Flatirons
Facets
Published by The Flatirons Mineral Club
Volume 44, No. 7 September/October
2002
Flatirons Facets
P. O. Box 3331
Boulder CO 80307-3331
Flatirons Facets is published
monthly by The Flatirons Mineral Club. The deadline for submission of articles
to Flatirons Facets is the 20th of each month. Permission is granted for
reprint if credit is given to the publication and author unless specifically
restricted.
The Flatirons Mineral
Club is a non-profit organization, established March 9, 1957, and dedicated to
developing and maintaining interest in all aspects of earth science and
associated hobbies. The club meets the second Thursday of each month at 7:15
PM. We meet at The
Senior Center, 9th and Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO. Guests and visitors
are welcome. Membership dues are $15.00 per year (beginning October of each
calendar year). People interested in membership can contact the club either by
writing to the above address or by attending one of the meetings.
There will not be an
October Newsletter. Deadline for the November Facets is October 20.
****************
September
Program (Sept. 12)
Paul Boni
Professor Bill Atkinson of the
University of Colorado will be talking to us about the depositional
environments of GOLD! For those of us with gold fever and in the spirit of
hunting for buried treasure, there will be a slide show of beautiful gold
specimens. Professor Atkinson brings a
lifetime of experience and
knowledge about economic metals deposits from around the world.
****************
October Program (Oct. 10)
Paul Boni
Amanda Cook will be talking to
us about the rich and diverse flora and fauna (plants and animals) of the
Florissant Fossil Beds. Amanda has quite a bit of experience in the area and is
something of a local expert. There will be a slide show (of course) and some
examples of the
fossils. This should be a good
one for the youngsters and for the paleontologically inclined.
****************
President's Corner
Evan D. Elliott
Hello to you all. Our picnic
was a success. Thank you to Charlotte Morrison for spearheading the grab bag effort,
and bringing us so many great door prizes. Alex Cook, we thank you for
doing so much to organize the
picnic.
This month past we had an
Antero trip and a Rampart range trip. Good material was found on both outings.
If you would like to be on a list of people interested in going on any
September or October club field trips that may develop after this letter goes
to press please give me a call.
The September Board meeting
(Mon Sept 9) will be held at the home of Dennis Gertenbach. The October
Board meeting (Mon Oct 7) has not yet been arranged. Call Evan Elliott for the details. See you at
the meeting.
****************
Dues Are Due October 1, 2002
It's that time again. Dues
are $15 per family. No matter when you
joined the club last year, we begin all over on October 1 of each year. Please
make check payable to FMC and bring it to the September or October meeting, or
send it to Melinda Thompson.
****************
Field Trips
At press time, no field trips
had been definitely organized. However,
Evan Elliott and Paul Boni are both trying to arrange
some field trips for the fall. So contact them to find out what's been
scheduled. In lieu of club-sponsored field trips, we have included in this
newsletter a few other events of interest to club members.
GEMSTONE
DEPOSITS OF COLORADO AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
A Symposium to be held at
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado September 7-10, 2002. Sponsored by
Friends of Mineralogy, Colorado Chapter; Colorado School of Mines Geology
Museum; Denver Museum of Nature and Science; and U.S. Geological Survey.
The symposium will precede the
Denver Gem and Mineral Show, theme "Colorado Gemstones", Sep. 13-15,
2002. All persons, amateur and professional, interested in the geologic
occurrence of gem minerals are invited to attend.
The symposium will include:
* Welcoming party, Friday
evening Sept. 6 at the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum
* Lectures, Saturday Sept. 7
and Sunday morning Sept. 8, at the Colorado School of Mines
* Sat. banquet; speaker, Dan Hansel,
Wyoming Geol. Survey, "The Great Diamond Hoax of 1872"
* Tour of Denver Museum of
Nature and Science, Sunday afternoon Sept. 8
* Reception at DMNS, Sunday
evening Sept. 8
* Field trips, Monday &
Tuesday, Sept. 9 & 10 (diamond-bearing kimberlites and Cripple Creek)
* A booklet containing the
program, extended abstracts, and field trip guides.
