by Cathy Casey
The Annual Banquet of the Mineralogical Society of Southern California will be held on Saturday evening, January 20, 2001. The new location will be The Oak Tree Room, at 1150 East Colorado Blvd., in the City of Arcadia. It is located in the same building as Coco's Family Restaurant, on the SOUTH EAST corner of Colorado and Michillinda, in the first block South of the 210 Freeway. The Oak Tree Room occupies the East end of the building, and has a separate entrance from Coco's Restaurant. There is ample self parking at no additional charge.
The Banquet begins with a social hour from 5:00 p.m., until 6:00 p.m., with a no host bar available so that you may purchase alcoholic beverages if desired. This will be available all evening. The serve-your-self Buffet dinner begins shortly after the social hour. The cost of the entire meal is $25.00 per person which includes all tax and gratuity.
The meal will include a full salad bar, a Buffet dinner that includes Prime Rib, Salmon, and Mustard Chicken Breast, ALL YOU CAN EAT. There will also be rice, potatoes, vegetables, and a full dessert bar. All you can drink, non-alcoholic beverages are included in this price including coffee, tea, milk, and soft drinks.
Reservations can be made by calling or emailing Cathy Casey (caseyscurios@earthlink.net) NO LATER THAN Sunday January 14, 2001. You may pay at the Banquet or mail me a check, but you MUST make your reservations by the 14th! Cash or Check made payable to M.S.S.C. will be accepted as payment.
I look forward to seeing you all there. The Buffet-style dinner is new to our Banquet, but the privacy of the location, and high quality of the food served were prime considerations in the decision to have the Banquet at this new location.
After dinner there will a brief business meeting, the installation of officers, and the presentation of awards..
The Banquet Speaker will be Walter Mroch, and the subject is "Gem Mining in the Thomas Mountains of Utah." Walter is co-owner of the Maynard and Solar Wind claims, and of the Searle Canyon Red Beryl claim. The MSSC field trip last Labor Day Weekend visited the Maynard, and Solar Wind claims, so this should be a very interesting talk. For those of you who do not know about this area, it is famous for Topaz, Bixbyite, and Pseudobrookite. The Solar Wind is producing some of the finest Bixbyite in the world. Don't miss it.
Congratulations to the Pasadena Show award winners. All the exhibits this year were exceptional, so these are the best of the best.
Dealer - David Bunk and Collectors Edge Minerals (Split)
Non Dealer - Barbara Muntyan
Junior - William Larson Jr.
Museum - Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
Dealer - John Seibel
Non Dealer - Kay Robertson
Junior - Chad and Kelsey Stevens (Split)
Museum - California State Mining and Mineral Museum
The awards will be presented at the Annual Banquet on January 20. A good reason to attend.
by Bob Housley
For the most part being your president for the past couple of years has been a rewarding and enjoyable experience. I owe a big debt of gratitude to a number of people who have helped make the organization run fairly smoothly. We all owe a tremendous debt to those on the Show Committee that have brought MSSC back to the prominence it had in the past. I am humbled by the knowledge that many of you are just as qualified to be president as I was. I look forward to continuing to help in various ways and would like to strongly encourage more of you to come forward and help Dave make the organization even better.
by Dave Smith
I am very proud to accept the title of President of the Mineralogical Society of Southern California. I accept this honor with pride and with a great deal of humility. Unlike many of my predecessors, I have no training in Mineralogy. I am a true amateur - one could possibly replace true with rank. Nonetheless, I will endeavor to serve this society as well as possible.
The true function of the President isn't necessarily to make great mineralogical discoveries; it is to make the trains run on time - so to speak. My task is to ensure that the administrative aspects of the society are met. That I can do. I have some very experienced folks here in the society to lean on for advice and I thank you in advance for the help you WILL be providing in the future.
Since I joined the MSSC, incoming presidents have expressed concern for the lack of member involvement; so do I. While many members are geographically distant and unable to participate, I hope we can encourage more members to attend the meetings and participate in the activities sponsored by the society. Lack of involvement means to me that either we aren't sponsoring the right activities, or we are somehow discouraging involvement by members. I have seen some examples of both over the past few years and
I regret the fact that these things have happened. As we proceed, we need people to be involved in numerous areas; we need a Hospitality Chairman, Field Trip Chairman, Door Prize chairman and numerous others listed on the back cover of the Bulletin.
Additionally, we always need participants in the preparations for next year's Show.
I would welcome anyone who wants to help this society to achieve our goals to volunteer for one of those positions and spend some time with some pretty interesting people. Our goals are to support
mineralogical interests, mineralogical education and a congenial social environment where people of like interests may meet and exchange interesting information.
I am looking forward to an exciting term of office and hope you are also.
If you have not already paid your dues for 2001, they are due. That is why they are called dues! You may send them to:
Mineralogical Society of Southern California
P.O. Box 41027
Pasadena, Ca. 91114-8027
Attn.: Treasurer
or you may pay them in person at the banquet. Another good reason to attend.
by Bob Housley
Last month I mentioned noticing construction along the 14 Freeway near Palmdale. Although I have not been out much this month I did go out to have a look at it. The basalts in the fresh road cuts are full of small, one to three inch, vesicles with thin chalcedony shells filled almost completely with quartz or calcite. I looked at hundreds and did not see a one worth bringing home.
