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The Ventura Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. (VGMS)
Rockhound Rambling
September 1999.
Table of Contents.
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.
The very last Summer of the millennium is rapidly reaching a close...and the Fall season is just around the corner. The Fall is the most ideal season for exploring the California Desert. The days are often warm, nights are usually cool. It is the perfect condition for that special field trip you've been delaying for all those years.
Many of our VGMS members will take advantage of these great conditions in our desert while attending "Gem-O-Rama '99" on October 9th & 10th. This is the 58th annual mineral show sponsored by the Searles Lake Gem & Mineral Society of Trona, California. For those who have never attended this show, it is a great opportunity to collect rare minerals such as Hanksite, Trona, Halite, Sulfohalite, Thenardite, Borax and Northupite, to name a few. Please refer to additional information printed in this bulletin.
The Heritage Valley Festival will be held in Santa Paula on September 25th & 26th. I will need volunteers to help with the VGMS booth at this event. Our goal is to meet with festival participants and to encourage those interested in our hobby to join the VGMS. Please plan on signing up at our regular meeting to help at our booth. Details will be available at our meeting on September 22nd.
On September 10th, Susan and I changed out the VGMS exhibit at the Santa Paula Union Oil Museum (SPUOM). The new exhibit features "Columnar Basalt". Columnar joints are a volcanic feature which are formed from the shrinkage of lava or magma as it cools slowly in lava flows, volcanic dikes or sills. If you have never been to the SPUOM, now is a great opportunity to visit. If you would like to exhibit material from your own collection, please let me know.
The VGMS recently accepted a gift of rocks, minerals and fossils from the collection of the late Barbara Jean Eakin. Her daughter and son in law, Ronda and Richard Johnson of Ventura were kind enough to give this to the club. It contains several hundred pounds of material which will be used for grab bags, silent auctions, rock sales, museum give away rock and material for cutting and polishing. At our last Board meeting, we approved honorary membership for the Johnson's into the VGMS. Please give them a warm welcome to our club.
Steve Mulqueen,
President.
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR.
09-22-99: VGMS General Meeting - 7:30 pm - American Legion Hall.
09-25 & 26-99: Heritage Valley Festival - Santa Paula.
l0-07-99: VGMS Board Meeting - 7:30 pm - VGMS Museum.
10-09 & 10-99: GEM-O-RAMA '99 - Trona, California (inside bulletin).
10-16-99: Workshop Open - 9:00 am until 12:00 pm.
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MINUTES OF THE VGMS GENERAL MEETING,
August 25, 1999.
The regular monthly meeting of the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society was called to order by President Steve Mulqueen at 7:40 pm, on Wednesday, August 25, 1999, at the American Legion Hall, 83 S. Palm, Ventura, CA. The group was led in the salute to the flag.
Sharlyne Holloway introduced guests, Nancy Thompson and Steve Campbell. New members are John Stash and Jim Dwyer.
Nancy Jioras announced plans for the annual BBQ to be held at her home on Saturday, September 18, 1999, beginning at 11:00 am. Members were asked to sign up indicating how many people in their party and what dish they would be bringing. The cost per person will be $3.00 which will pay for the tri-tip and chicken. After the BBQ, Jay Baumler will hold a "White Elephant" auction. A beading class will be given by Olga Hammer in the afternoon at the same location. An information sheet for the class was also available.
Greg Davis told the group that the September field trip will be to Ray and Jo Anna Ritchey's home in Monrovia to purchase rocks from their collection. Lunch will be provided. Maps to the Ritchey home were available. Steve Mulqueen added that a trip to Burminco's Rocks in Monrovia might also be arranged. Greg also asked members to fill out field trip suggestion forms to help him plan future field trips. Finally, he stated that he would be going up to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History on Friday, August 27th, to hear Dr. Karen Chin speak on dinosaurs and coprolites. Members of the club were invited to come along. Steve Mulqueen indicated that information sheets for Quartzsite (January & February) and the Trona "Gem 0 Rama" were available.
Richard Bromser gave the Treasurer's Report with the bank balance.