Speakers will include:
Dick Berg, Montana sapphire
deposits; Bill Chirnside, Utah pink topaz; Bob Cobban, Colorado blue corundum;
Howard Coopersmith, Kelsey Lake diamonds; Heather Douglas, emeralds of
northwestern Canada; Nelia Dunbar, origin of thunder eggs; Mary Garland, origin
of Montana sapphires; Mike Gray, rare and unusual gem minerals; Dan Hausel,
Wyoming gem occurrences; Mark Jacobson, Mt. Antero aquamarine; Bob Jones,
turquoise of the Southwest; Dan Kile. Del Norte agate; Bryan Lees, Colorado gem
rhodochrosite; Jay Lininger, Art Montgomery and the history of mining gem
minerals in Colorado and Utah; Pete Modreski, Colorado topaz; Jack Murphy,
Colorado gemstones; Jim Piper, gemstones of South Park & vicinity; John
Rhoads, Colorado peridot; Jim Shigley, Utah red beryl; Art Soregaroli, Zapot
pegmatite, Nevada.
Symposium registration fee:
$30.00 Saturday
evening banquet. $25.00
Field Trips:
$35.00 each (transportation
provided; you must also be registered for the symposium)
#1 Monday, Sep. 9 - State Line
diamond-bearing kimberlite district (attendance may be limited)
#2 Tuesday, Sep. 10 - Cripple
Creek gold (Cresson mine) and turquoise mines
Send payment for registration
to: Friends of Mineralogy, Colorado Chapter, P.O. Box 5276, Golden CO 80401;
make checks to Friends of Mineralogy. For further information please contact:
Pete Modreski, 303-202-4766 or Jim Hurlbut, 303-757-0283
DINOSAUR
DISCOVERY DAY
Step
back in time and come to Dinosaur Ridge National Natural Landmark, Saturday,
September 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. West Alameda Parkway at Rooney Road,
Morrison.
Road
closed to traffic for the entire day: walk the ridge or ride the mini-bus.
Dinosaur tracks left about 100
million years ago can be viewed close-up from the just-completed ramp at the
track site on the east side of the Ridge. Dinosaur bones about 150 million
years old are on the west side of the Ridge.
Guides from Dinosaur Ridge will
be at points of interest including the new covered interpretive seating areas
on the east and west sides of the Ridge. The "Vanosaurus," our
mini-van, will provide transportation over the Ridge. The route can also be
walked making use of the 17 interpretive signs, which describe the geological
and paleontological features.
Special
feature: Pancake breakfast, 9 a.m.-noon at the
Visitor Center. All-you-can-eat pancakes, adults $5, children $4
Special feature: "Dig
for dinosaurs" for children.
Dinosaur Ridge Visitors Center
16831 West Alameda Parkway
Morrison, CO 80465
303.697.DINO
DENVER
GEM & MINERAL SHOW, September 13-15, Denver Merchandise
Mart.
The theme of this year's show
is "Gemstones of Colorado".
The publicity poster features a beautiful necklace fashioned from Sweet
Home Mine Rhodochrosite. Volunteers are
needed for many tasks in conjunction with this show. Contact Alex Cook if you can help. In particular,
Charlotte Morrison and Lew Yoder will be in charge of our club table at the
Denver Show. We invite you to spend an hour or two helping out on the day you
attend the show, so Charlotte can take time away from the table. We tell the
public about our club in Boulder, and our activities. We must have someone at the table at all times to get one for
next year. The times are Friday 9 AM to 6 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM, and
Sunday 10 AM to 5 PM. There is a special party and program Saturday evening at
6 PM at the Mart, next door west. Our display is very different from those of
the other clubs: "Touch Me Rocks" with Braille labels. Call Charlotte
to volunteer and get on the list for a free admission pass.
BEAR
CREEK CANYON GEOLOGY TOUR Saturday, Sept. 21
Come learn about the geology of
Bear Creek Canyon on Saturday, September 21 (Field trip sponsored by Friends of
Dinosaur Ridge). Curtis Elder, a Friends of Dinosaur Ridge volunteer and area
resident will point out various geological features on the trip between Red
Rocks Amphitheatre and Evergreen during this tour. During the tour, we will
stop to look at Niobrara Limestone in Bear Creek Lake Park, an oil seep and
evidence of uranium mining near Hwy 285, the Lykins, Lyons, and Fountain
Formation in Morrison, and various intrusions in Bear Creek Canyon.
