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Contents:
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MINERALOGICAL SOCIETIES
Volume 53, Number 6
1. Develop new analytical tools to decide when - and if - both new and existing roads are needed to meet resource management objectives. 2. Aggressively decommission non-beneficial or unauthorized roads that are determined through forest planning and MEPA and other analyses to
be damaging to the environment or to be no longer necessary for achieving resource managing objectives. Driving for pleasure is the single largest recreational use of Forest Service managed lands, constituting 35.8% of all recreation in
1996... The outlook is for recreational road use to grow by an additional 64% by the year 2045. Another contradiction in the notice is seen in comparing the "Overview of Proposals" with the "Notice of Proposed Administrative Policy". Specifically, the former states: Poorly designed and maintained roads promote erosion and landslides, degrading riparian and wet land habitat through sedimentation and changes in stream flow and water temperature, with associated reductions in fish habit and productivity. However, the latter notice states: [M]aintenance of unclassified roads in roadless and unroaded areas is inappropriate as such activity would lead to defacto road development. The notices further distinguish between "roadless" and "unroaded" areas and caution against maintenance or reconstruction of roads in such areas. These notices do great violence to the ordinary meaning of words and seem to be designed to reward any attempt at reading and/or understanding with a gigantic headache. Of course, our interest lies in greater access to public lands, not less. Comments should be sent to:
E-mail may be directed to: <roads/wo_caet-slc@fs.fed.us>. The deadline is May 2. Wither the Sierra Club John Muir is famous as the founder of the Sierra Club and as a promoter of the creation of new national parks in the early 20th century. In his book Stake Your Claim! The Tale of America's Enduring Mining Laws, Charles Wallace Miller, Jr. describes Muir as a pragmatist who admired miners and "endorsed mining if it had no serious conflict with other values." An article in the March 15, 2000 issue of the Wall Street Journal describes a "rift" between the "old guard" of the Sierra Club which believes that its interest is best served by a pragmatism that makes compromises with industry and government and "a radical group" which advocates the banning of all commercial logging in national forests and the draining of Lake Powell. Columnist George Weigel recently reported that the Sierra Club is a cosponsor of the "See Change" initiative which would change the status of the Vatican at the United Nations from one of "permanent observer" to one of a "non-governmental organization." Mr. Weigel asked the rhetorical question "But what on earth (no pun intended) is the Sierra Club's interest in the holy see's U.N. status? Good question. Congratulations to the California Federation Through the efforts of Jim Strain, Isabella Burns and others, the BLM recently dedicated a geode collecting area in the Wiley Well District as a "Rockhound Educational and Recreational Area." This designation by the BLM comes after a successful negotiation culminating with a "Memorandum of Understanding" signed by both representatives of the BLM and the CFMS, under which both parties agree to cooperate to facilitate use of the area by the general public, to ensure compliance with BLM rules and to engage in periodic clean-ups. Hopefully, this agreement will serve as a blueprint for other collecting sites in California and other states. While on the subject of California collecting, I must pass along a request from Isabella Burns that we write our representatives regarding HR3676, the "Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Act of 2000." The new national monument is in the Palm Springs, California area and would include sites where large garnets and tourmaline are found. Isabella asks that we write to request amendment of the bill to specifically sanction mineral and rock collecting for recreational or educational purposes within the area to be encompassed by the proposed new national monument. George Loud What Can We Do? If you have time and can get copies of those bills or notices of intention, then we should point out, to our Senators, Representatives and Agency Directors, particular points that are not in the best interest for amateur collector. Also, point out inaccuracies and misleading information, however we can't have the letter too long (as this message is turning out to be) otherwise it won't get read. Try hard to keep it to one page. Unfortunately, not many of us have time to do this and must depend on our Conservation and Legislation Committee and PLAC members to do it for us. Again, What Can We Do? My suggestion then is to present some guide lines for our Senators and Representatives to follow. These guidelines could be and you can add your own: *amateur collecting (rockhounding) is a bona fide educational and recreational activity in which family members can enjoy nature. *public lands should be managed for the most benefit for the greatest number of people, not just for a select few. *the rights of private property owners should be preserved and that owners should not have to pay to defend these rights when threatened by the government. Public and open negotiations is a better way to go. There are many actions proposed that we ought to respond to and these involve Federal Agencies, however I think one that will be considered by Congress deserves our attention. This is in response to Senate Report 105-277 requesting "a report assessing the need for a unified Federal policy on the collection, storage and preservation of -- fossils". That response is the Draft " Assessment of Fossil Management on Federal and Indian Lands", issued by the U. S. Department of the Interior. This 27 page Draft is available at <http://www.fs.fed.us/geology/doi_report.htm> or you can link to it through one of the URL's that President Elect Isabella Burns listed in her April message. If this draft is followed it will essentially prohibit amateur collecting on public lands. Unfortunately, what happens to fossils could happen to minerals and rocks. I feel there is some misleading information in this draft and in other fossil type proposals. Since the Senate requested this draft they should be interested in what you think. So here are some of the misleading topics I feel are in such a draft. *most all fossils are rare, especially vertebrate ones and that the United States is unique in having the right conditions in geologic time to produce such fossils. My question, what about the dinosaurs being discovered and fossils existing in South America, Europe, England, Africa etc? *that dinosaurs and some fossils are worth lots of money, therefore those who steal them should be fined to reflect the value of the theft. What is not realized is that fossils in the ground, as such, are not worth much. Where the worth comes from is the value added by removing, separating from the matrix, preserving and identifying that makes it valuable. It's like a mineral or oil deposit in the ground, the main value is after it is removed, refined and available that makes it valuable. Wheat farmers know this, as wheat at $2.50 a bushel is not that valuable, but when you by it back in the form of bread or cereal, then it's expensive. Making a supply limited, such as diamonds being controlled essentially by one organization, increases value. When access by amateurs to any natural material resource is limited then the price of that goes up thereby making it more tempting for theft. If you want to preserve a resource then the approach is to involve the parties in dialogue in the need to preserve that resource. Again, there's this cooperation. *that only professional paleontologists should be allowed to collect and preserve fossils for the benefit of the public. What is not related is that if it weren't for the amateur collector, most of the existing museum fossil collections would not exist. A previous publication, which was not sufficiently acknowledged in this draft, is one resulting from a consensus of ideas from all the interested parties and one in which representatives from the Regional Federations were involved. This publication is the 1987 "Paleontological Collecting" issued by the "-----National Research Council Committee"1. This publication is much kinder to the amateur collector but unfortunately is not readily available to us or the Congress. Now the bottom line to all of this is to let your Senators know how you feel about amateur collecting and give them some guidelines to follow when they hopefully review any action being considered. They need to know what your concerns are and only you can do that. 1Committee on Guidelines for Paleontological Collecting; Board of Earth Sciences; Commissions on Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Resources; National Research Council Committee. A Chat with lzzle "B" The many educational programs being presented for the youth through out the Federations really excites me. The last few years the youth from our Lake Elsinore Gem and Mineral Society, one of the CFMS younger clubs, have won many AFMS and CFMS trophies in the junior articles bulletin contests. I was one of the people who ask Sandy to write an article about how they did it. She sent me the following article a copy of their entry form, and sample articles. Last years winning articles can be found on the CFMS Website on the Internet accessible at <www.cfmsinc.org>. The Lake Elsinore Gem and Mineral Society's, What We Do For The Children I have been asked by several people to write something on what we do for the Children in our club, the Lake Elsinore Gem and Mineral Society and the community. One thing we do is have a contest. It is a very simple contest. It is based on the CFMS rules for newsletter articles. The contest is open to anyone under 18 years old by December 15 ( the publishing