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A.F.M.S. Newsletter
Vol. 52 Issue 5 April, 1999
Contents: Editors' Seminar at Nashville Happy Birthday - Olive Colhour AFMS Directors - RMFMS News from Regionals - EFMLS Wildacres Invitation Committees - Safety, Each Club-Each Year-One Rockhound, Endowment Fund ALAA - Summary of content of ALAA Newsletter, Vol 6, No 2, Jan, Feb, Mar, 1999 President Elrod’s Message for April: This month we have a variety of subjects to cover. The main topic is, of course, the upcoming convention and show in Nashville in July. Packets of information have been sent to all of the Federation Officers, Committee Chairs and Members. The Regional Federation Newsletters will include the necessary information to allow members to make arrangements to attend if desired. Anyone who desires to be sent a packet should contact me at my email address (lelrod@mail.state.tn.us) or by phone or write to me. They will be sent a packet promptly. We hope to have many of you attend. Nashville is so centrally located, and so easy to reach, that many airlines give good fare prices. The convention motel is reasonable in price and all the meals are also reasonable. The weather should be good at that time of year and it should be a very pleasant trip. Come on and join us for a great time in the South in the Summer. We have asked for clubs, especially in the Southeast, to sponsor field trips for persons driving to the convention. We need for you to let us know who you are, where you are, what you can do and all the details so we can publish this for persons who wish to attend. This will be a wonderful way to meet and make new rockhound friends. Be sure to include the name and phone number of a contact person. Send the information to me for publishing in our mailings. Have you been working on your displays for the show? We have heard of several persons who are bringing a display and are eagerly anticipating many more. The packets include an application for both competitive and non-competitive displays. We hope that you will bring examples of your work or collection and place it for the enjoyment of others who attend. Now, how about your skills? We are seeking persons who will demonstrate their skills to the show attendees. A group from Chattanooga, Tennessee is going to do silver smithing demonstrations for all three days of the show. What can you do? What will you do to add to the good time for all who attend? Let us know and we will have a space set up for you to display your skills. Speaking of skills, we also need speakers who can impart their knowledge to others during the programs we plan for the show. An area has been set aside, and will be secluded by a curtain wall, for the purpose of giving talks, slide programs, etc. Who is willing and able to do this? How about you? You may just find that you really enjoy doing it (I can assure you that it is a pleasant experience to stand up and tell others about this hobby of ours which we love so much) and will want to do even more. We have a full schedule for you when you attend. We are starting with a riverboat tour, a tour of Nashville, the conventions, the luncheons, the show and the banquet. Add in the time you can spend in your own tour of Nashville and the surrounding area. The antique shops (we have many and a most interesting variety of merchandise is to be found), the scenery, the beautiful old homes, the horses for which the Tennessee area is known, and many, many other attractions will entrance you. Now, on to other matters. A packet of information was sent to all of the officers, committee chairs and committee members recently. Please check over the information for you and/or your committee members and let me know of any corrections to be made or of changes that are required. Beginning this month I will have a separate section, "CHANGES" which will give any correction, additions, deletions, etc. which need to be made to the original document. (Page 7) Please update your list with this information. Marty Hart, our Webmaster, needs to know what each of you desire to have placed on our website for each officer’s position and committee. If we do not hear from you only your name, state and email address or phone number will be shown. Speaking of email, we very much need to have the email address for every officer, committee chair and member who has access to the internet. This is a much quicker method of communication than any other means. Please give this information when you reply. We now have an American Federation email mailing list location set up. As soon as I get enough addresses I will enter them and send you an opening letter that will instruct you how to use the listing. It is set up so no one outside our organization can use it to send commercial messages, etc. to our members. More sites such as this are planned for the future. We will eventually be able to contact most, if not all, of our member societies without the expense and delay of using the regular