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The Ventura Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. (VGMS)
Rockhound Rambling
January 2000.

Table of Contents.

• PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE;
• LEXINGTON MAP;
• FIELD TRIP REPORT;
• PROGRAM FOR JANUARY 26, 2000;
• ATTENTION - ATTENTION - ATTENTION;
• SHOW EXHIBITORS;
• WILEY WELL DISTRICT FIELD TRIP;
• CFMS GOLD AND GEM SHOW;
• MINUTES OF VGMS BOARD MEETING December 2, 1999;
• MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING December 8, 1999;
• WHAT'S OVER THE NEXT HILL - A ROCK HUNTING VACATION: Part 4;
• "ROCK OF THE MONTH" EXHIBIT SCHEDULE - Santa Paula Union Oil Museum - For the Year 2000;
• IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM THE TAX ADVISOR;
• TRI-CLUB MEETING;
• MINUTES OF THE JOINT MEETING OF THE CONEJO GEM AND MINERAL CLUB, OXNARD GEM AND MINERAL SOCIETY, AND VENTURA GEM AND MINERAL SOCIETY.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.

I hope that the "Y2K Bug" didn't leave you with a buzzing sound in your ears. Fortunately, the transfer into the year 2000 went fairly smooth despite all the "predictions". And I hope all of you had a great Christmas season and are looking forward to a prosperous New Year.

The VGMS is starting off the New Year with a change of venue for our meetings. Our next general meeting on Wednesday, January 26th, will be held at "The Lexington", a senior living community located at 5440 Ralston St., Ventura. Please see the details and map to this location in this bulletin.

On December 8th, the VGMS held their annual Christmas Party. There were many people who provided assistance for our party. A special thanks go to Eleanor Rising for organizing the event, to the employees at the American Legion Hall who catered the dinner and a thank you to Kaye Hara for conducting the installation of officers and for his part in the wonderful Christmas songs.

Don't forget, dues for VGMS membership for the year 2000 are DUE and can be paid at our meeting.

Our annual VGMS Gem & Mineral Show will be held on March 4th & 5th. This is only a month and a half away! Preparations are underway to make this another great event. We will be discussing the details of the show at our meeting. Please plan on volunteering to help for our show.

Have you ever considered writing an article for our bulletin? You may have ideas from a field trip or other event that could be written and published. Please consider writing an article so that others may learn from your experiences.

I look forward to a prosperous New Year with the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society! With your help, it will be our best year ever.

Steve Mulqueen,
President.

Table of Contents.

LEXINGTON MAP.

Can't read this one?? Click here for a larger view of the Lexington location.

Table of Contents.

FIELD TRIP REPORT.

Here's hoping 2000 is a productive year for our field trips with possibly something new like the proposed tri-club trip. Speaking of that, Don Bullard from the Conejo Club, Jack Lewis from Oxnard and myself are communicating and trying to coordinate a joint trip possibly to Jade Cove. It's difficult with all the prearranged plans that each club has and restrictions at different locations such as our preferring certain months for either desert or coastal areas. All are agreeable and know this would be a fun outing where ever we decide to go. Quartzsite will be considered our field trip for January and I'm trying to schedule a quick trip to Faria in February but I'll have to announce that at our regular meeting on January 26th. Our upcoming show in March will most likely keep us from having a trip that month, which leads us to April and our next planned trip to Calico and Mule Canyon. 6 miles east of Barstow on Hwy 15, we can expect to find jasper, agate, sagenite and chalcedony. I'm always open to suggestions for trip locations but I'm just as in need of volunteers who would like to lead a trip. See me at any meeting and we'll pencil you in on my calendar or call anytime...647-9214.

Greg Davis,
Field Trip Chairman.

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PROGRAM FOR JANUARY 26, 2000.

We will enter the new century/millennium (or close out the old, depending on your view of the situation) with a program presented by Ray Ritchey. For those of you who have not met him, Ray and his wife Jo Anna are club members who reside in Monrovia.

Ray will give a presentation on Petra, Jordan. Petra was a city near the Dead Sea which flourished from 500 BC through 400 AD (another millennium period). At one time it was a city of 30,000. It was a city of sandstone buildings in an area of legends. Come learn more from someone who has actually been there.

Kathryn Davis,
Program Chairman.

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ATTENTION - ATTENTION - ATTENTION.

