Pebble Press March 2016 Page 1

Next Executive Meeting Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at 7:00 PM

NOTICE BOARD

Richmond Gem and Mineral Society’s

PEBBLE PRESS For March 2016

NEXT GENERAL MEETING Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016

6:45 pm start

PROGRAM

Pegmatites, Mineral Dependence – Gemstones to Cellphones

SHOW & TELL

Bring in Your Favorite Crystals!

REFRESHMENT TABLE

If your last name starts with the following letter, then it is your turn to bring a finger food or other type of snack for the refreshment table:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, & K

Workshop Calendar

Open Workshops Painter’s Studio

Keep your eye open for email notices regarding Open Workshops. These workshops are informative and in many cases you get hands on experience. These workshops are open to every RGMS member and you do not need to have any previous experience or to have successfully completed any of the available courses. Future Open Workshops may offer an introduction to Wire Wrapping and Wax Carving for Lost Wax Cast-ing.

Lapidary Studio

“Still Under Renovation”

Members volunteered their time this week to help in the “refreshing” of the Lapidary Studio. Their help in this task and their input into the Lapidary Studio set-up was greatly appreciated . Everyone expressed the need to get the Lapidary Studio back up and run-ning as soon as possible.

We met with the City’s representative to review our club’s needs and the Cultural Centre’s needs. Only one item still needed to be approved and that is the safe operation of the lapidary arbors. Thanks to the brain trust of our members including Gerry Hall and Rick Grant, a solution was found for operating our lapidary arbors. The solution was a drip method of providing water to the wheels. This solution was approved by the City’s representative.

More information will be forthcoming at our next General Meeting.

“55 Shades of Turquoise” April 30 & May 1, 2016

Last chance for table rentals!

Contact Lisa Kew at lisa@fireboycreative.com for additional infor-

mation and to add your name to the volunteer list. Thanks.

Pebble Press March 2016 Page 2

FUTURE MEETING PLANNER 2016

Executive Positions 2015-2016

President Anthony Young

Vice-President Office to be filled

Secretary

Jan McRobb

Treasurer George Howe

Program Chairperson

Livia Waterson

Show Chairperson Lisa Kew

Workshop Chairperson Lui Porc

Ways & Means Chairperson

Linda Boyce

Field Trip Chairperson Harley Waterson

Publicity Chairperson

Natalie Helmstetter

Librarian Kay Eichacker

Pebble Press Editor Eugenia Kurganska

Social Convenor

Bellamy Ho

Membership Chairperson Darlene Howe

Senior Delegate Sharon Hamelin

Past President Bob Gregory

Non-Executive Positions

Contact at Large Darlene Howe

Intermediate Delegate Darlene Howe

Junior Delegate Arn Hamelin

Workshop Assistants George Howe Tom Braund

Membership Assistant Dorreh Jahanshahi

Ways & Means Assistant Joan Turrell

Rendezvous 2016 Information

Rendezvous 2016 will be held in Hope from May 21 to 23 and will take place in the Hope Curling rink. This is a great opportunity to showcase your rockhounding finds and silver-smithing creations. Display cases will be supplied by BCLS unless you prefer to use your own. We are also looking for volunteers to demonstrate lapidary, silversmithing, etc. The 15 display cabinets available are being reserved for each club or member in the order of date-received email commitments that are received by Garry Reid of the Rendezvous 2016 Planning Committee. Garry Reid encourages you to contact him by phone at 604-799-7677 or email at 4g.reid@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding Rendezvous 2016. He also reminds you that confirmation of a display case (yours, ours or BCLS) or a demonstrator com-mitment

Membership News

Darlene Howe Just a note to let you know that you can pick up your BC Lapidary Society’s Membership Card at the next General Meeting.

