September, 1999

As First Vice President, one of my duties was to help with the Juniors Committee. As the committee Chairs, Kathy and Bob Miller, could not attend, I spent much time in the Junior Booth. It was busy, they had free coloring books, games, etc. More teachers came by than children to pick up the material. That may be happening in California soon as the curriculum has been changed to require the teaching of more earth science. At grade 1 - Earth is made of ? At grade 4 - Properties of rocks. And grade 6 - Plate tectonics and volcanoes. These are areas where we can help the students- certainly invite these three grades of students to our shows.

Isabella was elected President Elect, was installed, and will take office on November 1, 1999; and will be installed as President of AFMS in Moab, Utah in October of 2000. Dan Lingelbach, incoming President, challenged everyone to support the AFMS in the millennium.

There was a meeting of the web masters and we were very proud of the input for the improvements of the systems offered by our CFMS Web Master, Don Ogden. Isabella attended a very interesting meeting on insurance where they discussed having the same company for all Federations. It could save us some money. Be sure to read your AFMS Newsletter and check the AFMS Website at http://www.amfed.org for more information.

YOUR CLUB SHOULD RECEIVE THREE COPIES

OF THE AFMS NEWSLETTER.

I have to say a word or so about ALAA. They had a rousing meeting at Nashville. Our collecting areas are becoming less available. First there was the struggle for us to be able to continue to collect invertebrate fossils. There are 20 bills before the Senate and 16 bills before the House that can affect our hobby. With the Congress adjourning for the August recess we have a chance to get some input to them on these bills. Public use of Public lands is being attacked. According to Audrey Hudson in the Washington Times, there are bills that could "ban most public use of 5 million acres in six states."

A draft environmental impact statement (EIS) is being prepared by the Forest Service on the Piru Creek area and will be published in October with a forty-five day comment period. Watch for more information and make your comments known.

AFMS Central Office
Attention Dan McLennan

RE: memo in Feb. 99 Newsletter about late info on new officers...

It seems we all have the same problem of keeping mailing lists up to date. For instance: in our club, many or most members are retired and away from time to time for varying lengths of time...and some ask the Post Office to hold their mail, while others leave a forwarding address. It seems newsletters with "Return service requested" or "address correction requested" on the front with the label come back to us. Of course, this is a problem between us (editors) and the Postal service and the members.

As for the Regional Federation Directories not being current ... I know of one factor which is: clubs change officers in different months, so if the CFMS, for instance, changes officers in January and publishes their directory then, our club's new officers are not listed until the following year, and by then, they are or could be about to leave office. Our election is not until January, and so that information is not always sent to the CFMS the next day.

One would think that with all the wonderful time-savings of computers, that updating lists would be a matter of 'just' changing a few names/entries each month, or in other words, a continual job, no matter the 'time-saving' devices.

As for not enough Federation coverage ... our copies of both the CFMS and AFMS newsletters are available to anyone who wants to read them, and our newsletter does print the information-that is most pertinent to our members. We also have a good Federation Director who reports at each meeting..

Our newsletter is not sent to each CFMS and each AFMS address each issue, but we take turns, and each address receives at least three copies per year. This is a savings to our club, and is important.

Your suggestions are valid and have merit ... I just wanted to tell it from our perspective.

Sincerely,

(s)

Marge Blockley, Editor of Nodule Nocker NEWS. OF THE Boulder Gem Club

Federation: Midwest Club: Elgin Rock & Mineral Society Honoree: John and Wanda Bather

Federation: Southeast Club: Georgia Mineral Society, Inc.
Nominated by: Olin Banks, Georgia State Director- Person Nominated: Kim Cochran

Correction: In the May, 1999, AFMS Newsletter (page 6) on Each Club-Each Year-One Rockhound, the SFMS Representative to the committee should have been: David Tuttle, 994 Blackmon Road, Yulee FL 32097-4510 904-225-0689 Thanks to Rita Wienstein, SFMS Sec. for this correction.

