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FEATHER RIVER LAPIDARY & MINERAL SOCIETY
852 Mitchell Avenue, Oroville, CA 95965 E-mail: president@orovillerocks.com Member of California Federation of Mineralogical Societies and American Federation of Mineralogical Societies |
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January 2009
I hope you enjoyed our General Meeting this month. With many members attending the Quartzite Rock Show (as well as the Laughlin Show), the rest of us were able to capture more raffle prizes! And we changed our name to Feather River Lapidary and Mineral Society to better qualify for non-profit status. We have just begun this process--David Cossey and Dawn Cozine are doing the preliminary investigations.
We also discussed a number of equipment-orientation classes (we call them cabochon classes) which we are currently offering free of charge to all paid-up members. Now is the time to call Ron Minor (534-1704) or David Cossey (532-9148) and get signed up for one of these 12-hour classes, after which you’re free to work on your own projects during OPEN Shop times. We supply the rock for your first cabochon and we now have other slabs available to purchase at nominal fees--or we will slab your own “rough” for 10 cents a square inch.
I sure hope you were able to attend last Saturday’s Field Trip to the Yuba goldfields in search of the famous YUBA BLUE. We found lots of it on this trip, as well as gorgeous specimens of red, yellow and green Jasper. We explored quite a distance west of the Hiway 20 Bridge, and found vast piles of gravel and larger stones. The more we explore this place, the more spots we find with great rock. The nice part is that it is so close. I understand that some folks tried to meet up with us at the goldfields but couldn’t find us and we weren’t answering our cell phones--I think Gerry Hill and I are guilty as charged for not staying with our cell phones…so many rocks, so little time…
Our next trip is on February 21st to Black Butte Reservoir for beautiful Jasper. This is one of Carl Osborne’s “secret” spots--and no fees or costs, either. This ought to be a very good trip, with moderately easy access and plenty of good, solid, colorful Jasper. On these late winter, early-spring trips, you should layer your clothing & take a light jacket & rain poncho--carry a spare pair of shoes & socks, and bring two buckets & a pointed rock pick for digging up half-buried specimens & whacking an occasional rock. Finally, bring plenty of water & food. Staying hydrated, warm & reasonably dry is your key to success.
The next meeting (February 17th) will be the last opportunity for 2008 Members to sign up for 2009 membership and maintain your continuous membership status--after that meeting, your name will be removed from the membership roster. The reason for this deadline is that we must pay our CFMS dues before March 1st. As we discussed, 2009 will be a much different year than 2008 because our machines are now running and the year will span a full 12 months. Welcome aboard!
We also announced that we now have an official Librarian and about 75 books to loan. If you have any lapidary or gold prospecting books you would like to donate, just bring them to our next meeting and give them to our new Librarian, Mary Gardner.
I also spent some time talking about how the Board approves expenditures and spends money. The Treasurer’s reports are now available at all meetings for review by any/all members, and members are encouraged to discuss any/all questions with either the President (Steve Hart--589-3899) or our Treasurer, Gerry Hill (534-1567). Two important goals of the Board are (1) to only spend what money we need to spend, and (2) to make sure we spend every penny of it well. I believe the Board has succeeded in doing these things, but sometimes, we have been guilty of not explaining very well what we did. Thanks for bringing this to our attention so we can fix it!
Be sure to check out our new 2009 website too. Becky Rogers has done a whole lot of work to update and modernize it. Yes, we finally have our “Members Only” area and everyone needs a secret code to enter…call Becky (530) 990-6112 and she will give you the code.
This is a critical time of year. Let’s all hope for rain except on the days of the Field Trips!Sincerely,
Steve Hart
January 26, 2009