Bonnie Demianiw reminded members that the bulletin deadline is the 10th of each month.
Ray Meisenheimer thanked club members who participated in the Fair, especially those who helped with clean up. He then said that he had been approached by a newspaper reporter who was looking for interesting people to write about, so Ray told him about Susan Mulqueen and her bug collection. The result was a very nice article about Susan in today's paper.
Jay Baumler stated that he still needed someone to take care of Donation Awards and the Silent Auction for the Annual Show In March. Ray Melsenheimer said he would help with the Silent Auction and he thought John McCabe would too. Jay will try to hold the first Show Meeting in mid to late September.
Steve Mulqueen then brought up the subject of a security system for the museum. Bret Breton obtained an estimate of $1,757.00 to place three video cameras and a video recorder in the museum. The tapes would run for three days each and then someone would have to change them. Steve asked for input from the general membership because this is an expensive and important issue. Bruno Benson said that the club cannot afford not to do something because things are being taken from the museum and donors will not want to keep their items on exhibit if they are in danger of being taken. Ray said that the equipment in the museum is covered under the insurance policy; but the display items, which are many times priceless, cannot be insured because they go out on loan at times. It was the general consensus that there must be a security system; but possibly a used video system was not the best way to go. Greg Davis and John Stash offered to research the issue for the Board.
- After the ticket drawings the rest of the meeting was devoted to show and tell by the following members:
- Richard Bromser described two samples of diatomaceous earth from the John Manville quarry.
- Steve Mulqueen demonstrated how to show and label specimens to their best advantage.
- Shawne Lardin showed some of her meteorite specimens.
- Dave Mautz described some of the fossils in his collection.
- Sharon Cunningham exhibited some cabochons made of shell material found in a downtown LA excavation.
- Sharlyne Holloway showed a coral and shell souvenir from a trip to Christmas Island with Art.
- Wayne Ehlers shared a newspaper article on current excavations at La Brea Tar Pits, and an article from Rock and Gem describing video tapes that might be interesting for a club presentation.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned to refreshments at 9:05 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Jioras,
Secretary.
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MINUTES OF VGMS BOARD MEETING,
September 3, 1999.
The regular monthly Board Meeting of the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society was called to order by President Steve Mulqueen at 7:40 pm. on Thursday. September 3, 1999 at the VGMS Museum, 5019 Crooked Palm Road, Ventura, CA.
From Steve Mulqueen: Mulqueen felt the Board needed more time to research the proposal of +/- $1700 from Stetson Associates for a used video security system. However, the camera system will not prevent theft; it would only record the theft. Since there is no formal inventory of the contents of the museum it is difficult to know which items might be missing. Items on loan to the museum can be taken back to their owners; things can go out on loan to teachers and classrooms; things can be moved during cleaning. The Board was in agreement that Bruno Benson must be asked what things are missing. and what he perceives the problem to be. The item will be studied further by Greg Davis, John Stash, and Richard Bromser with a recommendation to be made at the October Board Meeting. Meanwhile, Red Jioras will secure the double doors to the museum and find a replacement door for the back of the workshop. Wayne Ehlers will determine the number and cost of locks needed to secure the display cases in the museum and will report back at the October Board Meeting.
VGMS will have a booth at the heritage Valley Festival on September 25-26 sponsored by the cities of Santa Paula and Fillmore. The club booth will have samples of different rocks on view as well as rock samples. Mulqueen will look into the cost to the club to be able to sell grab bags at the booth. Volunteers are needed to work the booth both days.
Richard and Ronda Johnson gave a gift to the club of approximately 1000# of slabs and rough rock. The club needs plastic milk crates for storage of the material. It was m/s/c to give the Johnson's a complimentary membership through the year 2000.
The Oxnard and Conejo clubs have invited VGMS to join them in a camp out at the Trona show and field trip October 9 & 10.
Bonnie needs a list of prizes won at the fair to put into the bulletin.
The next exhibit at the Union Oil Museum will be on columnar basalt. The piece of basalt in the office will be included in the display.
From Richard Bromser: The blue plastic skirting normally used for the shows will be used as table coverings at the annual BBQ at the Jioras house.