We are in need of many items for the Country Store and the planning of your plants for the Plant Booth. Now that the holidays are over and everyone is home (more or less) it is a good time to do that closet, garage, basement cleaning and come up with many good Country Store items. The other good source is all those Christmas gifts that you don't know what to do with. No one would know if they appeared at the Country Store! Also, all the gifts you love are probably replacing something that would be perfect for the Country Store. If you go to a garage sale, ask if they would like to donate their leftovers!

Our supply is VERY short so far this year, so please check it out and give me a call. You can bring them to the meetings, the board meetings at the museum or to the workshops at the museum. We are having a pricing session at the Museum at 7:00pm on January 18th. You can bring them there and join the fun! If you need them picked up, give me a call at 642-2683 and leave a message. I will get back to you and we will plan a time. The Country Store/Plant Booth is our biggest income source at the show, so please HELP out. Thanks and we will look forward to hearing from you! Happy New Year.

Shirley Layton,
Country Store Chairperson.

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SHOW EXHIBITORS.

I'd like to encourage each of our members to enter a display case in our March show. Entering a case is not only easy, it's fun! If you need help with your case please call me and I'll either help you myself or help you tap into a real wealth of knowledge and experience in our membership. You don't even need your own case.

A suggestion for newer members: If you don't have a lot of goodies to exhibit this year why not join in with others in your same position and enter a joint case? The goal is to have fun and show the public what we do. THERE IS NO JUDGING INVOLVED IN A CLUB SHOW.

If you are planning to put in a case at our show please call or FAX or tell me any time before February 1, 2000. I can be reached at:
     Nancy Jioras,
     613 South La Luna Ave.,
     Ojai, CA. 93023,
     (805) 646-7184.
FAX: Call me first so I can turn on the computer.

Table of Contents.

WILEY WELL DISTRICT FIELD TRIP.

The trip includes January 31 to February 4; this follows Quartzsite, which is in January this year.

On Monday, January 31 Jim Strain, Public Lands Advisory Chair will dedicate the Hauser Beds as a "Rockhounds Recreational and Educational Area". That is the day there will be collecting at the Hauser Beds. That evening there will be a potluck meal and campfire, talks about the Hauser Beds and other topics effecting the area.

By: Dick Pankey,
FT Chair North.

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CFMS GOLD AND GEM SHOW.

CFMS Gold and Gem Show, August 4, 5 & 6, 2000 will be at the Convention Center in Riverside.

There is plenty of space for exhibits, but rental cases are at a premium, so use your own if you have one.

The Saturday evening banquet will be at the beautiful Mission Inn, seating is limited; if you plan on attending, get your tickets early.

The faceters guild will hold a symposium during the show. Make plans to attend if you are interested.

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MINUTES OF VGMS BOARD MEETING,
December 2, 1999.

The regular monthly Board meeting of the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society was called to order by President Steve Mulqueen at 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, December 2, 1999 at the VGMS Museum, 5019 Crooked Palm Road, Ventura, California.

From Steve Mulqueen: The work shop clean up party is scheduled for December 4, 1999, at 9:00 a.m. The tri-club board meeting will be held on December 11, 1999, at 10:00 a.m., at Sport Chalet in Oxnard. As of this time there are 52 reservations for the Christmas party on December 8, 1999. Kay Hara will conduct the installation. Ray Ritchey is making more grab bags for the show and needs slabs. It was agreed that some of the slabs that had been donated to the club should be sent to him.

From Bonnie Demianiw: Bulletin deadline is January 10, 2000.

From Ray Meisenheimer: Ray has two tours of the museum scheduled; one for Tuesday and one for Friday.

From Jay Baumler: Jay stressed that the word "fairgrounds" should be used in all show advertising because the term "Ventura County Fair" is the property of the Fair. There is to be no alcohol in the buildings, but that does not mean campers cannot have alcohol. The contract with the fairgrounds stipulates that there will be no cash prizes, however the Board felt that did not really apply to the $100 and $50 donation awards at the gem show. There will be a show meeting at Inez Shakman's house, on December 7, 1999, at 7:30 p.m.

From Wayne Ehlers: The fifth and final session of the "cab class" was held on Monday night. In total there were seven students, nearly all of which were new members. Greg Davis was there for every session and was a great help.

From Florence Meisenheimer: CFMS had to use nearly all of the interest in the endowment fund to pay for insurance when the cost went up so CFMS has asked each club to donate $100 to help replenish the endowment fund. It was m/s/c to donate $150.00 to the CFMS endowment fund. Florence gave the treasurer a copy of the policy to keep on file. Insurance on the VGMS club building will be based on the number of square feet in the building. The policy also covers fire and theft, but probably not flooding. Everything the club does, including field trips, should be documented in the bulletin.

