Delvers Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. - mailing address: 1001 West Lambert Rd. #18, La Habra, CA 90631-1378

DELVINGS The Newsletter of the Delvers Gem & Mineral Society

Volume 71 Number 6 June 2018

June 8th Program: Suiseki, or Viewing Stones

Nancy Bird has arranged for Philip Chang to speak to us about the Asian art and hobby of

“viewing stones”, called Suiseki in Japan. He will show pictures from the annual show of California

Aiseki Kai (our local Suiseki club) held each year at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens

between Christmas and New Years Day. Philip Chang and Janet Shimizu will bring examples of

Suiseki for us to see. Learn about what to look for and where to collect in California the

interestingly shaped, textured and colored natural rocks suitable for viewing stones.

A “Murphys Stone” Suiseki, at the California Aiseki Kai show - photo by A.Hoekstra

(To learn more see https://artofthedaiza.wordpress.com/2014/07/24/murphy-fest/)

DELVINGS June 2018 Page 2

Taps from the Gavel

Hello All. I think we had a great meeting May 11th. We had guests, a great presentation from Chuck

Pierce on how he transforms his finds into very attractive works of art. Two previous guests, Emmalee

and Dianna Fowler, joined our club. There were more than enough snack goodies set out. It seems

many were feeling diet conscious that evening. I enjoyed some very tasty cupcakes and some little

chocolate balls, said to have come from Costco but I think they came from Heaven! Some members

also went home with prizes from the drawing that takes place (usually) at every meeting.

I was impressed with Chuck's presentation. I noticed that he got the attention of our first time

guests. Chuck revealed some secrets that usually are only learned by trial and error. He also gave us

some examples of before and after from his work. THANK YOU CHUCK.

I am sure that the Delvers have much more talent waiting to be shared. I invite all to participate or

help another to bring otherwise hidden talents and skills to our rock hound community. These efforts

can help to inspire some new ideas in our sometimes dormant artistic creativeness.

THANK YOU ALL - Peter German, Delvers G&MS President

Minutes of the May 11th Board/General Meetings – Teresa Taylor

At the last board meeting, the L.A. Arboretum was considered as a possible show venue, but all

agreed that the entrance price for the arboretum may be prohibitive for some folks. So we are still

searching for a show venue. Regarding correspondence, Jennifer Hailey, C.F.M.S President, requested

our vote on approving the Pasadena Lapidary Society as host for the 2019 CFMS show, which would

take place at the L.A. County fairgrounds. For the sunshine report, Dale Harwood mentioned that he

is having eye surgery on May 18th - let’s send out well wishes and prayers that all goes well for Dale and

that he recovers quickly and heals properly.

Emmalee and Dianna Fowler, our two guests in April, are now members of the Delvers: we are happy

to have them with us. We also met Steve and Susan, new guests at our May meeting, and we hope they

return to learn, and grow to know about rocks and minerals, plus all the related fun stuff that goes with

rock collecting. There is always room for growth thru the experiences of other people, especially about

collecting sites. Chuck shared his knowledge and experiences in perfecting (his award- winning)

doublets. This was very interesting for the secrets revealed about how this can be so well done - thank

you Chuck. We had lots of treats at our last meeting and I want to thank everyone who brought

something - although it seems everyone was on a diet, because of summer I'll bet. Perhaps at the next

meeting I will bring a healthy snack like a veggie platter with lots of ranch dressing, yum, or some other

dish suitable for a warm summer evening, like a jello desert.

I have decided to let one piece of my fabricated jewelry collection go to the club for the next silent

auction (likely in November). At the last auction I donated a jade pendant in a shield shape with a silver

crown above, flush set with Alexandrites; a lot of work went into that piece and it was well priced below

its value for the winning bidder. The profits from our auctions go into the club fund. Although it is not

required, members are encouraged to bring an item for the event that they believe may be desirable to

other club members. At a previous auction, I successfully bid on the jade cabs that (I think) were made

by Chuck, and I intend to make a ring from the second piece. This is one reason being a club member is

so beneficial.