NASHVILLE WAS A HIT! The gem and mineral show was something else. We had awards given out to winners from the age of 12 and up. The competitive cases were awesome. The judges really had their work cut out for them. Congratulations to all who entered cases, competitive or non-competitive. There were no losers, everyone was a winner!

Our many thanks to those of you who manned the information booth, gave seminars and demonstrations, etc. All of your hard work was really appreciated. Many more people now know what the SFMS is all about and what a wonderful hobby being a rockhound is. To the Middle Tennessee Gem and Mineral Society we give a big "HIP, HIP, HOORAY!" for being so kind, gracious, and helpful as our host. Thanks Lewis, Marty and All!

There are still a few openings left at Wildacres in August and September. Give Ron and Anna a call and enjoy a week of fun in the North Carolina mountains. The October workshop at William Holland also has openings. Jessie and Yates would just love to place many more students for a fun-filled week in the Georgia mountains in October. The William Holland session will be the last workshop for the SFMS in 1999, so ya'll come.

The last phase of the annual meeting will be held in Huntsville, Alabama the weekend of October 8 - 10 hosted by the Huntsville Gem and Mineral Society. At this meeting we will elect new officers and decide on some constitutional changes The show is directly across the street. The Huntsville show is one of the best and a good time should be had by all!

See you all in October. 'Til then keep cool!

Gem and Mineral Shows are a wonderful place to go. There is display case after display case showing off the best of materials and talents. The disciplines of rockhounding are so varied you can't really predict what you will see at any show. It could be fossils - not only of the Jurassic period dinosaurs but fossil plants, fish and animals much older than the Jurassic period - and of course some much newer fossils.

Minerals always make for beautiful displays. Crystals of diamond, ruby, garnet and peridot to name a few. Some of the important commercial ores have beautiful crystalline forms such as copper, iron, gold and silver. Cabochons, spheres and bookends demonstrate the skills in lapidary. And of course the talents of the faceters and the creative talents of those who carve stone and who create jewelry with silver, gold and gemstones. This is merely the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of what may be seen at a Gem and Mineral Show. If a person becomes interested in a particular area, there is probably a demonstrator at the show giving "how to" instructions in that area. At the show there are dealers to supply tools and materials to pursue rockhounding. The rockhounds you meet at the shows are friendly and helpful

Now you say, "That's not new, I know that". We are all proud of our displays and like to show the public what rockhounding is all about. There is a more important aspect of shows that sometimes we may loose sight of. Shows are the best membership drive we have. Many surveys indicate that Gem and Mineral Shows are responsible for recruiting more new members than any other activity we have.

It's a given that putting on a show requires a lot of time and effort and is expensive. Shows need a place to happen, they need dealers, programs, demonstrators and displays. The displays are the real focal point of the show. They are what the rest of the show is built around.

Shows almost without exception need more guest exhibitors. Some people think they have to wait to get an invitation to show at a neighboring club. Not so. You don't have to wait .... look in the ROCK AND GEM or LAPIDARY JOURNAL magazines under show dates and drop a line or call the show chairperson of any show you would like to show at and ask if they could use another case.. You will be surprised how fast you will get a big welcome and an application.

If you are exhibiting at shows as a guest exhibitor, maybe you could add another show or two this year; or if you haven't been a guest exhibitor at a show yet .... try it, you'll like it. We all need to work together as neighbors to make our shows and rockhounding bigger and better. Our shows are the best Good Will Ambassadors we have, and of course the best source of new rockhounds.

There is still talk about creating a National Carrier for the Insurance Programs that all of the Federations have. It will be an item for discussion at the National Meeting in Nashville in July. In reading some of the other Federation Newsletters, they have been looking at getting some accident insurance included with the third party insurance that they have in force now. Of course, the members must pay the premium, but if the premium is low enough, then the insurance will be worth it. Will keep you posted on the insurance program.