General Meeting

Month

Executive Meeting

Tuesday the 22nd March Tuesday the 15th. 7:00 pm

Tuesday the 26th April Tuesday the 19th. 7:00 pm

Tuesday the 24th May Tuesday the 17th. 7:00 pm

Tuesday the 28th June Tuesday the 21st. 7:00 pm

Tuesday the 23rd August Tuesday the 16th. 7:00 pm

BCLS Calendar Photo Contest

Found a great rock? Want to share it with others? Like winning prizes? Then enter the BCLS 2017 Calendar Photo Contest. The contest entry deadline is June 30th, 2016. Contact Denise Cullen, BCLS Calendar Coordinator at denisecullen@telus.net or 604-944-

4842 for further information, or http://www.bclapidary.com/2017%20Calendar%20Contest.pdf

Pebble Press March 2016 Page 3

Annual Rock & Gem Shows 2016 For details go to www.bclapidary.com

British Columbia Lapidary Society’s Wagonmasters’ Fieldtrips Spring and Summer 2016

March 18, 19 & 20, 2016

VICTORIA LAPIDARY & MINER-AL SOCIETY - 195 Bay Street, Vic-toria, BC

March 26 & 27, 2016

MT. BAKER ROCK & GEM CLUB - 2214 Electric Avenue Bellingham, WA

April 8, 9 & 10, 2016

BC GEM SHOW - 32470 Haida Drive Abbotsford, BC

April 16 & 17, 2016 COURTENAY GEM & MINERAL CLUB - 367 Cliffe Avenue, Courte-nay, BC

April 30 & May 1, 2016

RICHMOND GEM & MINERAL SOCIETY - 7700 Minoru Gate, Rich-mond, BC

For detailed and updated information go to:

www.bclapidary.com

or contact Harley Waterson at 604-590-3289

ALWAYS CALL THE TRIP LEADER THE DAY BEFORE TO ENSURE THE TRIP IS GOING, AND THAT THERE HAVE BEEN NO OTHER CHANG-ES. Remember to wear layered clothing to be able to adjust to weather conditions at the location, bring a lunch and water on all field trips. Ensure your vehicle has a full tank of gas. As always, US rockhounds in good standing with their clubs are invited to join our field trips! For something different, check out the field trips offered on the Washington State Mineral Coun-cil web site at: Washington State Mineral Coun-cil

THE BRITISH COLUMBIA LAPIDARY SOCIETY RAFFLE

Chance to Win a Gold Nugget plus other great prizes.

(in support of the development and education relat-ing to earth sciences, geology through the BC Gem

Show.)

Tickets Sales: 15-Dec-2015 - 10-Apr-2016

Raffle drawn: 4pm Sunday, 10 April, 2016

(ticket sales close at 3:00pm April 10, 2016)

Location: Ag-Rec Building (Central Fraser Valley Fairgrounds)

32470 Haida Drive, Abbotsford, BC V2T 5A6

Pebble Press March 2016 Page 4

Birthstone of The Month (credit to earthsky.org )

What’s the birthstone for March?

Happy birthday March babies! March has two birthstones – aquamarine and bloodstone.

Aquamarine Aquamarines vary in color from deep blue to blue-green of different intensities, caused by trac-es of iron in the beryl crystal. Naturally occurring deep blue stones are the most prized because they are rare and expensive. However, yellow beryl stones can be heated to change them to blue aquamarines.The aquamarine – also called the “poor man’s diamond” – is a form of the mineral beryl that also includes other gemstones such as the emerald, morganite, and heliodor. Beryl consists of four elements: beryllium, aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. Beryl occurs as free six-sided crystals in rock veins unaffected by shock and weathering that otherwise destroy gem deposits. It is a relatively hard gem, ranking after the diamond, sapphire, ruby, alexandrite, and topaz.

The best commercial source of aquamarines is Brazil. High quality stones are also found in Colombia, the Ural Moun-tains of Russia, the island of Malagasy, and India. In the United States, Colora-do, Maine, and North Car-olina are the best sources.

The name aquamarine was derived by the Romans, “aqua,” meaning water, and “mare,” meaning sea, because it looked like sea water. Aquamarines were

believed to have originated from the jewel caskets of sirens, washed ashore from the depths of the sea. They were considered sacred to Neptune, Roman god of the sea. This association with the sea made it the sailors’ gem, promising prosperous and safe voyages, as well as protection against perils and monsters of the sea. Its first documented use was by the Greeks between 480-300 BC. They wore aquamarine amulets engraved with Poseidon (the Greek god of the sea) on a chariot.