The cost for the program is
$5.00. Participants should meet at the Dinosaur Ridge Visitor Center at 8:30
a.m. and expect to return around 1 p.m. Participants should bring money for
lunch at BeauJo's Pizza in Evergreen or a sack lunch. Please RSVP and direct
questions to Matt Carey at (303)
697-3466 x.11.
FMC
ANNUAL SHOW, October 18-20, Twin Peaks
Mall, Longmont
Andrea Elliot, Show chair, has
lined up an impressive list of dealers:
* Silver N Stone
* Best Little Ore House
* Starlight Caravan
* Lovelasses
* JJ&L Rocks and Minerals
* Earthstones the Solitaire
* C & N Lapidary
* Tom McSherry
* Amethyst Rose
We will be passing around
volunteer sheets at our September meeting. Please think about how you would
want to volunteer. We can use your help at the club table, for security, for
grab bag sales, children's wheel and touch me rocks. Demon-strations of any
hobby related activity are both encouraged and desired! Share your talent with
the public. Contact Andrea to volunteer.
****************
New in the Library
We have received several new
books in the library this past month.
Fred Woodhouse graciously donated the following titles:
* Trophy Winning Facet Cuts by
Afton Giacomini
* Facet Cutters Handbook by
Edward J. Soukup
* Pro-Am Tumble-Grind,
Tumble-Polish Guide by A.V. Ridge
* Rocks and Minerals, A Golden
Nature Guide by Zim, Shaffer, and Perlman
* Gems and Jewelry by Joel Arem
* A Collectors Guide to Rocks
and Minerals by Tindall and Thornhill
John Hurst has donated copies
of Gems and Gemology from 1968 to 1971. He also has provided the club with two
Gemological Institute of America study courses, one on Colored Stones and one
on Diamonds.
These new additions, plus other
books on a wide variety of subjects on earth sciences, can be checked out from Librarian Dennis Gertenbach.
****************
Flatirons Mineral Club Officer Nominations for 2003
Our club could not exist
without the efforts of a core group of people who dedicate their time in
serving our club. The outstanding meetings, great field trips, and wonderful
educational programs are the result of these volunteers.
Each year we elect officers to
serve the club. The president, vice presidents, secretary, and treasurer serve
a one-year term. The three Board of Directors serve for two years. The nominees
for next year are listed below.
President Evan Elliot
First VP (Program) TBA
Second VP (Trips) Paul Boni
Third VP (Show) Andrea Elliott
Secretary Emily Epstein
Treasurer Gerry Naugle
Board of Directors Ray Horton
Dennis
Gertenbach
Lew Yoder
As you can see, we are still
searching for a volunteer to serve a first vice president in charge of
arranging for the programs at each month's meeting. If you would like to
volunteer for this position, please contact Dennis Gertenbach.
****************
Fossil Collecting Bill Introduced In Senate
Dennis Gertenbach
On July 12th, a bill entitled
the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act was introduced into the Senate
Bill S. 2727 is very similar the bill introduced into the House of
Representatives last fall, H. 2974. Both bills require a permit to collect
fossils on public lands, except for a "casual collecting exception."
The Secretary of the Interior or Agriculture grants these exceptions on a
case-by-case basis. The bill states that permits are granted to qualified applicants
for furthering paleontological knowledge or public education. The bill goes on
to describe who can curate fossils collected on public lands and the penalties
for violating this bill.
This bill changes how fossils
are collected on public lands. At this time, fossil collecting of invertebrates
is allowed on all National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands, unless
protection is provided for unique fossils found in an area. Currently,
collection of vertebrates is not allowed on public lands. The bill changes the
current regulations by restricting the collection of fossils on all public
lands, unless the Secretary of the Interior or Agriculture specifically allows
fossil collecting in an area.