The SCFMS is experiencing growth. We are currently working with three or four clubs, who have shown an interest in belonging to the SCFMS and AFMS. If you hear of a club who is contemplating on joining the Federation, please talk to the members and explain the benefits of the Federation. Being a part of the AFMS is a very rewarding experience. The AFMS and the SCFMS have many programs that can benefit any club as they try to build their membership and become a functioning organization. Help your fellow club members as much as you can. You will be glad you did.

Attend a Club Show, if there is one near you. Visit with the other members of different clubs and find out what they are doing in their clubs. You can obtain valuable information from talking to different club members and they might just like to hear what you are doing in your local club. It is a two way street. Tell them what you are doing, so they can either avoid doing the same thing or start doing what you are doing, to improve their club.

Write an article for your club's newsletter. All editors encourage their members to contribute to the newsletter of their club. It gives you the opportunity to contribute to your publication and this is an avenue by which you can let your views be known. Try it. I think you will receive the most reward.

Remember the SCFMS Endowment Fund. It is still growing and it is now getting to the point where it can make some contributions to the Federation. Honor one of your Club members, by making a donation in their name. It will surely be a worthy investment.

1 have been asked this question many times by students, parents, and teachers. "Where can I find a Rock Club?"

We have a big problem. There are people out there wanting to visit or join a club but not knowing where to find one.

Most generally there are no listings in the yellow or white pages of the phone book or newspapers.

I have traveled to the cities of the U.S. and parts of the world, and found the same conditions. The problem is, "How do I find your Rock club?" "When does it meet?"

Try going to an unfamiliar city and locate a rock club, without a federation directory or other rock related literature. I have asked people in business, and on the street, most had never heard of one in that town, others had heard of a rock club but didn't know where it was located or the name of a member.

I leave these questions to each individual club to answer to themselves.

Where do I find your club?

From Cowtown Cutter, 5/99
Via Gneiss Gnews, June, 1999

(Editor's note (I've asked the same thing.): Is there an answer to this question anywhere- in your town, county, area?? I think not!)

I am frequently asked �Why should our society even belong to a federation?� This is a good question and there is nothing wrong with wondering about the benefits to being a member society of a regional and the national federation.

To begin to answer this question we must first decide just what a federation really is and why one should exist. After this is decided then we can explore the benefits to a local society to being a member.

Webster is a good starting point to determine the meaning of �federation�. We find that to �federate � is �to unite in an alliance� and a �federation� is �a union of organizations�. Thus the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies is a union of the local clubs and societies in the Southeast States. The American Federation is a union of the seven regional federations over the United States.

Just what are these �alliances� a union of? Why it is the individual members of all the local organizations. It is you and me! We are the local societies, the regional federations and even the American Federation. Without us, there is nothing, no clubs, no regionals and no American Federation.

Now that we have defined what a federation is we need to decide why one should exist. The reason is given in the Webster definition of federation. It is an alliance. Our own society is an alliance of all of the individual members as the regional are of the societies and the American is an alliance of the seven regional federations.

An alliance, again according to Webster, is �an association to further the common interests of the members�. Thus the local societies exist to further the common interests of the members. The same reason stands for the existence of the regional and national federations as they also exist for the purpose of promoting the common interests of the individual members.

At times we neglect this aspect of the matter and do not pay sufficient attention to the common needs. We are striving to return to this and to provide more for each member. This is seen in the attention paid to the development of programs for the use of the local societies, the expanded distribution of the newsletters of the federations and the efforts to get more members involved in the activities of the federations.

One means to learn more, is to do more. Spend some time learning more about the federations, their working systems, etc. and see what you can do to assist in the efforts of the officers who are, after all, your elected representatives. By assisting the officers in the discharge of their duties you will also assist yourself and all other hobbyists in the pursuit of their interests. You will also learn more about the hobby and the people involved and will make many new friends.