Pebble Press March 2016 Page 5

Beginning in the Roman period, the aquamarine was believed to possess medicinal and healing powers, cur-ing ailments of the stomach, liver, jaws, and throat. During the Middle Ages, it was believed to be an effec-tive antidote against poison. Aquamarines were thought to be the source of power for soothsayers, who called it the “magic mirror,” and used it for telling fortunes and answering questions about the future. It is said that Emperor Nero used it as an eyeglass 2,000 years ago. Much later, aquamarines were used as glasses in Ger-many to correct shortsightedness. In fact, the German name for eyeglasses today is “brille,” derived from the mineral beryl.

Bloodstone The second birthstone for March is the bloodstone. Bloodstone – also known as heliotrope – is a form of the abundant mineral quartz. This particular form of quartz, known as cryptocrystalline quartz, exists as a mass of tiny quartz crystals formed together in large lumps that show no external crystal form, yet each of the compo-nent crystals that make up the mass is a genuine crystal. This quartz variety is also called chalcedony. Green chalcedony spotted with flecks of red is known as bloodstone. Bloodstone is found embedded in rocks, or as pebbles in riverbeds. The best sources of this stone are India, Brazil, and Australia. The bloodstone is a fa-vored material for carving religious subjects, particularly the Crucifixion. One particularly famous carving was done by the Italian Matteo del Nassaro around 1525. In “The Descent from the Cross,” the carving was carefully crafted so that spots of red on the bloodstone represented the wounds of Christ and His drops of blood. According to legend, bloodstone was believed to have formed during the crucifixion of Christ. A Ro-man soldier-guard thrust his spear into Christ’s side and drops of blood fell on some pieces of dark green jas-per lying at the foot of the cross, and the bloodstone was created.

Babylonians used this stone to make seals and amulets, and it was also a favorite with Roman gladiators. In the Middle Ages, bloodstone was believed to hold healing powers, particularly for stopping nosebleeds. Pow-dered and mixed with honey and white of egg, it was believed to cure tumors and stop all types of hemor-rhage. Ancient alchemists used it to treat blood disorders, including blood poisoning and the flow of blood from a wound. Bloodstone was also believed to draw out the venom of snakes.

Pebble Press March 2016 Page 6

RICHMOND GEM & MINERAL SOCIETY Minutes of the General Meeting held on Tuesday, February 23, 2015

Minutes of the February 23, 2016 General Meeting

Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm by George Howe Welcome to new members Minutes: Chair moved to accept minutes as posted in Pebble Press. Seconded by: Jean M. Motion passed. Correspondence: None Vice-President’s Report: None Treasurer’s Report: As of February 19, 2016: Revenue: $6,787.33 Expenses: $6,191.93 Balance: $595.40 Program Report: To be announced at a later date. Show Chairperson’s Report: Lisa reminded everyone that this is the last chance to

rent table space for our Annual Show in April. Event Emails will be prepared for our members to

send to their friends, family, etc. Lisa is asking for donations that can be used for the

silent auction, roll the dice to win, door prizes, etc. Workshop: While the Lapidary Studio is closed, the RGMS will hold “Open Workshops”. These workshops are open to all club members, new or old. Members will be notified of Open Workshops through email notices. Ways & Means: Do not forget to purchase your Ways & Means tickets; 4 for a $1.00. Field Trip Report: This weekend is the Yale Bar. See BCLS’s website for other scheduled field tr ips Publicity Report: No report Librarian Report: No report

Pebble Press: If you are not getting an email copy of the Pebble Press contact Darlene Howe at darhowe@shaw.ca Social Convenor: Coffee and Tea is ready. Membership: For those members who have not signed in, please do so. Senior Delegate Report: BCLS needs volunteers to help with the BC Gem Shop. The next BCLS meeting is March 20, in Victoria, BC. Art Coordinator: No Report. President’s Report: No Report. Old Business: None New Business: Maple Ridge show this weekend. Hastings Club show will be in June. Show & Tell: Yellowish coloured stones. Quite an interesting variety of material today. Next Executive Meeting: Tuesday, March 15 Next General Meeting: Tuesday, March 22 Meeting Adjourned at 7:40 PM.