of the last newsletter of that year). The topic is the children's choice as long as it relates to rocks, minerals or fossils. The articles can be fact or fiction. They are to be no longer than one typed page (the younger entries do not need to be typed). Pictures are fine as long as they do not violate laws of copyright and creativity is encouraged. All this is done for 6 trophies made by the club from mineral specimens and a $50.00 U. S. Savings Bond. The children do not care about the bonds but the club likes to do it and the parents appreciate it. The best motivator for the children is a "really cool" trophy. Without the trophy it is just another homework assignment. The Lake Elsinore Gem and Mineral Society is entering it's fourth annual contest year. The number of entries have grown every year with 22 in the 1999 contest. The top three entries in two categories ( to give the smaller children a chance) get trophies and bonds. The winning entries (and as many others as I can get in) go into the Pebble Pups section of the newsletter which qualifies them for the CFMS and if they win AFMS Junior Article contests. The club awards are made at a pot-luck picnic in June with games and toys for the kids. Any further awards are sent to the children as soon as they are received and there have been several. We have had trophy awards at the CFMS and AFMS level every year since the competition started. We also mat and frame the certificates before we send them out to the children. The entries go out to schools, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, in libraries, in Lapidary shops and out to other clubs especially those with Junior programs. We start the contest in January and end it in March. This gives us time to judge, order the Savings Bonds and prepare the trophy plates for the June Awards Picnic. Other than the contest we just treat the children in our club as members. They are encouraged to come to meetings, volunteer or even co-chair committees, to present programs at the meetings, to participate in the raffle drawing (we have special items especially for the children in the raffles) and to come on the field trips - bring the family. At Christmas we have a party with gifts for the children and everyone has a good time. The children are an important part of the world and this hobby. It is important to let them be a part, to participate, it doesn't have to be involved or special just include them. It really isn't that much trouble and the rewards are felt in the heart. Sandy Brautigam A special diamond exhibit has opened at the Smithsonian Institution's Natural History Museum in Washington, DC and will continue
for the next two months. Featuring rare and unusual diamonds on loan to the museum, highlights include: Danger - Sunshine This article was printed a year ago in the AFMS Newsletter, but with the coming of our summer months, it is prudent to run it again as a reminder to all about the dangers of overexposure to the sun. One of the fastest increasing diseases today is skin cancer. It is caused by too mush sunshine. It does not appear right after you get too much sun, though. It will appear 10, 20, 30, or more years later. So, the only sure protection is to start now to develop good habits to avoid sun damage to your skin. Then, keep on being careful. The basic cause of damage from the sun is through ultraviolet radiation. Recent research has said that one serious sunburn as a child can lead to cancer. Recent research reports that sunscreen does not protect against skin melanomas - the deadliest cancer. In my area, our TV weathermen report the UV exposure factor. They include the safe exposure time. In summer, it typically is something like 8 minutes for fair skin people, 14 for medium skin people, and 22 for dark skin people. The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends the following as ways to prevent and control skin damage from the sun. Stay out of the sun during the most dangerous times - 10 AM to 2 PM (11 AM to 3 PM daylight time). Wear a hat, a long sleeve shirt, and long pants (tight-knit cloth) when in the sun. Apply sunscreen before going out and re-apply every 2 hours or after swimming while outside. Use at least a 15 SPF sunscreen on all exposed skin (the 15 means it takes 15 times as long to reach the same sun exposure as with no sunscreen). The higher the altitude, the more UV comes to you and the more sunscreen is needed. Cloudy days do not protect you - UV comes right through clouds. If you work outside, use sunscreen daily. A tan does NOT protect you. Some medicines, drugs, cosmetics and birth control pills make you more sensitive to sun damage. If you develop and allergy to one sunscreen, change to another one. Watch out for reflective surfaces - sand, snow, water (The Great Salt Plains). Staying in the shade doesn't help around these. Stay out of tanning parlors. Keep infants out of the sun. Start using sunscreen on children when they are 6 months old. Teach your children sun protection early and insist they follow the rules. Sources: American Academy of Dermatology Do you have an idea for a safety topic? Mel's looking for ideas. Why not share your idea with him? You can e-mail him at <mela@galstar.com> or write him at: Rt. 3, Box 8500 ,Bartlesville, OK 74003. Juniors & Displays If your show exhibit will be a project you made for something else-school science fair, 4-H, etc.