In response to a question at the Board meeting related to the cost of club patches Richard reported that the patches cost the club $3.80 each so it was decided to sell the patches for $5.00 each to members. The purpose of the patches is to advertise the club, not to make money off the members. Relative to this item, Red Jioras will get prices and samples of artwork for VGMS hats, shirts and jackets.
From Jay Baumler: Jay still needs someone to take care of Donation Awards for the show in March. He will ask Ed and Martie Isch if they will handle the camping for the show. Jay then asked how the Board felt about buying items at Quartzsite and selling them in the Country Store. Board members vetoed the idea feeling that any such purchases would still be infringing on the dealers profits. If Jay can find some rough at a good price it would be acceptable to put into the silent auction. However, he was urged to examine the new donations from the Johnson's before buying anything. There was then some discussion as to the layout of the show; but no conclusions. The first show meeting will be held mid to late September.
From Greg Davis: The field trip for September to Ray and Jo Anna Ritchey's home, will include a lunch donated by Greg and Valli Davis. Members need only bring boxes and cash for their booty. The Trona trip in October will include a field trip for blue chalcedony. A trip to the La Brea Tar Pits is tentatively slated for the November field trip.
From Sharon Cunningham: It was m/s/c to accept the memberships of Jim Dwyer and John Stash. It was then m/s/c to make their memberships good through the year 2000.
From Florence Meisenheimer: The new CFMS Board will include Bob Stultz, 1st VP; Jo Anna Ritchey, 2nd VP; Lois Allmen, Secretary; Jack Williams, Treasurer.
The CFMS field trip to Wiley Wells will be held January 31 - February 4 to coincide with trips to Quartzsite.
From Red Jioras: The club is in need of two new shop stewards. A work weekend will probably be scheduled for some time in November.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Jioras,
Secretary.
Table of Contents.
OUR VGMS FAIR WINNERS.
Many of our very own members entered and won a great many ribbons in different categories at. the Ventura County Fair this year.
- And our VGMS winners are:
- Greg Davis - (1)1st;
- Wayne Ehlers - (3)1st, (1)2nd, (1)3rd, (1)4th, (1)5th;
- Marie Ehlers - (3)2nd;
- Marie Haake - (6)1st, (5)2nd, (3)3rd;
- Nancy Jioras - (1)1st, (1)2nd, (2)3rd, (1)5th;
- Red Jioras - (1)1st & Best of Show;
- David Mautz - (11)1st, (6)2nd, (1)3rd & Best of Show;
- Susan Mulqueen - (1)1st;
- Inez Shakman - (2)1st, (5)2nd, (4)3rd, (1)5th & Honorable Mention.
WOW! Everyone did such a great Job! You should be VERY proud of yourselves.
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OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS.
A Happy Birthday wish to all our members born in the month of October.
- 10-12 John McCabe,
- 10-13 Red Jioras,
- 10-17 Jay Baumler,
- 10-23 Valli Davis,
- 10-27 Bertie Raines,
- 10-31 Olga Hammer.
Your October birthstone is Opal and your flower is the Calendula.
OPAL:
October's birthstone, the opal, recalls in its wonderful and varied play of colors the glow of a bright October day in the country, where earth and sky vie with each other in brilliance so that the eye is fairly dazzled with the bewildering variety of its splendorous hues. The ownership of so fair a gem as a fine opal certainly must be a source of pleasure and good fortune of the wearer. The opal was the most popular gem stone in England when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne at age 18. Victoria loved opals and featured them in the expensive jewelry she loaded on herself.
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COMMUNITY EDUCATION.
August 6 12th, Ray Melsenheimer gave a program on fossils to a group of Grandparents and Grandchildren Day at the Senior Citizen Center in Thousand Oaks. Approximately 20 adults and 30 children were in attendance. Several local newspaper reporters were also there, and Ray was given a nice write up with pictures and a number of telephone calls.
August 28th, Ray gave a tour of the museum to Cub Scout Pack 3247 from Oxnard. There were 5 youngsters and 5 adults.