Then since I was close I went over and had another look at the Free Cuba Mine near Acton. Even though it has not been worked for about one hundred years I found a couple a small specimens of native copper and some copper phosphate still on the dumps.
Since I still had some time before dark I decided to take a walk in the hills near Acton. In a small outcrop of red basalt I found vugs and veins that were full of nice heulandite crystals on quartz. One exposed vug is about eight inches in diameter and contains three quarter inch heulandite crystals. Best of all it has never been marred by hammer or chisel. I intend to go back soon and get some pictures.
Many years ago nice stilbite and heulandite crystals were found in similar basalt in the old Acton Quarry right in the edge of town. I am now convinced that the area of red basalt with good zeolite mineralization is fairly extensive.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Ron Thacker for the fine job he has done in editing the Bulletin these past years. I also ask your indulgence for any errors I may make as I take over the editorship.
I wholeheartedly second Ron's comments in his last Bulletin that this is your Bulletin, and am open to any suggestion on improvements. Your inputs are not only wanted, but are urgently needed.
In case you haven't noticed there is a theme to this Bulletin. This is a volunteer society, and it can only function with your help. The open committee chairs desperately need to be filled. Your help is needed.
If you have not visited our web site recently I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the good work being done by Bill Besse. The address is: http//www.mineralsocal.org.
The 755th meeting of the Mineralogical Society of Southern California was called to order at 7:30, December 8 by President Bob Housley. He introduced the Speaker John Lightburn who presented a talk on " the Life and Times of Shady Myrick".
The talk centered on the period that Shady Myrick spent in the California desert. During this time Shady was unique in that he spent most of his time prospecting in areas that no one else went, and in mining minerals no one else considered valuable. One prime example was the chalcedony referred to as Myreckite. This is probably the first Lapidary material commercially sold from California. For more information on this very interesting individual consult the website at http//home.earthlink.net /~fmmyick. After the talk several artifacts used by Shady and many specimens collected by him were on display.
After the presentation the topic shifted to the Pasadena Show. Bob congratulated Jim Schlegel on his great effort in producing the show. He then commented that we need to do more to publicize the next show, and that we need more member participation.
The minutes of the last meeting were then approved unanimously.
The subject of the annual banquet then came up. The only problem to date is in selecting a speaker.
The Searles Lake Gem and Mineral Society is asking support to prevent Searles Dry Lake from being designated as REC-I water. This will most probably end the 59 year old collecting on the lake. Ron Thacker circulated a petition to be signed by the attending members.
Jim Schlegel was then introduced. He stated that the Pasadena show was a success, and will return a profit. He then stated that scheduling difficulties will change the show date to the second weekend in December (8th & 9th), but it will still be held in the same location. He thanked the people that made the show a success, and reiterated Bob Housleys comment on the need for more membership participation.
Jim Schlegel then asked members to contribute specimens for the guest door prize.
20th The MSSC Installation Banquet and Annual Meeting will be held at he Oak Tree Room, 1150 Colorado Boulevard, Arcadia, California.
21st The next Board Meeting of the MSSC is scheduled to be held on January 21 at 2:00 PM. The location is Rock Curriers house. All members are welcome.
26-28th The 36th Annual Pacific Micromount Conference will be held at the San Bernardino County Museum, 2040 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands Ca. The theme is New California Minerals. Registration is $10.00 per person by mail, $12.00 at the door. To register or more information contact Beverly Moreau, 3113 Topaz lane Apt A, Fullerton, Ca. 92831-2374., or by e-mail at bcmoreau@4dnet.com. The schedule of events follows:
Friday, January 26, 2001
3:00-6:00 PM Registration, greeting friends and microscope time.
6:00-7:00 PM Famous hospitality table.
7:00-8:00 PM WHAT'S NEW IN MINERALS by Sugar White and Dr. William Wise.
8:00-10:00 PM Member slides.
Saturday, January 27, 2001
8:00-9:00 AM Registration, microscope time, greeting friends, give away table,
sales table.
9:00 AM Opening remarks, greetings and announcements.
9:30 AM THE JOAQUINITE GROUP MINERALS by Dr. William Wise.
10:30 AM Contributed talks on new California Minerals
NOON Lunch served at museum.
1:00 PM Verbal Auction.
2:30 PM NEW MINERALS FROM MARGARITA PEAK AND THE BLUE BELL AND WAR EAGLE MINES
by Garth Bricker.
6:00-7:30 PM Dinner out.
7:30-9:30 PM Contributed talks and member slides.
Sunday, January 28, 2001
Field trip led by Bob Housley, possible to a different group of mines in the Ord Mountains. Samples will be shown and details announced at Conference.
Date TBD A Field Trip to Borate is tentatively scheduled for mid month. On our last trip we collected some very nice colemanite, and celestine. An article on the location has just been posted on our website. The exact dates and meeting location, as well as a description of what can be found, will be in the February Bulletin.