mails. Items such as the announcements of meetings, minutes of meetings, changes to our mailing lists, etc. can all be sent this way and avoid the cost of reproduction and mailing. The Internet is a wonderful thing to have. The website we have established, AmFed.org, is going to be a repository of much information about our hobby. We are seeking information about the AFMS and the regional federations, which we can include in the site. We also need articles that will be of interest to a wide range of readers. There is now a "Kids Corner" on the site that contains articles that are meant for children. These range from information about working with Boy Scouts to how to grow crystals. Many of you have other articles and stories that would be wonderful to have. Send them to us for review and possible inclusion on the site. If possible, we would like to have them in electronic mode on a disc or by email, if not then send a hard copy and we will see about getting it typed into the site. We are also ready to begin including some information about the individual clubs and societies in the nation. We are requesting each Regional Federation, by a separate letter, to send us information on all of their member clubs. We want the name of the club, the location of their meetings and the dates of the meetings, the name and contact information for a contact person, etc. The format of the submission of this information will be given to the Regional Federations. It needs to be submitted in electronic form so we may load it onto the website. This is too much of a job to dump on our webmaster and the workload must be shared. When the listing is complete any person visiting our website will be able to locate a nearby club or society and a contact person for that club. In addition, many of our member clubs have established their own sites and the club listing will include a link to their site. Visitors will only have to "click" on the link to visit the clubs site. You will be hearing more about this in the near future. What do you want to see on our web site? It is your site and you have a voice in what goes into it. Let us know what you want and we will work on including it for you. So long for this month and see you in May. President-Elect Report: (No report this month.) 1st Regional Vice-Pres., (No report this month.) 2nd Regional Vice-Pres., (No report this month.) 3rd Regional Vice-Pres., (No report this month.) 4th Regional Vice-Pres., (No report this month.) 5th Regional Vice-Pres., (No report this month.) Secretary/Central Office, Check your mailing label closely this month. Does it have a red star? That means that your subscription is due. This will be your last issue unless you renew by mailing a check for $3.50 to Dan McLennan at the AFMS Central Office. Editors’ Seminar at AFMS/SFMS Convention in Nashville To all Bulletin Editors: AFMS President Lewis Elrod is planning an Editors' Seminar in conjunction with the combined AFMS/SFMS Convention in Nashville. This seminar is tentatively planned for 1:00 p.m. Friday, July 9, 1999, at the headquarters hotel. President Elrod was kind enough to allow me to try and put this seminar together for him, a task I gladly accepted. It is our intention to get some of our more knowledgeable Editors and other members of the hobby together and let each give a 12-15 minute presentation on a variety of subjects that are of interest to Bulletin Editors. Thus far the following members have promised to give presentations on the following: Diane Dare (MWF/SFMS) - Carolyn Weinberger (EFMLS) - Shirley Leeson (CFMS) - Miles Smith (President of SCRIBE) - Bill Luke (NFMS) - Ruby Lingelbach (RMFMS) I have two great handouts on the subject of Copyright Violations. One from Richard Busch, Past President of SCRIBE; and John Betts, EFMLS. I also have some neat tips and tricks by Patricia Speece of CFMS on other subjects. Now then, I would like for each person that has tips and tricks they have learned about publishing bulletins to send me a copy of these tips and tricks to use as a handout at the upcoming seminar. I will send any material received to Lewis who will have at least 50 copies printed for the seminar to use as handouts. Any material received will be most welcome. Bulletin Editors - please bring at least 50 copies of your bulletin to put on the "Exchange table" for editors to swap. We are looking forward to having a great seminar with the exchange of information and fellowship among editors, former editors, those persons interested in being editors, or just anyone who has an interest in the written word. If you have questions or comments please don't hesitate to contact anyone of the following: AFMS President, Lewis Elrod, 615-893-8270 Seminar Committee Chair, Leo Morris, 770-445-9274 Note to Regional Federation Editors – Please reprint this information in your newsletters. Encourage all club editors to attend if they can. Olive M. ColhourApril 2, 1999 By Bill Luke On April 2, Olive will celebrate her 101st