- you had to follow certain rules about size and arrangement. Perhaps a special case or display board was required. So, your project is ready to be "recycled." If you plan to exhibit something else, you need to figure out how you will show the material. A glass-topped case is nice. A deep shadow-box will work. A simple "case" can be made using a shallow box like a shirt box, lined with plain paper and covered with clear plastic. Divided storage boxes or tackle boxes or any clear plastic box can become a display case. An empty aquarium can be used for a diorama, such as a scene using small dinosaur figures. Posterboard can be backed with masonite or other firm material, and the finished display covered with clear plastic. Foamboard or styrofoam forms can also be used. Use your imagination! Decide what you want to exhibit and how you want to display it. Do not make your display too crowded, and be sure to leave room for your labels. You have decided what you want to exhibit and how you want to display it. Now you are ready to your display. The background color depends on the color of your specimens. A neutral color like gray, beige or off-white, or a pastel shade, is usually best. Dark specimens like obsidian look nice on a very light backing. Light specimens like clear quartz show better on a dark background. Purple fluorite gets 'lost' on purple velvet! To display on posterboard: Pick a good background color for your specimens. Glue the posterboard to a piece of masonite or corrugated paper to make it stronger (so it won't bend). Arrange your specimens and labels-move them around until you find the best layout. Now glue down the specimens-use white glue (Elmer's) or a glue gun. Attach the labels-peel-off and stick-on, or use glue or rubber cement. Be sure to have a label with your name, so people will know whose display it is. Tilt your finished display to make sure everything will stay in place. You maywant to cover the whole display with clear plastic to protect it. To display in a case: Use paper, posterboard, or fabric for the backing. Cut paper or posterboard to fit inside your case. Cut fabric larger and fold ends under so you don't have raw edges. Arrange, and rearrange your specimens and labels until you have the best layout. Will you remember how you want it? Make a sketch or take a photo. Put numbers on the labels and put the same number on the bottom of the specimen, if you plan to arrange your case at the show. You might fasten down the labels only, with glue or double-sided tape, and add the specimens when you get to the show. Or you might glue your specimens and labels in the case. Be sure your name is someplace on the case too. Ready? Empty "Scotch tape" spools or curtain rings make good stands for geodes or other round specimens that might roll. Small easels or picture-frame holders will keep flat pieces or slabs upright. Specimens can be propped up or held in place by using small gobs of clay, bent paper clips or T-pins. Set? Does your case have lights? Make sure they work. (Bring an extension cord, and let SHOW C know you will need an electrical outlet.) Go! Cover it with a plastic bag to keep it clean and dry. If specimens are not glued down, wrap each one in paper towels, tissues or newspaper to protect them from bumps and bruises. Put loose labels in an envelope or Baggie so nothing gets lost. Try not to put anything on top of your exhibit. If something must be put on top, protect your display. Put it in a box, or pad the top with bath towels or a blanket. Are you excited? You're ready for the show! We hope you have enjoyed this two part series, we felt it was very beneficial to our junior rockhounds. Many thanks to Diane Dare for her expertise and to Donna Curtis of the Southern Illinois Earth Science Club. Each Club - Each Year - One Rockhound
The Boulder Gem Club presents Marge & Bill Blockley, members since
1988. Marge has served as president, bulletin editor for 1 0 years, and demonstrates at our club show. Bill has served as vice president,
president, program chairman, and has done maintenance of our workshop equipment since 1990. We are happy they share their talents with us. The Santa Cruz Mineral & Gem Society presents Hal & Billie
Williamson, long time friendship ambassadors for Santa Cruz society. They
joined the club in 1972 and take active and responsible roles in the annual shows and for 12 years made all the trophies given to exhibitors. They
exhibited Hal's beautiful channel work at many other shows in the California Federation, where they enjoyed meeting members of the others
societies and clubs, inviting them to exhibit at Santa Cruz. Thus bringing local members a wider circle of special friends with interests in common.