Now, we are getting down to the real reason for a federation. It is to provide a means for the communication with other members of the hobby and a system of interaction with these persons over the country. The various bulletins published by the societies and federations provide a valuable source of information about the hobby and the persons involved therein. By making these bulletins available to the membership of a society the information will thus be shared by an ever growing number of people. This provides an excellent opportunity for networking and exchanging information about collecting sites, areas of interest such as museums and shops, areas of expertise and general strengthening of the hobby as a whole.

To wrap this up we now see that the societies, the regional federations and even the American Federation are just-US! This means you, me, our next door neighbor who likes rocks, etc. All of the groups exist to serve the needs and interests of the individual and all actions taken are with this end in mind. Look around and see what you can do. You can become a valuable part of the federations and will find that you enjoy it while you are contributing and learning. Come on and join in. We would love to have you with us.

Charles Leach, Endowment Fund
Glenn Lee, Ways and Means

Our sincere thanks to all those who participated in the Endowment Fund drawing held at the combined Southeast-American Federation Show in Nashville. This includes all those who donated items, who purchased tickets, who helped at the table, and who sold tickets. A total of $1,675.85 was raised, including $845.00 from tickets for the beautiful amethyst ring donated by Lewis Elrod. Again, we especially wish to thank our wives, Betty and Dorothy, for their work at the sales table, and Bonnie Glismann for again leading the way selling tickets for the ring.

 In addition, the Endowment Fund received a donation of $45.00 from the Rollin' Rock Club from their auction.

This winds up our work with the Endowment Fund and we would like to thank all the members who have assisted over the past sixteen years. Restricted funds now amount to $2.60 per AFMS member. We hope that you will continue to support the Endowment Fund with donations, memorials, or in any manner you choose.

Sincerely,

Charles Leach & Glenn Lee

STAMP YOUR FEET!

By Wendell C. Mohr,
COMMEMORATIVE STAMP COMMITTEE

Get excited and jump up and down and stamp your feet!

Have you and your society done your part to support our effort to encourage the USPS to issue stamps depicting the birthstones? We must communicate. 50,000 members writing will be heard! We have heard from many clubs that have carried out the campaign by enlisting members to send off their thoughts to the Citizen�s Stamp Advisory Committee. As an example we would like to recognize the wonderful effort of the Southern Illinois Earth Science Club. They took the initiative to print a full page request for members to send, printed on the USPS�s own �World of Dinosaurs� paper. That is persuasive and should get some attention! If you have not yet helped our grass-roots campaign, re-read the article and mailing form in the January, 1999, AFMS Newsletter and �Lets Get it On!�.

Your committee is widening its effort this year by enlisting support through e-mail, magazines, journals, and by direct appeals to associations and gem trade organizations.

Collectors may be interested in a stamp issue, not the result of any activity of ours, commemorating the 1849 Gold Rush, and issued on June 18th at Sacramento, California. The stamp depicts 49ers using a gold pan and a rocker in a stream of the Western Sierra Nevadas. The hopeful miners trekked to California to �Strike it Rich�.

Help us to �Strike it Rich� by writing in support of gemstone stamps!

Below is a safety item from Peter Girardot for the AFMS Newsletter.
Submitted by Mel Albright

Reference: Journal of the American Medical Society, 281, 1106 (1999)

In the current year appropriation bill for the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Secretary of the Interior (Mr. Babbitt) was given a mandate to assess "the need for a unified Federal Policy on the collection, storage, and preservation of ... fossils."

In connection with preparation of its report the DOI hosted a public hearing on June 21st at the U.S. Geological Survey Headquarters in Reston, VA. The hearing was conducted before a panel including Dr. William Brown of the DOI (head panelist) and representatives of the USGS, U.S. Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and Smithsonian. The Smithsonian and USGS representatives appeared to be at least somewhat in agreement with the views I presented. My letter of July 13, 1999 to Dr. Brown, reproduced in part here, (Mr. Loud's letter is on Page 10) summarizes some of the opinions presented at the hearing.