birthday! She is living close to her son, Robert Whelpley, and his wife north of Seattle. In honor of Olive’s birthday, and to bring you up to date if you haven’t heard about Olive since her days of being published in Lapidary Journal, I would like to present a couple of book reviews. These are two favorite books in my personal library! Olive’s first book, "My Search for Beauty" was published in 1993. This hard cover book is filled with field trip stories – going to where some special material is to be found – and not always in the easiest of places. The philosophy and wisdom of 89 years, and of one who became an ardent student of nature, make this excellent reading for all rockhounds. The book also contains a section of color illustrations, and another of black and white illustrations, both with accompanying reports on many of her beautiful works of art. "Creating Lapidary Art – Working with Gemstones", in soft cover, was published by her son, Robert Whelpley. It was completed in time for the first 20 copies to be presented at her 100th birthday party last year. In this book, Bob has compiled selections of stories, poems, and photos by and about Olive from her beginning at the age of 57 through her rise to the top of the lapidary field. It contains many articles reprinted from Lapidary Journal. It also contains many poems, stories and words of wisdom by "the Mule", Olive’s husband, Ralph. There is a wealth of information from "how to", where the various rock materials came from, how they were used in the works, and, always the stories and philosophy that goes with it. We have all appreciated her talents in creating so many beautiful carvings. In these books we also get to know the person and her other talents of poetry and story telling. Along with Birthday Wishes, you might want to inquire about ordering
your copy of either of these fine books from: RMFMS LET OUR DIRECTORY BE YOUR GUIDE Have you ever stopped to look at the RMFMS Directory, that is, other than the page your club is listed on? We have question after question after question, "What Does the RMFMS Do For Us?" As I add beneath the title of my Message on Page A -- that is the first page you see when you open the front cover -- "The answer to this secret can be found within the pages of this Directory." This 1999 Rocky Mountain Federation Directory is meant to be used. It details the organization and workings, Purpose and some objectives of the Federation. It also lists all member clubs with their officers, meeting times, shows, bulletins, etc. Communication is a two-way street. The Federation cannot help you if you do not let it be known that you need help of some kind. If you have a special kind of rock or mineral and cannot find information about it in your books, find the name of the Mineralogical Technical Chairman, Lapidary Technical Chairman, Fossil Technical Chairman, or Fluorescent Technical Chairman, then write, call, or e-mail that person. You will "make that person's day" in a big way. Just turn one page (in the 1998 Directory. It may be different in the new 1999 Directory) and you will find the first of three pages listing all the persons who have accepted a no-pay job to help anyone who needs their expertise. All are listed with name, address, phone number, and e-mail address when they have one. Our goal is to have an e-mail address for each club to facilitate communication. Have you given us yours? The Land Use policy of the Federation is given and there us a sample "Informed Consent/Assumption of Risk/Waiver of Liability form for the RMFMS Insurance program you can follow to be used to make your own Release Form on your field trips, shows, or wherever needed. This program has reopened mines, gravel pits, etc. to rockhounding field trips that were closed to us for several years. The organization of the AFMS Scholarship Foundation, purpose, how to contribute, recognition of donors, selection of beneficiaries, Honorary Award Recipients, and grants to students, percentages earned by the clubs, and amounts presented to the selected graduate students are detailed. Check these to see how far your contributions have gone. All the slide and video programs in our Program Library are listed. This is a vital help for many clubs to have good programs. The Library Chairmen are always looking for new programs to be submitted for additions to this Library. Do you or someone in your club have a good program that can become a part of this Library? Our Program Library is valued at $30,000.00. There are more advantages listed in this Directory that I can mention on this one page, so look through it! Use it! Make notes in it! (make it feel loved!) Find a club to visit as you travel or ask about local collecting sites. It is the culmination of the work of many people to get this information gathered together in one place to serve you, or give you a chance to serve somebody else. News From the Over the years we have received numerous requests from members outside the Eastern