In 1994, Betty and I were Editors of the Northwest Newsletter and were asked if we would host an Editors Seminar at the AFMS Show in Boise, Idaho. In doing so, we became acquainted with Shirley Leeson, Trudy Martin and others. Since then, we have attended every AFMS Show, and every Editors' Breakfast, this year completing the series in each of the seven regional federations. The Editors, and others, that we have met along the way are some "real precious gems". Last January, we attended the SCRIBE meeting in Quartzsite. I had been a member in the early '80's but did not attend meetings nor contribute to the organization. I have always thought it a worthwhile organization and joined again at the invitation of Leo Moms and Miles Smith. I met those two gentlemen et the AFMS Convention in Jackson, Mississippi. Of course, with the friends listed above, and others, when President Martin called for"volunteers", just by being in attendance, I was "volunteered" by Shirley for RVP.

I have been interested in rockhounding almost all of my life. Raised in northwestern Montana I was very familiar with Montana agate. It is still a favorite after learning about many other of Nature's Beauties. We had acquaintances who collected, made some cabs and jewelry, or just polished pretty rocks. In 1962, I went looking for a paycheck, and was hired b The Boeing Co. where I spent the next 33 years, retiring et age 55, thus beginning the "active phase of life". I met Betty in that same year, and we have made our home in Black Diamond, about 35 miles southeast of Seattle, ever since.

It was not until about 1980 however, that we joined a local club and became active in the hobby. At one club meeting, the Federation Directors for our club said that they could not attend the NFMS Midyear meeting and would anyone be interested in going as alternates? Since then we have missed very few Federation meetings or shows. At the first NFMS Show, I noticed and gathered some bulletins from the Editors table. Of course, following a report at our meeting, it "was suggested" that maybe I could do one for our club. So, the White River Rock Club had the "White River Current". It never had a wide circulation, and I did not exchange with other Editors. We each held about every office in the club and, at one time or another, I was Field Trip and Show Chairman and Editor. The club disbanded due to failing membership in 1989. There have been many other clubs that have met the same fate. It seems that there is no magic nor correct formula on how to maintain interest and to recruit new members.

In the course of becoming active in the NFMS, I have been on many committees, some of which were: Public Relations, Uniform Rules, Bulletin Editor (twice), Operations Review, and a Special Committee to start a Web Site for the Northwest Federation. I was also Editor of the AFMS Newsletter for one year, corresponding with Many Hart in sending information from the AFMS Newsletter to be put on the www. amfed.org. website. In doing so, Marty was very helpful in the development of the NFMS site. My wife, Betty, has also been active and held many positions, and is a Past President of NFMS. This year, we are on the show committee for the Rainbow of Gems 2001, the NFMS Show which will be hosted by our club, the Puyallup Valley Gem & Mineral Club. At the convention, I will progress from 1st VP to President of the NFMS.

Last October, we began living in our motorhome, with our daughter and son-in-law housesitting. Traveling still leaves opportunities for, or contributes to, our other interests: photography and photo albums of where we've been and what we've seen, collecting books and brochures of the areas, quilting and other sewing projects, and getting out to the areas known only to rockhounds. These past 10 months, we have enjoyed most of the western states by traveling to Federation or club shows and meetings. It is very enjoyable and we hope to see most of the USA in the near future. This year will have to be mostly in the Northwest, but then there will be another round of all seven regionals. A lesson learned last winter is to stop in to public libraries more often to check up on email correspondence. It is amazing that we can receive and write letters no matter where we are. But- e-mail is fast only if you "send and receive".

To sum it all up, my growing collection of "Gems", with all of their inclusions, is priceless!

I was asked to write a little about Peggy and I which one of my hardest assignments yet. Growing up the emphasis was on respecting the outdoors, hunting, fishing and camping. School was easy with plenty of time for shenanigans. As a senior who, knew that a phone number with no name in my best friends wallet would be the love of my life and life long companion. We eloped to Carson City. Nevada when I came home on leave in 1969. On the way home we stopped at Jordan Craters, a warning of things to come.