September 1st, Steve Mulqueen was the program speaker at the regular meeting of Oxnard Gem & Mineral Society. The subject was "Vaporite Minerals of Searles Lake" and was very well received by club members, many of whom will be visiting the area in October. There were 39 members and 6 guests present.
Contributed by:
Florence Meisenheimer.
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WORDS TO LIVE BY.
You are often sorry for saying a harsh word. But you will never regret saying a kind one.
What did the acorn seedling say after it grew up? Geometry! (Gee, I'm a tree.)
The journey of a thousand miles begins with...a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.
Wear a smile and have friends...wear a frown and have wrinkles.
Contributed by:
Wayne Ehlers.
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1999 CFMS CLUB SHOWS.
SEPTEMBER 18-19, PASO ROBLES, CA - Santa Lucia Rockhounds, Pioneer Park and Museum, 2010 Riverside Ave., Hours: Sat. 10-6; Sun. 10-5, Harry Kuffel, (805)467-3457.
SEPTEMBER 25, LOS ALTOS, CA - Peninsula Gem & Geology Society, Los Altos Rancho Shopping Center, Foothill Expressway & S. Springer Rd., Hours: 9:30am to 4:45pm, Frank Dina, (650)967-3424.
SEPTEMBER 25-26, DOWNEY, CA - The Delvers Gem & Mineral Society, Woman's Club of Downey, 9813 Paramount Blvd., Hours: Sat. 10-5; Sun. 10-4, Manfred Dexling, (562)425-0192.
SEPTEMBER 25-26, MONTEREY, CA - Carmel Valley Gem & Mineral Society, Monterey Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairgrounds Rd., Sky Paxton, (831)633-6978, E-mail: skyler@ips.com.
SEPTEMBER 25-26, STOCKTON, CA - The Faceters Guild of Northern Calif Inc., Scottish Rite Temple, 33 West Alpine, Hours: Sat. 10-5; Sun. 10-4, Gemstone Auction Sunday 2:00pm, Al Clee, (650)991-9175, E-mail: TheClees@aol.com.
SEPTEMBER 29- OCT. 3, JOSHUA TREE, CA - Sportsmans Club of Joshua Tree, Sportsmans Hall, 6225 Sunburst St., Hours: Wed. - Sat. 9-5; Sun. 9-3, Gary Palmer, (760)366-2990.
OCTOBER 2-3, NAPA, CA - Napa Valley Rock & Gem Club, Napa Valley Exposition, 575 Third Street, Hours: 10-5 both days, Gaylord Jerde, (707)552-2324.
OCTOBER 9-10, LANCASTER, CA - Valley Gems, Valley Gems, 9050 1/2 West Ave. J, Hours: Sat. 9-5; Sun. 9-4, Connie Wilhelm, (661)942-1570.
OCTOBER 9-10, PLACERVILLE, CA - El Dorado County Mineral & Gem Society, El Dorado Fairgrounds, 150 Placerville Drive, Hours: 10-5 both days, Merryan O'Neill, (530)622-4229.
OCTOBER 9-10, TRONA, CA - Searles Lake Gem & Mineral, 13337 Main Street, Hours: Sat. 8-5; Sun. 8-4, Bonnie Fairchild, (760)372-5356.
OCTOBER 16-17, GRASS VALLEY, CA - Nevada County Gem & Mineral Society, Nevada County Fairgrounds, 11228 McCourtney Rd., Hours: Sat. 10-5; Sun. 10-4, Davis Liedstrand, (530)272-6845, E-mail: ribet@jps.net.
OCTOBER 16-17, SANTA ROSA, CA - Santa Rosa Mineral & Gem Society Inc., Veterans Memorial Bldg., 1351 Maple Ave., Hours: Sat. 10-6; Sun. 10-5, Roland Michaelis, (707)544-3118.
OCTOBER 16-17, WHITTIER, CA - Whittier Gem & Mineral Society "Golden Anniversary Show", 7604 Greenleaf Ave., Hours: Sat. 10-6; Sun. 10-5, Jay Valle, (626)336-3714, 1421 Latchford Ave., Hacienda Heights, CA 91745, E-mail: jvalle@aqmd.gov.