Hal has celebrated his 90th birthday this year. The Conejo Gem & Mineral Club presents Bob Stultz, a member for 28
years. Bob has served as Federation Director, President, and various club chairmanships. He is now retired after 19 years as Operational Supervisor
of 250 employees in a retail business. He has actively served the CFMS organization in many capacities as well. He is currently CFMS lst V.P. for
year 2000, having finished as 2nd V.P./Editor. And Bob gets a special thanks for compiling the new insurance information for the CFMS
organization. He has been CFMS Show Chairman and consultant for many years and 6 years on the Museum Committee. Bob has made many contributions to the
hobby in general and to the Conejo Club and CFMS in particular. The Islanders Gem & Mineral Society presents Ed Burch. Ed is a
tireless worker within our club, and can be depended upon to assist wherever needed. Ed is right there assisting so no one goes home with a
leaverite. He helps find the best material available. Now that you have your rock material, what is the best way to process it, just ask Ed.
Whatever anyone has done, Ed will find a way to easily improve its sheen. Ed has become the club expert at cutting, cabbing and polishing the Jade
gifts from the seas that we find on our beaches. On a recent field trip, Ed came along with four flats of completed cabs he had processed with the
material he picked up at these very beaches. We were all stunned at the treasures under our feet. Ed is our current Chairman of Education. He
freely shares his knowledge with all club members. A case of Ed's cabs was displayed at the most recent Del Mar Fair. The theme of the Fair was Gold.
'The cabs in Ed's case were full of Gold and Platinum inclusions. The case received the Award of Merit for the best Show Case on Gold. Fossils for Fun presents Joy Hutchins for her years of service to
the club and for her years of tireless effort toward the promoting of the rockhound hobby. Joy has been a member for more years than she might want
us to reveal. She has the distinction of almost perfect attendance at our educational meetings year after year. Joy has held every office FFF has
except Bulletin Editor. And she has done that for other local rockhound clubs. She continues to serve as our donations table chairperson, and just
about anything else we ask of her. For many years Joy has put in displays at the Rio Linda library about fossils and rockhounding. She has also given
talks at the local schools. Recently, our club found itself, with only a three day notice, without a meeting place. Joy immediately volunteered her
house. And that's not the first time over the years that she's done this. Joy is the type of club member we'd like to clone. Fossils For Fun salutes
her and invites the rest of you to acknowledge her value. The Carmichael Gem & Mineral Society presents John Schoemaker for
his contributions toward the education of both new & experienced rockhounds. John is well known in the Sacramento area and has frequently
demonstrated sphere making and flint knapping at the local shows. This past year he was involved in demonstrating these skills at two of our local
children's museums. John has been featured in Rock and Gem magazine as one of the "Craftsman of the month" article. He described how to combine an
obsidian knife blade with a tumbled petrified handle to make a beautiful knife. John is also well known for his love of gadgetry. He makes many
rockhound "machine things". He also has quite a workshop with the "latest technology". He is always inviting people to come over and try out some new
piece of machinery. Besides sharing his lapidary skills, John is an intrepid field trip leader. Every year he leads a trip to the Black Rock
Desert. He also leads or assists with many other field trips through out the year. He is always willing to share his knowledge of where to find the
good stuff and what to do with it after you get it home. He is truly a "gem of a rockhound". The Pasadena Lapidary Society presents George & Mona Snyder as
their Rockhound of the Year 2000. George & Mona joined the society in the middle 50's and have been fully involved with club activities until
recently. George has been President twice, Show Chair three times, Field Trip leader numerous times and Scout Master for a local scout troop for a
number of years. Mona has been his right hand and staunch supporter throughout the years. Not content to become a coach potato, George, for the
fifth year will head up the sterling silver workshop group for the CFMS Earth Science Studies scheduled for the week of April 9-16, 2000 at Zzyzx. The Woodland Hills Rock Chippers presents Kelly Hickman. She has
been a member since 1994 and has been a 'natural resource' from the getgo. Kelly has been Program Chair, Holiday Chair, has taken various positions in
Gem Fair (our annual show in combination with other clubs), and is one of our most talented teachers of lapidary and the associated arts. This past
year she spearheaded our first annual independent and very successful show. Kelly, our very own Chromite Queen, her dynamic, her energy, her
enthusiasm, has been an inspiration to everyone in our club. We are honored by the opportunity to submit her name for Member Recognition for the Year
2000.