From Richard Bromser: It was m/s/c to approve payment for checks #616-629.

From Richard Jioras: Two trash bins will be delivered on Friday for the workday on Saturday and the new back door will be installed on Friday. For the workday, help will be needed in sorting out Bruno's office, cleaning up the trash outside the building, and dusting and cleaning the museum. After researching the security issue, Red offered his opinion that it might be more effective to spend the club's money on insurance which would at least reimburse for loss, rather than cameras which might or might not record the theft. Board members were in agreement.

From Shirley Layton: A dealer's contract along with a check was received from David Walbloom.

From Greg Davis: There will be no official club field trip in January due to the fact that so many of the club members will be going to Quartzite and Tucson.

Report on the CFMS Stone Canyon Trip: Mel Hickson, new member, said dawn of the day of the Stone Canyon trip found about 150 people with U-Haul trailers ready to hunt for jasper. However, rain and cattle had made the dirt road impassable and the trip will probably be rescheduled for May. Owners of the property did bring out some samples of the jasper which Mel said was truly spectacular.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Jioras, Secretary.

Table of Contents.

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING,
December 8, 1999.

The regular monthly meeting of the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society was called to order by President Steve Mulqueen at 6:30 p.m., on Wednesday, December 8, 1999, at the American Legion Hall, 83 So. Palm, Ventura, CA. The group was led in the salute to the flag. Wayne Ehlers gave the invocation.

Steve Mulqueen introduced guests including "Les Classics," the entertainment group for the evening. A short discussion was then held on whether to move the regular monthly meetings to the entertainment room at "The Lexington." Although some doubts were expressed it was m/s/c to move the regular monthly club meetings to the Lexington on Ralston St. in Ventura.

After a delicious turkey dinner club members were entertained by Les Classics. Then Kay Hara installed the new Board Members for the year 2000. Steve Mulqueen gave CFMS pins to those who served in 1999. The following is a list of officers for the year 2000:
     President - Steve Mulqueen,
     1st VP-Programs - Kathryn Davis,
     2nd VP-Field Trips - Greg Davis,
     3rd VP-Show Chair - (Position not filled.),
     Treasurer - Richard Bromser,
     Recording Secretary - Nancy Jioras,
     Membership Secretary - Sharon Cunningham,
     Federation Director - Florence Meisenheimer,
     Bulletin Editor - Bonnie Demianiw,
     Parliamentarian - Wayne Ehlers.

Steve then thanked Eleanor Rising and all those who made the Christmas Party so much fun. He also thanked all those who contributed their time to the work shop clean up day.

At that time Ray and Florence Meinsenheimer, on behalf of CFMS, presented Steve Mulqueen with the "Education Through Sharing" award for his many contributions to schools and the general public.

Ray Meisenheimer then presided as caller for Bingo.

Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Jioras, Secretary.

Table of Contents.

WHAT'S OVER THE NEXT HILL,
A ROCK HUNTING VACATION
By Red and Nancy Jioras.

Part 4:

In the last story, Nancy and I had finished our 70 mile drive down the Burr Trail in southern Utah and, turning north on Utah Highway 95, where we pulled into the town of Hanksville for our third night on the road. Hanksville is a small town approximately 40 miles east of the Capitol Reef National Park Headquarters on Highway 24. Even though Hanksville is not in the center of dinosaur country, it is in the Morrison Formation (the bad lands) and does have a lot of dinosaur bones around.

By the time we got to Hanksville, we were VERY ready for a shower. The temperature was in the high 90's and we had been hot and dirty for 3 days. Looking for a campground with a shower, we found the Red Rock Campground and Trailer park. It looked inviting because of the respectable restaurant in front. Entering the restaurant to register for camping, we were greeted by a display case of beautifully polished minerals, wood and bone which were identified as being from the area. Asking about the supplier, we were told he was a local man by the name of Steve Hatch. Steve works for the State Transportation Agency and is a rock hobbyist who sells what he finds.

Probably the most interesting pieces in the case were the petrified cycad specimens which he found somewhere in the Henry's Mountain area. Cycads are a type of fern which were present during the Jurassic period and some species are still alive today. Although we really wanted to meet Mr. Hatch, he was out of town on his job and wouldn't be back before we left. We certainly made note of his name for future trips into the area.

After a shower and a nap, Nancy and I had dinner in the restaurant and struck up a conversation with the waitress. She was a local girl who had found some dino bone around the area while riding horses. After a little pleading, she gave out with a few areas where we could probably find some bone. She also told us that her mother worked at the local rock shop and a visit to the shop in the morning might gain us more information.