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AMERICAN FEDERATION / REGIONAL
1999 SHOW SCHEDULE.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN FEDERATION:
NOVEMBER 12-13-14, TUCSON, AZ - Tucson Convention Center, Contact: Jason Penn, 452 South Stratford, Old Pueblo Lapidary Club Hosts, E-mail: Ekmtuc@azstarnet.com.
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WHAT'S OVER THE NEXT HILL,
A ROCK HUNTING VACATION
By Red and Nancy Jioras.
Part 1:
Ever wonder what there might be over the next hill, around the corner or around that next bend in the stream? Well, that was the motivation that caused Nancy and I to schedule a 2 ½ week vacation around the western states to see what there was in the way of rocks and minerals. The only absolute stops on the whole vacation were Davis Creek in Northern California, and Farson, Wyoming during the first days in July for the Farson Rock Swap and field trip to the Blue Forest Petrified Wood area. The purpose of the trip was not to acquire one type of material, but to sample as many places as possible for future visits and to learn what is around the next bend in the road, "rockwise" of course.
We started our trip with a nighttime marathon drive across California, Nevada and the tip of Arizona to find ourselves in St. George, Utah on the first morning. As all vacations seem to go, it was about the time we crossed into Arizona that I realized that I had left my hiking boots at home. After picking up a pair of NEW boots, Nancy and I headed out of St. George and turned east onto Utah Highway 9 toward Mount Carmel. In Rockville, we stopped at a couple of rock shops to inquire about local materials and sites. This began a good education about rock shops.
The very first shop we stopped at had a few rocks and a surly employee that didn't know anything about rocks and was even less willing to talk with us. We came to term these type of shops as gift shops and forgave the person for his bad attitude. The second shop was a very obvious rock hound run establishment since most of the front yard area was piles and piles of different materials. Inside we were looking around and got to talking with the shop owner who, for the most part, was giving us just generic answers until we invoked the magic phase, "we're members of a gem and mineral society". The glimmer of recognition in her eyes and a smile on her face led to a detailed conversation that gave us a wealth of information.
Of specific importance to us were the Septarian Nodules that the shop had piled outside their door. It seems that Utah is noted for their Septarian Nodules. More specifically, Mount Carmel, at the junction of Utah Highway 9 and Highway 89, is one of the places the nodules were mined. Our impromptu guide informed us that some of the persons having claims in the Mount Carmel area also had rock shops in Orderville, 5 miles beyond Mount Carmel and if we wanted to search for nodules, we should contact them. So with our new found information (the site is also listed in the Utah Gem Trails book) we continued east where we soon paid our $10.00 to essentially drive through Zion National Park. We learned on this vacation is that the fees for the National Parks system must be paid whether you spend one hour or one month in the park.
Although I was still grumbling about the entry fee, Zion was a wonderful education in geology. Most of Zion National Park is made up of two formations which are Jurassic in age. The Navajo Sandstone Formation sits atop the Kayenta Formation with the Virgin River eroding a 2000 foot canyon. The Navajo Formation is characterized by a dark red sandstone(high iron content) that erodes to great cliffs, spires, and cliff faces with dome or arch like structures where the stone has cleaved away from the face. The Kayenta Formation is made up of layers of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone deposited on a delta or a flood plane and rests below the Navajo.
While driving through the park, I began to notice deep layering with lines across the face of the layers. But from layer to layer the lines would go in different directions (cross- bedding). Although some of the lines looked like score lines from a glacier or a slip fault, I had to discount both of these theories when I would see 4, 5 or 6 directional changes in the line pattern on the same cliff face. With our curiosity raised, we purchased a Roadside Geology book to help answer our questions. It seems the Navajo Sandstone formations of Zion National Park were laid down as sand dunes on an ancient desert. The different direction of the erosional lines are determined by the way the wind blew the sand on the lee side of the dune. When eroded across the top, the Navajo formation looks like biscuits in a baking pan.