Mike and Dina Wunsche Having joined in 1966, Dina has held several offices including President. She became proficient in making gem trees, has exhibited them in many local and Federation shows and has won many awards. She has been a demonstrator and aided others in learning the art. Mike holds two chairmanships and assists the club and Dina many ways and is always ready to help. Dan DeBoer Dan has been a member since 1994 and has been interested in "rocks
forever" as he grew up on a farm in Adna, a good rockhunting area. He has been our Show Chairman four years and has worked at the Super Saturday WAMS
booth at Evergreen State College for six years. He is always willing to help in any way he can. Alan Young Alan has held the office of 2nd Vice President of the club for two
years, has given a program on Nevada Mining and Minerals to the club as well as at the show and is the club's Librarian and refreshment committee
chairman. For one of the club's fund raising events, he donated several quality mineral specimens. As special exhibits chairman for our annual
show, he was able to convince Harvard University Mineralogical Museum to bring their Tucson 2000 show exhibit of Brazilian Crystal to our show this
year. He also had the paleontologist from the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument Museum bring a display and give several programs at the show. The
Idaho Museum of Natural History in Pocatello brought a display of Fossilized Bison Heads found in eastern Idaho. We wish to give him the
recognition he deserves. Mary and Lou Snyder This couple has been members of this club since it's inception and both have been instrumental in the success of the club. Mary has served two terms as President and one as Vice President. Both serve tirelessly on our show committee and enter a display. Lou is a jack-of-all trades and spends many hours keeping all the equipment in our lapidary shop in good running condition. He is an adept knapper and has won many plaques and ribbons on his arrowheads and knives. Both are committed rockhounds and can always be relied on to share their knowledge and expertise whenever called upon. Nominated by vote of the club members
Gordon's activities for the club in the last year have been very valuable, clearly making him stand out even among the active members of the group. He organized and coordinated the majority of the club field trips and set up exciting Gold Panning days. He also worked many hours at the annual Mineral Show. Finally, he was a major force in the acquisition of a deceased member's rock collection. Many thanks to Gordon for his personal dedication to the Club. Has your club nominated someone as your "Rockhound of the Year"? The process is painless. Simply send in the name of an individual or couple to be honored. Tell why this personor couple is important to your club in about 25 words. Mail your "nomination" to the regional chairman of the ECEYOR Committee. What a wonderful way to acknowledge all the hard work a member or couple of your club does each year! I Didn't Know That... In trying to put together a pictorial history of the AFMS, I was a little light on CANON CITY, COLORADO, the site of the 5th AFMS Convention, June 1952. I believe the reason for the convention at Canon City was the nearby site of the World Famous Garden Park where the first complete dinosaur remains were found. Each year professors came with their students to do field study there. So there was a real interest by rockhounds. There were a few articles in the various rockhound magazines, the Mineralogist, Gems and Minerals and Earth Science Digest. I found some interesting things about the convention mentioned but there were no pictures..... I sent a letter to the Historical Society of Canon City and to my great surprise they sent back reams of items. It was a really big thing to the city at the time and they covered it in the newspaper with great interest. The local high school was the location of the event. The exhibits, programs and dealers were located there. A big event was the meeting at The Terrace restaurant overlooking the Royal Gorge. There was a buffalo barbecue on the high school football field with a western band and of note a band of famous Indian dancers. All this was in news articles with pictures. A picture of the high school from their annual of that year was sent to me. A picture of The Terrace Restaurant was also sent. A picture of one of the Indian dancers was there along with an article about the Indian group. There were several pictures of those who exhibited at the show and it was noted the Home Economist teacher, Mrs. Shirley Lakin fed the delegates in the Rose Room at the school, assisted by students. There were a number of local people involved in the event. It was hosted locally by the Canon city Geology Club, and regionally by the Rocky Mt. Federation. Some of the lectures were by Al Look of Grand Junction, Colorado who's book "In My Back Yard" was the basis of his lecture; Dr. H.H. Nininger of the American Meteorite Museum spoke on "Out of the Sky", Richard Pearl, 1949 AFMS President, spoke on "Pegmatite Dikes", and Dr. Carl A. Moore of Oklahoma University spoke on "Canon City Embayment." There were visits to a Cripple