson in Lone Pine. Thank you Paul for your generous offer.
We Got Geodes
Your club is the recipient of another generous donation. Don and Babe Elliot of Lone Pine donated to the club 975 pounds of geodes plus other miscellanous rocks. Jim and Jackie Grandgeorge picked up these rocks at the Elliot's home and Jim and Francis unloaded and weighed them at the club shop. Thank you Don and Babe. And a BIG thank you to Jim and Jackie for making this donation possible.
Carving Class
Our August carving class was a success. Barbara Leachman, Paul Ermatinger, Jeri Stout, Tambra Riverhawk and Ed Clark spent a most enjoyable day learning the Dick Friesen method of carving hard gemstones. Each carver told me that they would send a letter to our newsletter editor describing their experience. Hopefully you will be reading those letters in this newsletter. Would anyone be nterested in the class for next year?
Officer Elections Coming Up
At the September meeting our nominating committee chairman, Jim Grandgeorge, will be asking for two other members to serve with him. Officer elections for 2009 are just around the corner. If you are interested in serving as an officer of your club let Jim know (760-878-2221).
Lone Pine Film Festival
The film festival is even closer. October 10, 11, 12, 2008. Your club will be cutting and selling geodes, operating the spinning wheel and giving away lots of free rocks. We'll also be spreading the word about our club and what a wonderful area that we live in for rockhounding. All of these activities require lots of help. So let Francis know if you can be there. Remember this is your club.
Hosting The Christmas Potluck
Our Christmas potluck and meeting is not too far away. Does anyone want to host? Let Francis know. We will order good weather.
September Field Trip To Cactus Flat
Our September field trip will be Cactus Flat for various collectable rock. We will leave from Lee's Frontier Chevron at 9AM Sunday September 21st. High clearence vehicles are recommended. For more info, Call Ray at 760-872-0624.
Cooler weather means getting out and pursuing those elusive rocks. If you have or know of a location for a club field trip contact our field trip chairmen, Ray Ramirez or Steve Mobley.
Shop Night News
This report comes from our senior shop night correspondent, Barbara Leachman.
Seven members were present at the Hot August Shop Night, and we were a busy crew.
Steve brought in a large cut piece of Owen's Lake Onyx for everyone to see and share. Francis pointed out to me a beautiful pattern at one end. Steve also sawed a piece of Coso Agate which has a pretty red color. Tambra worked on polishing her wispy, white cabachon, getting out the scratches, with advice from Francis. Jim and Francis spent the entire time sharing their expertise with us. Jackie sewed custom eyeglass cases and Francee beaded. I was very busy making mistakes cutting materials on the saws. Francis said that is how I will learn. I'll redo those pieces next time, (only they'll be a lot smaller now.)
See you next shop night, B
Letters To The Editor
Francis assigned "homework" to the carving class participants. The "homework" was to write a piece for the newsletter about their class experience. Only Jeri came through, because, well, let's face it, Francis isn't all that scary. Or, more likely, Jeri knows that if you do something right away, you won't forget to do it later - and that's why we have her submission:
Linda,
The carving class was awesome. I have wanted to take a class like this for a lot of years. All of us learned so much and had fun doing it. Dick was a great instructor and many thanks to our hosts, F. & F. for a great a memorable time.
God Bless,
Jeri
At the last minute Barbara Leachman came through. Here are her thoughts:
The jewelry carving class (free-form style) commenced early on Sunday, August 3rd, in Francee and Francis Pedneau's kitchen. Dick Friesen provided 5 students each with machines, equipments and pieces of nicely precut obsidian and guided us through the carving, sanding and polishing processes. It was enjoyable learning the intricasies of the machine and using the burs, sanding and polishing wheels.We each produced a finished piece, each one unique in its own way.We were able to get to become better acquainted with Dick and each other. Francee and Francis were around, doing their own projects, and it was fun being with them, too. (F and F, thank you for having the class in your nicely air-conditioned house.) It was wonderful, B
Are You A Rockhound Or Rockhead?
Test your knowledge of mineral and rock names by putting one of the names listed below into each blank.
1. The geologist played poker, but wound up losing his ________.
2. The bar where mineralogists break the Ten Commandments is called the _________.
3. If we _________ rocks, we’ll all lose our teeth.
4. There are four _________ to the gallon.
5. “What shall we give Mike?” “Let’s give _________ new mineral for his collection.”
6. Fracture of the _________ column usually results in paralysis.
7. All of the talkative geology students were put in one row, soon christened the “__________.”
8. When Fred Zir was swindled of his jewels, it was called the Great _________.
9. You sent her flowers? What a __________ thing to do.
10. If I don’t get this __________, when someone walks in he’ll fall through to the basement.
11. The mineral that is the very symbol of hunger is _________.
12. The con man tried to _________ mineralogists with a fake ruby, but he got caught.
13. At the circus, a clown threw a fake rock at another and got a _________ in his face.
14. Put Nick’s book _________ shelf where it belongs.
15. A baseball player’s favorite gem is a __________.
16. If a rube is a type of hick, does it follow that hickeys are __________.
17. Says one hip geologist to another, “Hey, that’s really _________ man.”
18. How to insult a geologist: Look into his ear and say, “___________.”
19. If you drop a rock on your foot while in polite company, you should say “_________ all!”
20. Of all things, we must never take rocks for __________.
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a) Albite f) Diamond k) Gneiss p) Quartz
b) Apatite g) Fluorite l) Gypsum q) Rubies
c) Chert h) Gabbro m) Mica r) Scheelite
d) Cinnabar i) Garnet n) Onyx s) Spinel
e) Coal j) Granite o) Pyrite t) Zircon
Thanks to Roger De Hart for this quiz.
Upcoming Events
- Club meeting night: September 8, Monday, Forum Theatre (141 North Jackson St in Lone Pine) at 6:30 pm. Join us for dinner at the Bonanza at 5:15.
- Shop night: September 9, Tuesday starting at 7:00 pm. Join us at MacDonald's at 6:00 for dinner.
- Field trip to Cactus Flat: Sunday, September 21st. Meet at Lee's Chevron in Lone Pine at 9 am.
Our Web Site
You can always find the latest copy of the newsletter at our web site at www.lpgms.org. You'll also find past newsletters and a new membership form. If you are online and would like to receive the newsletter electronically, send me a message saying you wish to do that to linda at lpgms.org.
Contact numbers
- President: Francis Pedneau - 760-876-4319; franceem at qnet.com
- Vice President: Ray Ramirez - 760-872-0624
- Newsletter editor: Linda Jeffries - 760-876-1009; linda at lpgms.org