After an eye popping drive through Zion, we finally drove through Mount Carmel to Orderville to visit the rock shops in that town. In fact, the rock shops are almost the only thing that make up Orderville (there use to be 3, but the one that was built to look like a rock is now closed). We spoke with one shop owner who did indeed have a claim in Mount Carmel for Septarian Nodules, but they informed us that when they dug they would always back fill and that there wasn't much left on their tailing pile. They did give us permission to look. The other rock shop was run by a gentlemen and his son who, after a bit of conversation (and the magic phrase), began to offer information on a number of different sites.
Pointing across the river from Orderville, this fellow, who was a geologist by training, indicated an abundance of petrified wood on top of the high ridge. He said that the wood was not great, but it was plentiful. He also said that his most favorite area to collect was just outside the Capitol Reef National Park on the Burr Trail. Well, not knowing anything about the area, I quickly ran to my truck and got my maps. He was gracious enough to indicate the area he was talking about on the map and explained that the area was good for coprolite, some dino bone and a little petrified wood. Well, sounded good to me, but first things first, Sepiarian nodules and a place to spend the night. Quite a first day, right!!!.
Driving back to Mount Carmel and in on the 5 miles of dirt road to the Septarian nodule area, it didn't take Nancy and I very long to find enough nodules to make us happy. The nodules were not of the quality that were marketable, but we did find some with crystals inside. Of course finding nodules made us curious about the formation of the nodule so we went back to the books. It seems that during ancient times animals died in the sea and dropped to the bottom. Once encased in mud, the animal would decay leaving a hollow in the mud bottom which then filled with minerals, mostly calcite. The most desired nodules are those which have retained the shape of the animal and/or have large crystal pockets. Looking at the effort that it takes for the miners to get them out of the soil, I was happy with what we found.
As night fell on the first day of our vacation, we found ourselves high in the mountains between Cedar Breaks and Panguich fishing in Duck Springs Pond. The next morning, we headed back down the mountain to Highway 89 and into Panguich with Gem Trails in hand. The book listed an area just off the highway called Agate Hill. Reported to be a small hill virtually covered with all kind of Agate, we had to go. Boy, were they right. Everywhere you looked on this hill, there was agate. Some had dendrites, some were milky with soft pink and red spots, others were paisley, and some had red, black and even gold colors. We only spent about an hour looking around and limited ourselves to about 15 pounds of rock for two reasons; we knew we were going to visit a lot of other sites and secondly, we don't believe in taking more than we can use. So with our 15 pounds we were on our way again to a site north of Panguich that was suppose to have banded yellow and green agate.
Although we did find a few rocks in the river bed that resembled the agate described in the book, we were not impressed with the banded agate site. We then made a decision that would set the tone for the entire vacation. Originally planning to follow Highway 89 north, we were attracted by the information about the Burr Trail (which would take us south and east away from our objective of Farson, Wyoming). We had to decide whether to seek different materials and see different places or to continue on our given course toward our objective. Wanting to know what was over that next mountain and around the next bend in the road, we back tracked down Highway 89 to Utah Highway 12 and turn east. Our vacation had just taken a turn toward seeking, finding, experiencing, and exploring with no real time schedule and no real destination, which is just the kind of vacation we always dreamed about.
(Next month it's down the Burr Trail and an accounting of all the wonders that we saw and the rocks that we collected.)
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A WEIRD ROCK STORY.
While volunteering in the gem and mineral building during the Ventura County Fair this year, I reached into my new Levis' pocket and found a walnut size pumice stone. "I wonder how that got in there?" I thought. "I don't own any pumice." All afternoon I answered the questions of enthusiastic fair goers about minerals, fossils and lapidary classes. Finally I was chatting with a very friendly lady when I felt the stone again. "Want to see my rock mystery for the day?" I asked her. "That's no mystery" she said. "You are wearing stone washed Levis aren't you?" "Well", she continued, "more than likely one of the stones worked it's way into the pocket and the inspector missed it". "You mean they actually wash these Levis with real stones?" I asked incredulously. "They must" she answered. "Just look at all the small bits of Levi material clinging to it."