After a good night's sleep and breakfast, we made our way to the rock shop. If you ever find your way to Hanksville, don't miss Ernie's rock shop located on the west end of town. The shop is typical with a large fenced yard full of rock piles, an older building with dusty shelves of polished rocks and an 80 year old man by the name of Ernie. It wasn't hard to get Ernie talking about dino bone. Within minutes he was telling us about good bone and junk bone and showing us the Saurapod femurs he had collected. With everything he had collected after 50 plus years in the field and as well as purchased from other estates, Ernie must have had four or five tons of dino bone at his shop.

We spent about an hour with Ernie and got a complete tour of his shop. Ernie also told us that if we were set on collecting ourselves in the extreme heat of July in central Utah, that we should stick to an area where the Morrison Formation was prevalent. He then directed us approximately 3 1/2 miles west of town to a road that went north. Ernie said that we could drive for 12 to 14 miles on this road without getting out of the "Morrison". He advised that we go about 7 or 8 miles before stopping as many other people hunt for bone in this area. We thanked Ernie and headed west and we found the road right where he said.

After traveling about a mile, the road opened up into a wide expansive valley with almost no vegetation. The ground was low with rolling mounds and covered with a fine silty clay. Eons of rain had cut ravines and gullies into the landscape, but the whole picture really resembled the badlands from the movies.

After the required 7 mile drive on this fair dirt road, I parked the truck ad Nancy and I began our search. We hadn't walked 100 yards before Nancy pointed to a 6 inch circle in the sedimentary rock. On close examination it was easy to identify as petrified wood. Realizing that we would have to beat away about 10 inches of rock to get to this wood with the temperature close to 100 degrees, we marked the location and kept searching for something less taxing.

The area that we had stopped in was a series of small rises which were cut into ravines by erosion. The geology varied from sandstone to bentonite (a clay silt layer) with mixed layers of well sorted gravel bed conglomerate. Ernie told us that the bone was in the gravel beds and if we found pieces of bone that we should look up slope to find the source. After about 15 minutes of searching we did find small pieces of weathered dino bone. While Nancy continued to look in the same area, I got adventurous and worked down through the wash and up onto the adjoining slopes. Occasionally, Nancy would shout that she had found another piece, but I wasn't having any luck.

After an hour of walking on the slopes and in the wash, I had found only one small piece of badly weathered bone. With the sun high in the sky, Nancy had quit shouting her progress reports and I figured that she went back to the truck to sit in the shade. I had walked about a 1/4 mile down wash and decided to cross back to the side that the truck was on and work back to the truck. Working up out of the wash I came upon a piece of petrified wood that was about 20 inches long and was a whole ring. I didn't notice the heat as much as I looked around for more wood.

I hadn't walked 20 yards when I realized that the large mound that I was about to step up on was a complete tree trunk about 4 feet in diameter and some 15 feet long. The only trouble with the wood from this region is that it is badly fractured and is so dark that it's difficult to see any wood structure. With the heat continuing to rise, I decided to pack up the small section of trunk that I had first found and make my way back to the truck. About halfway back, I came across another full tree that was about 20 feet long and 2 feet in diameter.

By the time I got back to the truck, it was getting very hot and we called it quits in this portion of the Badlands. On the way back to the highway, I noticed the sun glinting off of something in the Bentonite soil. Stopping the truck, I got out to find Selenite wafers growing up through the soil. I quickly gathered a few and returned to coolness of the truck. Soon, we were back on Highway 24, heading west toward the Capitol Reef Headquarters.

By now, the heat was getting the best of us. We decided to continue driving and stay in the coolness of the air conditioned truck. Just outside of the Capitol Reef National Park, we turned north on Highway 72 through Fremont and made the connection to Highway 10 toward Price. We had consulted our Roadside Geology book and had found the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur quarry just east of Highway 10, south of Price. Figuring an arrival shortly before dark, we felt that this might be an interesting place to stop for the night. Although the area was partially fenced, with a few buildings and pathways visible through the fence, the registry book indicated that people had visited the site for several months without finding anyone of authority there.

After a good nights rest, Nancy and I did take the opportunity to walk around the site with a self guided tour brochure and found it very interesting, although we would have really liked to talk with someone about the quarry. After looking into some of the buildings, I began to realize that the matrix surrounding the dino bones was very hard. It was definitely a labor of love for anyone working to remove the bones.