July 13, 1999

Dr. William Y. Brown
Science Advisor to the President
U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20240

Re: Fossil Collection, Storage & Preservation
Report Requested in 1999 DOI Appropriation Bill

Dear Dr. Brown:

I am writing to respond to several of the statements made at the public hearing and to present my comments on several statements I find within the May 1999 Background Paper which was distributed at the June 21st hearing. In the remarks which follow I will repeatedly refer to the 1987 report of the National Research Council entitled "Paleontological Collecting" (hereinafter "NRC Report").

May 1999 Background Paper

The May 1999 Background Paper which was made available at the June 21st hearing contains much useful information and will undoubtedly find considerable use as a reference. However, I believe that several statements made therein should not go unchallenged.

"All fossils are relatively rare, but some types are much rarer than others." (Page 2 of the Background Paper).

Relative to what? The NRC Report states "Fossils are not rare" (page 13).

Based on my personal experience, I regard fossils as "relatively" common. Fossil shell casts were common in the parking lot gravel at the school I attended grades 1-8. Near my present home, fossils are abundant and easily collected along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Limestone, the dominant rock type exposed throughout much of the Midwest of this country, is often essentially a mass of fossils.

Upon arriving home from the meetings in Ohio, the President called this gentlemen and asked if he would be interested in being the Secretary of an organization he had never heard of, offered by a person he had never talked to, or even knew of. Unbelievably, without anything to go on except the conversation on the phone, he accepted the job, saying he was just finishing up as Secretary of an organization located in western Colorado and had the time as long as it was not a "full time job". Talk about a person with faith in a voice on the other end of the phone! His name was Bob Cranston.

Not only has Bob been an outstanding member of the ALAA Officer corps, but he has been the primary builder of this Organization. Among his first duties (mind you without ever meeting any of the other Directors or Officers of the ALAA), he was asked to represent the ALAA at a meeting of interested parties on fossil collecting in Washington DC. The meeting was sponsored by a national museum group. He was exemplary in his representation with only a conference call with the Directors to bring him up-to-speed on the subject and the amateur point of view. Talk about a "quick study".

Bob was called upon to assist the ALAA in getting into the "Computer Era". The ALAA bought him a computer and said "Here Bob, go for it". Bob had some previous computer experience in his occupation with the phone company but a "PC" was something altogether new. He not only mastered it, but has been in the forefront of bringing the ALAA. and the hobby community into the Computer Age.

The ALAA was invited to have a booth/table at various meetings and shows including the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show in February. Bob has "carried" this effort, mostly by himself with the help of his delightful wife, Shirley. He maintains the ALAA membership lists. He composes and puts up the ALAA Electronic Newsletter on the INTERNET. He has published and mailed numerous newsletter editions. He has conducted the ALAA's correspondence both by snail-mail and e-mail. He has been the recipient of thousands of pieces of correspondence, forwarding the important ones on to others. He, and Shirley, have attended all the ALAA annual meetings and reported on each. Frankly, what hasn't he done? Bob has been "the ALAA". And all this while battling a long standing health problem, including open heart surgery. Ladies and Gentlemen, what more could we have asked of him. Money? Well, let me tell you about the bills for supplies and travel costs. He simply turns back the payments to the ALAA Treasury. Bob has been an outstanding Executive Secretary. He will not be easily replaced.

Bob has requested to be allowed to retire from this position this year. Frankly, I do not know how we will continue without he and Shirley. The ALAA and the "Rockhound" Community need to give Bob and Shirley Cranston a rousing "THANK YOU" and best wishes from us all. His contributions to the hobby have been significant beyond measure. So, for myself and "rockhounds" nationwide, THANKS BOB!

Jon Spunaugle, President, July 1999

From ALAA Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 4