Amazing isn't it? A company really does live up to it's advertising. Amazing that in the 15 years I have purchased from this company I have never seen a granule of stone. Now this specimen magically appears at a gem and mineral show right in front of a fabricated 10 foot tall volcano with a simulated magma core and windows containing all the volcanic rock types including pumice. Amazing that it never crossed my mineral mind that stone washed meant anything but a color.
Contributed by:
Inez Shakman.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT,
By Ken Kruschke, CFMS President.
Much has been written about the declining membership in rock clubs. Many surveys point out the best source of new members is through Rock and Gem shows. These shows are the source of money for Rock Clubs to do their beneficial projects. Rock shows are becoming more expensive to produce. The rock shows are necessary for the clubs to continue to function, as we know them. We have great shows featuring the best exhibits, dealers and demonstrators. We need more members and revenue. How can we do this?
If a manufacturer develops and produces a new and improved Widget, how do they make a profit? With sales of their Widget. No sales are made if no one knows about the product. What happens now? It's called advertising. Advertising makes people aware of new products and creates a "need" or "want" in the minds of the public. Advertising happens in many ways.... word of mouth, handouts, posters, billboards, newspapers, magazines, radio and TV. Many of the advertisers target specific areas such as age, geographic and economic groups. We, the purchasers of advertising time or space, need to know what areas to aim our ads at and if the advertiser we are negotiating with meets our needs. We need greater attendance. To improve the bottom line, which is most likely to come to our shows. We need to be sure to target those in the 30, 40, and 50 something age group. They are the prime group for new members. Also, they should be in a radius of an hour or less driving time to the show.
The "Freebies" such as Show Dates, Community Events, etc. in newspapers, magazines, radio and TV should be used. In most cases the end result of this type of ad is generally not a big help.
The recognition level by the general public of the CFMS and what we stand for and what we do is very low. This is also true for many of the member clubs in their own communities. Our image doesn't seem to be in evidence. Many Rock Clubs are so hard to find in their communities that they are really "invisible". We do need a big dose of Public Relations.
I have asked many questions from the observations I have made. We (rock clubs) need help to get answers. Somewhere in the 11,000+ members of the CFMS, I would like to find an experienced person in the field of advertising and a person in the field of PR. I would like to have a seminar on these two subjects.
We need the expertise and guidance in these areas. I can be contacted by mail, phone or e-mail. With the cost of advertising being what it is, and most Rock Clubs advertising budgets are modest, help in getting the most out of each dollar spent would be a great help.
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WILEY WELL DISTRICT FIELD TRIP,
January 31- February 4, 2000,
Hosted by CFMS Field Trip Chairman - North.
February may seem like a long way off but not for rockhounds planning their annual pilgrimage to Quartzsite and for planning our field trip to one of the finest collecting areas in southeast California. Five days of collecting are planned for the CFMS - North Field trip to the Wiley Well District on January 31 to February 4, 2000. This is a Monday through Friday. The Wiley Well area is a long-time, well known collecting area for geodes, agate, pastelite, psilomelane, fire agate, chalcedony roses, petrified wood, and much, much more. The Wiley Well area is southwest of Blythe. We will camp just off the Wiley Well road about 12.5 miles south of I-10. The campsite is a large, flat, open area suitable for trailers, motorhomes and tenters.
This field trip is being planned to coordinate with the activities at Quartzsite. The QIA and Tyson Well Shows are running a week earlier this year. Main Event and Clouds will have their traditional schedule. The QIA Pow Wow runs Tuesday, January 25th to Saturday, January 29th. Our field trips will start Monday morning, January 31st.
This is a beautiful time of year to visit the California desert. The weather is typically sunny and mild. The cacti, bushes and wild flowers are coming into bloom. Mark your calendars now (Jan. 31 to Feb. 4, 2000) and plan to join us for this great rockhound event. Besides the daily collecting trips, we will have several pot luck dinners, daily happy hours and evening campfires. I will have details (directions, campsite, collecting sites and schedule, etc. in future CFMS Newsletters.
Richard Pankey, Chairman,
Field Trips - North (2000).
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