Creek Gold Mine, "The Molly Kathleen." And a tour of the local Ideal Cement Plant. In the "Mineralogist" there was an article by June Culp Zeitner who mentioned staying in a primitive mountain park with a group of other rockhounds about 12 miles from Canon City. If you are driving to Moab, Utah this year in October for our national show and convention, do consider the possibility of stopping in Canon City and visiting the Dinosaur Depot in town. They can tell you if the Garden Park Fossil Area is open to tours at that time of year. (The BLM overseas the site) And the Terrace Restaurant, located at the Royal Gorge, a truly beautiful spot, and is still open. The iron bridge is still there and there is an incline tram there you can take to the bottom of the gorge. And to the north of Canon City there is the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. These suggestions are subject to the time of year of the event in Moab. Visiting some of these sites may not be possible because October is the beginning of the fall/winter scheduling. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon, something of real interest, is closed on October 15. No exceptions. So if you want to visit, you'll have to see it before the convention and show in Moab. And do remember, these are out of the way places, do consider going in a group rather than a single car. What fun to go back and read all the articles about the early shows and conventions. If you have any early memorabilia of any of the national shows, please send it along or if you can't part with it, copy it and send it to me. I am still hoping someone from the Midwest will come up with information and especially pictures of the 1950 convention and show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I have only a few articles about the event that were published in the various magazines. Perhaps you could ask some of your "senior members" to see if they have any memorabilia from that show. I have recently received a number of items of interest from Ruby Lingelbach, Past President of the Rocky Mt. and Jean Wallace, formerly Bulletin Aids Chairman and now Historian of the South Central Federation. There were wonderful programs of a number of national shows and helped fill in some of the blanks. More next month.... Please keep me in your thoughts when you are cleaning out your closets and boxes of early history....
I'm Back Reminds me of the little kid, who, when his Mother told him "I'm back!", he said "Have you been gone?" Yep, I've been gone...spent over two months in the Southwest, and slid between the nasty storms that have plagued Texas and Oklahoma! Good timing, we missed all the nasty weather coming home! While in Quartzsite, I attended the SCRIBE (Special Congress Representing Involved Bulletin Editors) meeting. Whoops! I need to stop right here, and make a correction in my last message...l had missed the fact, and Shirley Leeson pointed it out at the meeting ... also include the name of the city and state on the cover of your bulletin. I had asked Pauline Price, RMFMS Club Publication Chair to address the problem of "Copyrights", and report at the meeting. In her report, which follows, she also encourages editors to become members of SCRIBE, and gives the information needed to join. I highly recommend it. RMFMS Club Publication April 2000 - Pauline Price, RMFMS Club Publication
Chairman: Special Congress Representing Involved Bulletin Editors. Have you as Editors heard of this group? If not, you should investigate, and become members of SCRIBE as soon as possible. This group meets in Quartzsite during the Quartzsite Pow Wow, on Saturday the last day of the show at the Senior Citizens Center on Moon Mountain Road at 8:00 AM (Next years date will be January 27, 2001). We are planning to have a SCRIBE meeting at the AFMS and RMFMS Show and Convention in Moab, Utah in October, 2000. This will be in connection with the Editors Breakfast, time and place will be included in the packets at the show. (By the way the 800 number of the headquarters hotel was not included in the handouts, it is 1-800-831-6622). The officers of SCRIBE are working with the AFMS to see if there can be more recognition of this group in all of the Federations. This is an international group, all of which are Rockhound related Editors. Each editor in our Federation should be a member. If you have neglected to send in your dues, any member who has not paid for 1999 will be dropped from the roster. 