Federation to attend one of the popular Eastern Federation sponsored workshops at Wild-acres. After much consideration, the Federation has decided to extend a formal invitation to all members of clubs belonging to other Federations to join us. Wildacres, as many of you know, is a non-profit retreat dedicated to furthering human relations. The Wildacres campus features two residence lodges with motel style private rooms, numerous craft shops, meeting rooms, an auditorium, library and dining room. It is a place of solitude and majestic views set in the mountains of North Carolina about 40 miles from Asheville. The Eastern Federation has been privileged to use the retreat facilities for the past 26 years. The proposed list of educational classes for the 1999 workshop sessions include: (S = spring session, F = fall session) Four day classes - applicants take only one class the entire session if one of these is selected:S F Faceting S F Certified Judging S F Micromounting/microphotography S Gem ID S Channel Work silver soldering experience needed Two day classes - applicants take two
classes if these are selected: Dates and guest speakers for the EFMLS Wildacres Workshops are as
follows: For those interested in attending, major airlines serve Asheville, NC and Hickory, NC (both about 60 minutes driving distance) and Charlotte, NC (about 2 hours drive). Want more information? Contact Jennie Smith, 4400 San Carlos Drive;
Fairfax, VA 22030-5369 e-mail: For your convenience, an application form is attached. Reservations, along with a deposit of $100 per person should be sent, using the application form to: Angie Teixeira, 24 Ford St; Seekonk, MA 02771. Checks should be made payable to EFMLS. We hope to see you at one of the 1999 EFMLS Workshops at Wildacres. Come and see what others have been raving about for years! AFMS SAFETY ARTICLE - APRIL, 1999 By Mel Albright, AFMS Safety Chair Sunshine is shining. Rockhounds are hunting. And unprotected skin is turning red and burning. In 10 or 15 or 20 years, someone - maybe you - will be saying, "Why oh why didn't I listen to people back then. I don't want skin cancer. No!" Skin cancer is the fastest growing form of cancer these days. Remember when it was considered stylish and good looking to have a good tan. Back then, many of us managed to get awesome burns. And now we hear that just one bad burn as a child doubles our chance of skin cancer later in life! What to do? Wear suitable clothing - hats, dense cloth shirts and pants, no shorts. Apply protective sunscreen to ALL exposed areas when you are going to be outdoors. If possible, stay indoors or in the shade during the time of greatest danger - 9 AM to 5 PM under daylight savings time. What is a suitable sunscreen? It is one labeled with a protective factor (SPF) of 15 or more. The number refers to a degree of protection - with a 15 factor, you can stay out 15 times as long as usual before you get a sunburn. NOTICE - it delays - not prevents. So if you normally sunburn in 20
minutes Are you already in trouble? By far, the most serious problem you might see is melanoma cancer. This cancer spreads rapidly and is deadly. A varied color growth that is asymmetric, has irregular edges is something to worry about. If it is larger than 6 mm in diameter, it is really dangerous. This includes long time moles that change size, color, or shape. Run! do not walk, to the doctor if you see something that might be this. Next in importance are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Although not as deadly as melanoma, these can be serious if not treated. Any of these 5 things might indicate that these are present. 1. An open sore that bleeds, crusts, or oozes for more than 3 weeks. 2. A reddish patch. It may sometimes be crusty. It may itch or hurt. 3. A smooth growth with a rolled border with an indentation in the middle. 4. A shiny bump or nodule which is pearly or translucent. They are often pink, red, or white. Less common, they may be tan, black, or brown. They MAY BE CONFUSED with a mole. 5. A scar-like area which is white, yellow or waxy. It will be shiny and the surrounding skin is taut. Also important are three pre-cancerous conditions. These may lead to cancer if they are untreated. Solar or actinic keratoses, caused by the sun's ultraviolet, occur as rough, dry, pink to tan patches on sun exposed skin. Leukoplakia is a smooth, white patch which affects the mucous membranes, primarily the lips and inside the mount. Radiodermatitus appears as a mottled area with a decrease of skin pigment. Sources: American Academy of Dermatology; The Skin Cancer FoundationEach Club – Each Year – One Rockhound MFMGS The Cedar Valley Rocks & Minerals Society of Cedar Rapids, Iowa has selected Sharon Sonnleitner for the Each Club-Each Year-One Rockhound recognition of 1998. Sharon is an active leader and a tireless worker in our club. For 1998, she was club president, co-chair of our annual show, assisted in production of our bulletin, spoke to school