We had 20 members and 2 guests at our meeting and I hope to see you all back in June. Pete and I,

plus a few other members, are going to the Himalaya Mine this weekend (this trip is being hosted by

the Pasadena gem and lapidary club) where we will hopefully find some nice Tourmaline. We will bring

our finds to the next meeting in June.

DELVINGS June 2018 Page 3

ROCK AND GEM SHOWS

June 8-10, LA HABRA North Orange County Gem & Mineral Society La Habra Community Center, 101 W La Habra Blvd Fri. 5-8, Sat & Sun 10-5 Contact: Armando Pedroza 909-444-2727, forestandsun@yahoo.com

http://www.nocgms.com

Jun 9-10 GLENDORA Glendora Gems Goddard Middle School 859 E. Sierra Madre Avenue Hours: Sat 10 - 5; Sun 10 – 4

Jun 9-10 ESCONDIDO Palomar Gem & Mineral Club California Center for the Arts 340 N. Escondido Blvd. Hours: 10 - 5 daily

June 23-24, CULVER CITY Culver City Rock and Mineral Club Veterans Memorial Auditorium 4117 Overland Ave. Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5 Contact: Janice Metz, 310-850-4398, janicemtz@yahoo.com

http://www.culvercityrocks.org

FIELD TRIPS

June 23, Himalaya Mine, Oxnard G&MS: Adrian Ruiz, 805-512-3383, pebpupdad@gmail.com

July 26-29, Davis Creek obsidian, CFMS-North: Dick Pankey, dickpankey@juno.com (preferred) or 925-439-7509

PROGRAMS

June 5th – Pearls, by Mr. Lau, at The Southbay Lapidary and Mineral Society 6:30 PM, Torrance Public Library, 3301 Torrance Blvd, Torrance

June 16 – Wacky Ways to Rockhound, by Jim Bowden, at The Searchers Gem & Mineral Society 7 PM, Anaheim Downtown Community Center, 250 East Center St., Anaheim

June 27 – American Opal Society’s Annual Auction: This is Veronica Purpura of the American Opal Society, and

we want to invite more people to our annual June meeting auction. While you do need to be a member to sell

items at the auction (where part of the proceeds go to the AOS), you don't have to be a member to attend or

bid on the items. Our auctions tend to have gemstones, opals, rough, cabochons, jewelry, books and

equipment. Come to our June 27th meeting (Wednesday at 7pm) at the Garden Grove Masonic Lodge: 11270

Acacia Pkwy, Garden Grove, CA 92840. Bring your wallets and sign up for a bidding paddle.

IDEAS FOR PERSONAL FIELD TRIPS (from the Flatirons Mineral Club newsletter, May-June 2018)

Looking for places to rockhound on your own this summer? Perhaps you are traveling to another state and are

looking for sites to visit? One good source of information is Bob Beste's Location Guide for Rockhounds in the

United States, 4th. ed. It can be downloaded from the internet for free and has many sites in each state.

Part I--Alabama through Florida (PDF, 156 p.)

Part II--Georgia through Montana (PDF, 138 p.)

Part III--Nebraska through South Carolina (PDF, 154 p.)

Part IV--South Dakota through Wyoming (PDF, 191 p.)

BEGINNING WIRE WRAPPING VIDEO (from the Flatirons Mineral Club newsletter, May-June 2018)

Craig Hazelton prepared a video on this technique. You can view it at http://youtu.be/pqOzlsFyXvI.

Craig will be glad to answer questions you have about the video. His email is paddlething@hotmail.com.

Delvers Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. - mailing address: 1001 West Lambert Rd. #18, La Habra, CA 90631-1378

Delvers Gem & Mineral Society

DELVINGS, c/o A. Hoekstra, editor

16643 Chicago Ave.

Bellflower, CA 90706

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Regular Meeting of the Delvers Gem and Mineral Society

June 8th, @ 7:00 PM at the Holy Redeemer Church,

14515 Blaine Ave., Bellflower, CA

Program: Suiseki (Viewing Stones) presented by Philip Chang & Janet Shimizu

Visitors are always welcome

Board Meeting (all members invited) 6:30 PM