As the sun began to drive the temperature higher, we again jumped in our cool truck and hit the road. After returning to Highway 10, we soon connected with Highway 191 and traveled the entire day without stopping to look for or at rocks. At Naples, we turned east for a visit at the Dinosaur National Monument. At the park headquarters over looking the Green River, the National Parks have erected a beautiful interpretative center over what I would call a dinosaur wall. During the time of the dinosaurs, this area was a vast swamp/savanna. For what ever reason, a large number of different prehistoric animals died and their skeletons were well preserved in the sediment. With tectonic forces acting on the land, that once flat bone bed now sits at about a 50 degree angle.

Once inside the building, you can see upwards of 20 full skeletons still in the matrix. They are still in the process of removing some of the bones out of the rock and tools can be seen scattered around. Although we normally think of tools as being chisels and picks, here they use jack hammers. The sedimentary rock is more like concrete than sandstone. There is also a host of fully assembled skeletons with some great drawings and narratives to help you understand the history of the site. Turning your back to the bone wall, you see a preparation room through large viewing windows.

Knowing that there had to be a resident paleontologist and wanted to speak to him, I evoked the magic phrase "I'm with the Ventura Gem and Mineral Society". And the reply came back.... "that's nice". "No, really, I'd like to talk with your paleontologist". "Why?" "Because I' like to find out more about your operation and the bone bed". "Oh, well let me see if he's in." (I couldn't believe the magic words hadn't worked.) After being passed from one park worker to another and after about 10 minutes of waiting, out stepped Dr. Dan Chure, who turned out to be really nice. Our conversation with him lasted for the better part of an hour and covered many different topics.

We discussed the Morrison Formation and were told that the easiest way to identify the Morrison is by it's Neapolitan ice cream appearance. He told us about climate changes and some of the current work that was going on. I then volunteered that we had come up from southern Utah and had been successful in finding coprolites. The smile that crossed his face made me instantly ask why the grin. Dan told us that although rockhounds claim to find a lot of petrified dinosaur dung, very little of it has ever been truly verified as actual fecal matter. He said that the scientists called coprolites "T.L.O.s Turd Like Objects". Very descriptive I thought. Wanting to find out more, Dan gave us the name of Dr. Karen Chen as the current authority. Dr. Chen has published many papers on the subject.

Thanking Dr. Chure for his time and information, and the new term T.L.O., we returned to Highway 191 and our journey. Highway 191 took us across the Green River at the Flaming Gorge Dam and up along the east side of the Flaming Gorge reservoir. After a brief stop for fishing in the Green River, we decided to push on to Rock Springs, Wyoming for a motel room, a shower and a soft bed. We really love our truck, but sometimes the old bones scream of comfort. The next morning our bones were happy once again so we began charting more adventures into the area for Blue Forest wood and then on to Farson for the rock swap.

(Next month we dig for Blue Forest wood, talk to a lot of great people at the Parson rock swap and finally meet the famous "Chicken George".)

Table of Contents.

"ROCK OF THE MONTH" EXHIBIT SCHEDULE,
Santa Paula Union Oil Museum,
For the Year 2000.

Steve Mulqueen,
Ventura Gem & Mineral Society,
October 27, 1999.

Terms Defined.

Volcanic Bomb: - A pyroclast that was ejected from a volcano while in a viscous lava form and received its rounded or elongated shape as it cooled to a solid mass in flight. Volcanic bombs are found associated with cinder cones.

Labradorite: - A dark mineral of the plagioclase feldspar group which commonly shows a rich, beautiful play of colors (commonly blue and/or green).

Fossilized whale bone of the California coast: - Whale bone which has been fossilized by silica mineralization and replacement. The bone weathers out of the Monterey formation (Miocene epoch, 10 million years old +/-) and can be found among rocks on the beaches of the central coast

Ventifact: - A stone or pebble which has been shaped, worn, faceted, cut or polished by the natural abrasive action of windblown sand. Ventifacts are common throughout the deserts of the world.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM THE TAX ADVISOR.

All societies should have received a Form RRF-1 and a "NOTICE TO CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND TRUSTEES" from the Registry of Charitable Trusts.

All nonprofit organizations are now required to file form RRF-1 annually. However, the $25.00 annual fee only applies to a society that has assets or gross receipts of $100,000.00 or more. All others merely file the form.

Almost all our societies have not been required to file an annual Form CT-2 in the past. In fact, most societies were only required to file a CT-2 once every ten years (extended reporting).

