The Ventura Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. (VGMS)

Meeting Programs 1996 Archive.

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1. AUGUST - OUR VISIT TO ISRAEL JULY 24TH WAS MOST INTERESTING;
2. SEPTEMBER - AUGUST 28TH MEETING HAD US AT THE SITE OF "KILAUEA, THE WORLD'S MOST ACTIVE VOLCANO";
3. OCTOBER/NOVEMBER - SEPTEMBER 25TH MEETING HAD SPECTACULAR DISPLAY OF BEADS OF ROCKS AND MINERALS;
4. DECEMBER - OCTOBER 23RD MEETING FACETING WAS FASCINATING;
5. DECEMBER - NOVEMBER 13TH MEETING SPENT ON WAY TO ALASKA.

August.

OUR VISIT TO ISRAEL JULY 24TH WAS MOST INTERESTING.
     Les Goldberg lived up to his reputation and gave a great talk on his field trips to The River Jordan in Israel. Les has been in our great hobby 20 to 25 years. His wife, Phyllis, got him started in the Culver City club which had 300 members at the time.
     In April 1996 Les took his second trip to Israel to participate in a dig. On this particular one he ended up "digging" for only two days due to one thing and another. However, this allowed him to travel around the area with a very nice German couple that he had met and has become friends with. They have about 30 digs going on in Israel all the time. The artifacts they find are very carefully sorted through and identified and cataloged. The earthquake activity was rather interesting as the right side of the River Jordan moves up and the left side moves down and the Sea of Galilee changes. There is one small town that used to be on the Sea and is now about a mile away.
     In addition to Les's great talk Dave Mautz shared some more of his fossil collection with us, which is always a great addition to our meetings. We encourage everyone to bring their treasures to display and share with others.

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September.

AUGUST 28TH MEETING HAD US AT THE SITE OF "KILAUEA, THE WORLD'S MOST ACTIVE VOLCANO".
     Our visit to Kilauea with Steve Mulqueen was most interesting and left you in awe at the power and energy of the Volcano. Steve and his wife Susan visited the island in 1992 and were able to fly over Kilauea in a helicopter. We learned that this has to be done very carefully to avoid the steam that vents from the Caldara. It takes all the oxygen from the air and causes the helicopter to drop like a rock.
     The slides were fascinating and awesome to see the lava flows across the highways which were about 20 feet tall. Sort of brings traffic to an abrupt halt! The lava is so hot that the asphalt begins to burn as it flows to it. There are tree holes where the trees are buried in the lava and then rot or burn out leaving holes as the lava had hardened around them.
     Steve had samples of the "green sand" that they saw in areas and also photos of the "black" beach, which is lava that has been pulverized. One would think that this could be very sharp on the feet but we were assured it is as soft as any sand and very beautiful. They also had photo albums which we could browse through after the meeting.
     In addition to Steve's great talk, Dave Mautz had some more of his wonderful fossil collection to share with us. He has such a wide variety and all well labeled to make it very educational. Shirley Layton had the trophy won by the "Rockhound Rambling" for 1995 CFMS New Editor and the critiques from the judges to be reviewed by members. Kathryn Davis had the 1997 CFMS Show T-Shirts (very nice) and Pins (also very nice) available for anyone wanting to purchase them.
     Bruno Benson also shared some beads that were made from nuts from Hawaii and also some carvings he had done from peach pits. They were so cute and very well done. Bruno said he would bring them home and if anyone recognized what they were he would keep them!!
     All in all it was a very interesting meeting and sorry that those who were unable to attend missed it.

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October/November.

SEPTEMBER 25TH MEETING HAD SPECTACULAR DISPLAY OF BEADS OF ROCKS AND MINERALS.
     What a program our own June Payne gave at our September meeting. You could tell this was a subject that she loves and is very close to her heart. She had a display of beads made up of every mineral and fossil one could think of and told some history of each piece as well as some facts about the mineral or fossil itself.
     Many were very old and they came from all parts of the world. June's interest started in 1933 when she was a little girl and a neighbor lady let her take her pick of a large box of beads. She has been hooked ever since! She is a charter member of the Bead Society which was formed in Los Angeles in the 1970's.
     Beads have always played an important part in the World. They have been a sign of one's power, wealth, rank, etc. throughout the centuries. One could certainly see the love and hard work June has put in to her collection. This was actually just a small part it. Thank you June for sharing your wealth of bead, mineral, rock and fossil knowledge with us.
     In addition to June's program, David Mautz had some more of his wonderful fossil collection which he shared with us.

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December.

OCTOBER 23RD MEETING FACETING WAS FASCINATING.
     Dr. Robert Renger gave a wonderful, interesting and yes I have to use the word again, fascinating talk and demonstration on faceting. Dr. Renger is the Dean of Science from Ventura College and has a Doctorate in Archeology. He was raised in the Gem & Mineral Society and has been interested in gems & minerals all his life.
     He learned about the theory of crystals and found his Physics training to be very helpful in the faceting field. He passed around raw material, partially faceted and finished items which really gave you an appreciation of where it begins and ends! The return of light out of a stone is what makes them sparkle. The color is reflections of the different wave lengths. He had a prism which really demonstrated these effects.
     Faceted stones wash out in fluorescent lights, halogen lamps really enhance them and are the best to use. They are what you find in jewelry stores!
     He also shared with us that "Eavesdropping" is being environmentally sensitive!
     It was a most interesting program and there were many items that passed by that would have been nice to hang on to! But he swore us all to honesty before starting them out!
     We also had a nice display of fossils by David Mautz. He has some very interesting critters! Thanks David for sharing them.

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NOVEMBER 13TH MEETING SPENT ON WAY TO ALASKA.
     Wayne Ehlers shared slides that he and Marie have taken on their "four" trips to Alaska. They were there in 1956 by car, 1978 by ship, 1987 by car and again in 1996 by car. After sitting through the program we learned why they find it so interesting. They made you feel like it was something we could do with ease, as I think we find it rather intimidating to think about. It was very interesting to see the difference in the ALCAN highway from their first trip to the last!
     They took us through the Glacier National Park, Jasper National Park and the Calgary Stampede. We saw the mile marker -0- of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek. One of the interesting differences from 40 years ago to today was the wall of signs at the beginning of the highway. 40 years ago it was about 20 feet long and now it stretches for 1 1/2 blocks! I saw one for Wall Drug in South Dakota which brought back memories. We visited that on our honeymoon 38 years ago! The sign was there on both the old and the new pictures!
     Wayne also had some wonderful pieces of jade that he had collected. One piece was made into a polar bear which was beautiful. Some of his slides showed "small stones" of jade that came up to your shoulders!! These had some slices removed from them so you could see the quality.
     We were all ready to start planning our excursions!
     Marie and her helpers served up some wonderful pumpkin pie and other goodies afterwards which made you even more glad you came!

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