A few days later I was in Georgia where Peggy followed. We spent twenty months in Georgia learning to depend on each other. While there we had a daughter. Jennifer. Peggys mom and my parents came to help and celebrate. Peggy went into labor while bodysurfing at Savannah Beach. Our daughter was the perfect child and she reminds us of it often. She gave us five perfect granddaughters. When the first one was born she went straight from the hospital to the Gem Show and hasn't missed one yet Watermelons were ripe at that time and very cheap. You could buy small ones (10 lb.) for 50 cents and large ones were a dollar. Dad would buy a watermelon or sometimes two every day. He said it was the only time he had all the watermelon he could eat. I was almost sick of watermelon when they left.

When we came back to Boise in 1971, the outdoors played a big part in our lives. Dad was always ready for something new, sandstone pillars with pioneer dates and names, fossils and the best mentor a young couple could have.

In 1972 dad found the local rock club. He joined that fall and Peggy and I joined in January 1973. Our enthusiasm and time spent in the field made Dad a perfect candidate for field trip leader and I co-chaired with him. In November of that year on a cold windy field trip Peggy went into labor with our son Chris L. better known as Jake. The only complaint is that he's just like me. He has worked with me the last five or six years and we are good friends.

In the spring of 1974 I went back in the army with my little brother and spent a year and a half in Southern Arizona. On post they had a full lapidary shop where Peggy learned silver-smithing and cut lots of cabochons and learned how to do casting. I cut a lot of turquoise and did castings for a shop in Bisbee.

From there they sent us to Germany. ten miles from IdarOberstein. With the shops and museums we were in Rockhound Paradise. We tried to keep our dues current so we could keep up with our rockhound friends. It sure helped the homesickness.

When we came bock home I went back to work as a sheet rocker. We stayed active in the Idaho Gem Club and held many positions. For me President was the easiest and Field Trip Chairman was the most rewarding, sharing knowledge and watching the wonderment and excitement as others started to understand our hobby. Being PLAC Chairman in the NFMS took a lot of time but was as rewarding a job as Field Trip Chairman.

We were active in the Girl Scout program for four years with our daughter. We followed suit with our son in Boy Scouts staying involved with that program about thirteen years in which time Peggy went through Woodbadge Training; an experience that she says is very rewarding.

We volunteered many times in school with our kids and grandkids. Peggy worked in the school district as a teaching assistant and later with the special education classes. We followed in Dad's footsteps by volunteering in Community Education, teaching more than 60 classes most of which were to help new people with our hobby.

We've tried several things in our lifetime and have learned a lot from each new adventure. Our store was the latest but we have not regretted closing it.

We have two of the most unique, very special pets anyone could have. Some of you have met them and know what I am talking about. Unfortunately they dictate some of our travels.

Life has been a great big adventure for Peggy and I. Everything we do reflects our beginning and is done as a team. We both hope the other half of our life can be as much of an adventure as the first half.

Chris & Peggy Blickfeldt

Wow! What a Show in Port Townsend. If you missed it, you missed a jewel. We now have another excellent show and facility to look forward to in 2003 in Pasco, WA.

My wife Charlene and I have three grown children & five grandchildren. I have degrees in Computer Science and Management. My career work was in Information Management for 36 years. In 1999 I retired from the Walla Walla District Corps of Engineers. Charlene and I are active members of the Marcus Whitman Gem & Mineral Soc. here in Walla Walla, the Hells Canyon Gem Club in Lewiston, ID and the Lakeside Gem & Mineral Club in Kenniwick. We both enjoy fieldtrips and the thrill of the hunt. I have gotten involved in faceting and sphere making during the last few years and collect minerals and fossils.

I believe in working outside the box, and questioning organizational, procedures, and processes. I also believe that organizations have to continually move forward into new environments and trends. Organizations cannot remain static and continue to serve their membership desires. They must continually identify and adjust to the changing requirements of their members. That at times is a difficult job because of the resistance from within and the push from both within and outside the organization. I do plan on visiting clubs this next year.

I am especially interested in working to get young families involved in the Clubs, our shows, programs and field trip site sharing. There is obviously a large amount of undocumented field trip data in most clubs that could be shared. We need to fully use our printed newsletter, website and meetings to get Federation information to and from members in a timely manner.