2000 dues are now due. $6 single and $8 for a couple inside continental US. Outside the US $7.50 per person. Make check payable to S.C.R.I.B.E., and mail to Treasurer Julie Salisbury, 14158 Riverlake Dr. Covington, LA 70435-4785. New members need an application. Write to Julie or phone 504-867-9887 or e-mail <julio@gsverio.net>. Shirley Leeson was at the meeting and asked each of us for help in locating any of the early pictures and programs of the Conventions. (Shirley is AFMS Historian). She is working hard to find items that have been lost over the years, from the 60's and before. She would like to hear from you so that she can have a great display at the convention this fall. Also at the meeting, was Kitty Starbuck, AFMS Club Publication Chairperson. There were two things she reported, that you who entered the contest must be aware of, one, no contestant will see the scores of their entries until they are announced at the Editor's Breakfast, and two, there will be no copyrighted material accepted this year. Next years applications for entry will have the notation on the item. If you have been using the internet, you may have seen the arguments over copyright material. This has caused great concern to many Editors. The copyright laws are complicated. Kitty asked me to address this problem at the meeting. The copyright laws were last revised in 1978. Diane Dare mentioned that the Software Act of 1980 modified existing copyright protection to include software programs. This has only served to complicate things even more. Since I have returned home, I have learned that we are not the only ones affected by these laws. Professional publications are also concerned. There are groups now working with our Congress to try to change and simplify these laws. I have been told that I would be informed on this action, and will pass it on when I hear of any changes. In the meantime, editors will have to get permission from an author, if the author wants to hold the copyright, that information must be included in the heading of the article so that editors know that they must get permission from the author to use the article. (Be sure the authors address is included if it's a copyrighted item). This will not be as hard as it sounds. Most of the editors and authors are not professionals, and if you have the notation on your bulletin that other clubs can use information in your bulletin, if proper credit is given to publication and author, and also discuss this issue with your own authors, there should be no problem. Just use the idea, and think how you would feel if you had written it, and not been given credit. Pauline Price From Pauline, back to Kitty ... Pauline is right! Authors and editors like to be given credit for articles they write ... wouldn't you? I know first hand, there are a lot of items, articles, tips, ideas, and New Year's Resolutions that I put, and have put in the Midwest Federation Newsletter, that have not listed me (Kitty) as the originator. So please, please, give credit where credit is due! While browsing through all of the exchange bulletins I receive each month, I have found the following, which appears on the front page each month of The Beehive Buzzer, the bulletin of the Beehive Rock and Gem Club, Ogden, Utah, Leora Alexander, Editor. It covers the 'Giving Credit" problem very well, and this is what it says: "Permission to reprint from the Buzzer is granted if credit is given as from (the original bulletin if copied, then via 'others" or 'et al" for those in between, and then) Beehive Buzzer with date of issue taken from." This doesn't necessarily need to appear on the front page of your bulletin, but if this or a similar statement were included, it would alleviate a lot of problems. As Long As You Don't Sell It!!! This is a very noble gesture on the part of Mr. Colburn, as he is
not in very good health, and like some of the rest of us, is getting up in years. He has spent his life, collecting and studying thundereggs, and his
main concern is to get this information out to as many people as possible... schools, universities, clubs, interested people, etc. We
purchased one of the CD's, and will report on it later. We have seen the If you are ever in Deming, make a special effort to visit the Deming Museum ... Mr. Colburn has donated his life long collection to them. It is a fantastic collection, and contains 'thundereggs' from all over the US. He is still collecting, and you should also visit his Geolapidary Museum. How Do You Keep Members? As I read the club bulletins which come to my home each month, I cannot help but notice that there are some clubs that seem to prosper while others merely "hang on". I've read of too many clubs that lament the fact that members join, do not become active, and then "drop out" after a year or two. Why? In other clubs, membership not only grows, but the newer members get involved with the club, bring in new members and are often the first to renew their memberships at the end of the year. So what's the secret? What does your successful club do to not only attract members, but more importantly, keep them? Does your club have a new member "packet"? What's in it? Do you have new member "get-togethers" or social activities? Orientation to your shop? Mentors? Field trips? Lots of different activities? What's your club's key to success? We are facing a change in the level of involvement in our younger people. The computer, internet, TV and other like activities have become "more important" for some than joining clubs, sharing with others, and doing for others. So what's the secret? Let's use this newsletter space to share ideas in keeping members active. I think we can all benefit by sharing ideas and while not every idea will work for every club, perhaps each of us can gain some insight that will help our own group to grow and prosper. You can contact me either by e-mail or snail mail. My address etc. is on page 7 of this issue. |
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