Almost all societies that received different tax exempt status as a result of the Franchise Tax Board's effort to revoke exemption should have only been required to file every ten years. Those societies should calendar to file Form 990EZ with their RRF-1 in the tenth year of the exemption change.

Those societies that were required to file Form CT-2 annually, it no longer needs to be filed. However, you will continue to file a copy of the Federal Form 990 or 990EZ with the Registry of Charitable Trusts.

The Internal Revenue Service recently ruled that exempt organizations must make the information contained on Form 990 or 990EZ available. The Registry is putting the information on the Internet. If you enter you should find your society listed. If not, the site allows you to send the Registry a message informing them. I had to do that with my Society.

If you have any problem with the Form or other requirements you can telephone me or send me e-mail using CFMS directory of officers and chairpersons.

Mike Kokinos,
Tax Advisor,
CFMS Newsletter.

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TRI-CLUB MEETING.

On December 11, 1999, members of the Conejo Gem and Mineral Club, the Oxnard Gem and Mineral Society and the Ventura Gem and Mineral Society met to discuss issues which were common to all clubs. This was the first in what is expected to be an on going program in which we all work together for the benefit of our hobby. Many issues were discussed and some action plans were established. A second meeting is scheduled for April, 2000 so that we can continue the process.

The minutes of the first meeting are included below to keep you informed of what is taking place. If you have any ideas or issues you feel are in need of examination, please contact Steve Mulqueen or one of the Board Members so your voice can be heard at the next meeting. Please remember that this group will only take up issues which are common to ALL clubs or which will effect ALL club members. Your Board Members are donating their time in an effort to make our hobby the best experience possible.

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MINUTES OF THE JOINT MEETING
OF THE CONEJO GEM AND MINERAL CLUB,
OXNARD GEM AND MINERAL SOCIETY,
AND VENTURA GEM AND MINERAL SOCIETY,
December 11, 1999.

A joint meeting of the Conejo, Oxnard and Ventura Gem and Mineral Clubs was convened at 10:00 a.m., on Saturday, December 11, 1999, in the classroom at the Sport Chalet Store in Oxnard, CA. In attendance were the following club members:

The meeting was called to order by facilitator, Richard Jioras, who stressed that his goal for these meetings was not to combine the three clubs, but to find ways for the three clubs to work together to offer more to members. In that context he asked for discussion topics from the group.

The first topic to come up was club field trips. The decision made was to offer combined club field trips three times each year in addition to each clubs' regular field trips. Also, Field Trip Chairpersons will participate in a network led by Greg Davis (VGMS) to keep informed of other clubs' field trips so that members from other clubs might also participate. It was also noted that field trips should be considered educational outings, not necessarily rock hunting trips, so that members who are no longer able to go into the field can still enjoy group activities. Suggestions for outings included the Paige Museum, Cal Tech, JPL, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara Museums of Natural History, Huntington Gardens. Joint outings might interest the club at Leisure Village. Olga Hammer said that the San Diego council of gem and mineral clubs has expressed an interest in hosting a field trip in their area for clubs to the north if those clubs would in turn host the San Diego clubs in a field trip in the LA / Ventura area. Finally, it was determined that club members, in particular field trip leaders, should be instructed in first aid and CPR. Richard Jioras will coordinate that instruction.

Steve Grayson, OGMS, volunteered to form the network of Program Chairpersons to share program information. OGMS appeared to have the largest and most centralized location for shared programs. It was agreed that if the three clubs each joined in the expenses, some very good programs might be arranged. A suggestion was made to invite speakers from BLM in addition to speakers from lobbies to keep public lands open to raise the awareness level of club members. Some felt it might also be a good idea to join up with some of the off-road groups who are also trying to keep public lands open.

Laura Grayson, OGMS, reported that the new CFMS insurance is strictly liability and is set up to protect clubs and members from being sued for accidents that might happen on field trips. It is important to have each guest sign in and sign a waiver. The waivers are not legally binding; but do inform field trip participants of the possibilities of danger which may deter some people from filing lawsuits.

With regard to shows, each club agreed to loan cases to other clubs at no cost. This would only include cases that are designated as loaner cases. Although there was no interest in combining the three shows, there was some discussion regarding the possibility of having a three-club show in December at the Ventura County Fairgrounds which would be aimed at the gift buying public. This would be some time in the future, not the year 2000. One member felt raising public awareness of gem and mineral clubs could be accomplished by more member participation in the Ventura County Fair.

In conclusion, it was decided that this tri-club group should meet approximately every four months. Program and field trip information will be put onto the club web pages.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Jioras.

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