Seems to me I've always been a "rockhound." My earliest memories of collecting rocks go back to when I was six or seven years old in North Dakota. Dad had filled the basement window wells with gravel. I can remember sitting on the edge of the window well picking out those pretty, clear rocks and putting them on the window sill where the sun would shine through them. I know I was also disappointed in having to leave them there when my Mom and I moved to Seattle by bus and there wasn't any way to bring them along. Audrey and I didn't get involved again with the rock hobby until our daughter's fifth grade teacher started teaching the class about rocks and the family got involved. We joined the West Seattle Rock Club in 1968 and have been members since that time. Seems like we have held almost all of the club offices at one time or another and we are chairing the WSRC's show again on Presidents' Day weekend in 2002.

We attended our first NFMS Show and Convention at Billings, Montana in the early 1970's and we were hooked. We continued to attend mid-year meetings and shows, meeting new people interested in the hobby and making many lifetime friends from all over the northwestern states. I was asked to serve as treasurer of the NFMS in 1977 and served in that Capacity until 1980-1981 when I served as Vice-president (we only had one VP at that time) and in 1981-1982 I served as President of the NFMS. Attending AFMS meetings and shows again widened the circle of friends to include people interested in the rock hobby from all over the United States and Canada. We (my mother, Audrey's mother, Audrey and I) continued to attend NFMS shows and conventions as delegates from our club. A couple of years ago I was asked if I would serve as a "backup" to the NFMS treasurer and I agreed. When Toby Cozens retired from serving as NFMS treasurer after sixteen years, I was asked to run for the office and have been happy to serve again in that capacity.

My interests in the rock hobby are too many, but collecting is always one of the greatest joys - meeting people on field trips and getting rocks, too. I would like to spend more time cutting cabs than I have and take more silver- smithing lessons. Seems like there are always too many things that demand time and effort -but attending the shows, learning from the many talented craftspeople in the lapidary fields and meeting old and new friends are what make this hobby so meaningful to me.

I learned how to make cabochons and entered my first competitive case in the 1980 NFMS show in Boise, Idaho. I had been entering displays in competition for several years. winning masters trophies in most cabochon classes. The last trophy was for petrified wood cabs at the AFMS show in Nashville, TN, in 1999. I also enjoy faceting: and we both have taken silversmithlng classes.

We have been active in the Tualatin Valley Gem Club. I served as president two different years, and Dorothy was president last year. We also served as treasurer and secretary. We have both been Federation Directors/Delegates for several years. and was show chairman for the 1999 NFMS show in Hillsboro. I served the Rules and Awards Committee and attended the AFMS shows in Nashville and Moab, UT. We are also involved with the Portland Regional Show Committee, serving as president and secretary. I have judged competitive lapidary cases for several years and Dorothy has served as clerk.

We do not spend all of our time with the rockhound hobby. We are active in our church, volunteering in the LDS Family History Center one day a week and in the Portland, Oregon LDS Temple one night a week. So we manage to keep pretty busy, keeping up with family and our home - we raise a big garden every year and preserve a lot of what we grow. I'm also a hunter and a fisherman, which helps keep meat in the freezer.

The best part of this hobby is the association with old friends and making new ones as we attend shows all over the Northwest. We look forward to meeting and working with NFMS officers and club members, and would appreciate any input as to ways we can better serve in the future.

I was born a long time ago in Sacramento, California; went to schools all over Northern California (especially since my father was in the USN during W.W.II). After graduation I went to the Azores for 18 months (my Mother and her husband were stationed there). For a year after that I lived in San Francisco and worked for the Bank of America in Branch Clearings.

Back home in Sacramento I worked for a Title Company as a Loan Officer, a Builder as a Loan Officer, then for two Mortgage Companies (again as a Loan Officer). During this time I met Evan at First Methodist Church - we were married there on July 5, 1959. We have 3 daughters, 2 Grandsons and, I Granddaughter.

Evan and I lived in the Sacramento area and all three of our girls were born there. Then Evan had a job offer from Thiokol in Brigham City Utah so we moved there in 1969 and have lived quite happily there for 33 years. After the girls were grown I started work for H&R Block managing the office in Brigham City for 20 years until I retired at the end of the tax season in 2001.

Now, lest you think I can now relax, Evan became a Presbyterian Pastor in Richfield, Utah and I am now a Pastor's wife. This entails driving 225 miles on Friday and then back home again on Monday. This is something that truly gives both Evan and I both a very deep satisfaction.

Because VeOna Hayes could not carry on as NFMS Secretary, President Bill Luke asked if I would consider taking that job. As you all know - I said yes and was elected at the Annual meeting in Enumclaw WA.