groups, and was active in all aspects of our club. In the past she has held almost all offices in our club. Our club is very fortunate to have Sharon Sonnleitner as a member. I am writing to nominate a longtime member of the Chicago Rocks and Mineral Society. His name is David Dick. He has been a valued and devoted member who not only actively participates but also has many contributions to his credit. These consist of a few of the following: Editor/Publisher of the Pick and Dop Stick for a sequential period of fifteen years; served as the club Historian for many years including this current year; currently is serving as the club's Treasurer; the lead member of the Nominating Committee for the past several years; contributes monthly articles to the clubs newsletter; stepped in as the Acting Editor when our editor last year suddenly resigned. He is supportive, knowledgeable, provides guidance, and is outspoken (when it is needed). Above all he has been my mentor and confident as the current Editor Publisher of the Pick and Dop Stick. So I am officially nominating David Dick as an outstanding member for this honor - "one of our own". Endowment Fund Donation Drawing And, Glenn Lee, Ways & Means Chairman The AFMS Endowment Fund will hold a donation drawing again this year for an outstanding item that was crafted and donated by our President, Mr. Lewis Elrod This year it will be a 12x16 mm Emerald Cut Brazilian Amethyst Ring with 4 Cubic Zirconium Stones, in a 12K white Gold mounting. The AFMS Endowment members will be selling donations Tickets for $1.00 per ticket. The drawing will be held at the national Show in Nashville, on Sunday, July 11, 1999. 12 NOON AN OPTION 6155 Haas St., La Mesa, CA 91942-43122 If you have decided a trip to Nashville, TN to the AFMS show and convention is not in your plans this year, you can still participate in the events.... This will be the 25th anniversary of the AFMS Endowment Fund and Charley Leach has been chairman all these years. Due to his hard work and that of his committee, the Endowment Fund has well over $100,000.00 and the interest is currently being used for the additional benefit of the clubs by upgrading and searching for new programs that will eventually be sent to each regional federation. He will be retiring after this event. Let's give Charley a whopping sendoff by sending $1.00 donations by the bushel basket. Let's make this an event to remember.... The current AFMS president, Lewis Elrod has designed a beautiful 14k ring with a 12 x 16mm emerald cut Braziliam amethyst stone and two Cubic Zirconium stones on each side of it. (four stones in total) It can be yours if you purchase the winning ticket. Donation tickets can be obtained for $1.00 each from: Charles Leach, Committee Member, Gene Potts, All tickets will be put in a special hopper and one will be drawn Sunday, July 11, during the AFMS show on the Tennessee Fairgrounds, Nashville, TN. Be part of the solution, let's watch our AFMS Endowment Fund grow. It's giving the AFMS a strong financial footing for the future. You've been very generous in helping the AFMS Scholarship Funds over the years. Let's help ourselves for a change. This money goes directly toward helping the AFMS and WE ARE THE AFMS. EXCERPTS, SUMMARIES, & CONDENSATIONSBy Bill Luke From ALAA Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 2, Jan, Feb, Mar, 1999 ALAA Congressional Report- ALAA members have been attempting to get rules for collecting adopted and published for over 12 years now, without success. We have written legislative bills. We have attended meetings in various parts of the United States trying to reach consensus on comprehensive collecting rules. So far our efforts have been discarded by the Federal Agencies. The NEW Congress, the 106th Expect introduction of public lands bills in historic numbers that will impact amateur hobbyists including collecting, roads, and public land access. Read about 11 House Bills and 6 Senate Bills that could affect public lands and are therefore of interest to us. Closed to Collecting- Another Dinosaur Story-"Fran", and "The More They Stay the Same" What Good are Amateurs? The ALAA Federal Register Report A list of items that were published in the Federal Register over the past four months that may curtail or are of concern to the ALAA regarding public land access. Does this concern or affect you? The states listed (in addition to National) are: Montana, North Dakota and portions of South Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Read this to find out about what’s going on in your area. And, if that’s not enough, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency published a proposal requiring banks to develop a "know your customer" rule. Does "Big Brother" need to watch us any closer? The complete text on each of these subjects is in the ALAA Newsletter. Subscribe and become a member so you can get all of the details. Support your amateur hobby.
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