The Senate bill was referred to
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, then the Subcommittee on
National Parks. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell is on this committee. A copy of
the Senate bill S. 2727 is available at
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-in/query/z?c107:s.02727:
or a copy can be picked up at
the next meeting. The House bill has been stalled in subcommittee since
October. Representative Mark Udall is one of 25 co-sponsors of this bill. The House bill H. 2974 can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.R.2974:
Members who would like to voice
their opinions on either of these bills are encouraged to contact their
senators and representative.
****************
Picnic a Success!
Charlotte Morrison
Our Annual Picnic was a success
at our regular meeting place on Saturday Aug. 17. At least 50 families attended
with plenty of food for all. Thank you to Andrea Elliot, Alex Cook and Melinda Thompson
for helping to organize this event, and to all the members who brought food.
All the minerals were on the
tables before lunch and the grab bags were filled with everyone either filling,
tying or counting. Four hundred bags for the Denver Show were soon ready! Alex Cook, our Council representative,
loaded them in his vehicle to take in September. An
additional 144 bags were
filled, but we had more minerals but no more cloth bags. After a brief
discussion of alternatives, such as paper bags, Jill Runions and Sue Furtney
volunteered to sew some more cloth bags. These will all be for our own October
show in Longmont. Trick and Jill packed up all the leftovers and will contact
Sue and David to fill the bags when they are sewn. If you would like to help,
call Jill.
Thanks to all who attended and
we will plan to prepare 2003 bags at a regular meeting. We will need 8000 or
more specimens! Start now to gather small specimens at your home. Wash them and
we will set a time to put them in the plastic bags with labels.
Out of town members in
attendance were Dave and Elaine McSherry. Their son Tom brought a guest. We said "Good-bye" to Ray, Susie,
Rochelle and Crystal Beiersdorfer who are returning to Youngstown, Ohio. Ray
invited us all to stop in and see him, and the superb mineral collection at the
Geology Museum on the campus of Youngstown University, where he will be on the
faculty.
****************
The Flatirons Mineral Club Shed
Charlotte Morrison
Our club needed storage for our
show supplies, and after renting a storage unit for a while, bought a Tuff
Shed. We keep our topographical maps, show case liners, electrical supplies,
and many rocks and specimens in the shed. We now have access to a gold sluice
for a member to check out. Call Ray Horton or Evan Elliott for a key.
While the grab bag rocks were
out for the August picnic we had an empty corner. Dick Kellogg, Terry O'Donnell
and Charlotte Morrison used the morning of Aug. 22 to take inventory and create
an aisle to remove the boxes for our Wheel Activity at the October show. The
boxes and buckets are numbered and Charlotte will make copies of the list for
anyone interested.
The City of Boulder has
purchased Valmont Dike for use by the Fire Department, and we will need to move
the shed after the October show. If you have connections with a Boulder area
business that would have room (smaller than a garage) and access for us, please
call Ray Horton. If we can't find a
location in the Boulder area, we do have an offer in Larimer County.
****************
Minutes of
the Board Meeting, 5 August 2002
Present: Paul Boni, Alex Cook,
Andrea Elliott, Evan Elliott, Emily Epstein, Dennis Gertenbach, Ray Horton,
Charlotte Morrison, Paul Ralston, Melinda Thompson, Brad Willkomm, and Lew
Yoder
The
meeting came to order at 7:30.
There was some discussion of
the upcoming picnic, assignment of duties, and clarification of deadlines,
timing, etc. Charlotte Morrison announced that Evelyn Lynch and Jeannie Hurst
have sewn many grab bags and thanks are in order. The Board agreed unanimously.
John purchased
5,000 plastic bags for grab
bags, and should be reimbursed for them. The Board voted to do so. Charlotte
needs more people to come on Wednesday nights to bag specimens.
Andrea Elliott reported that
the Show Committee had met, and we have enough dealers in attendance to break
even, at least, but more would be welcome. Discussion ensued. The Board voted
to go ahead with plans for the show, but to economize where possible. We should
be able to cut the advertising budget and still get the word out. Andrea will
try to obtain permission from the Mall to set up at 2 p.m. on Friday.
Ray Horton announced that the
City of Boulder has purchased the land on which the shed sits. The shed must be moved by November 1. While
Ray's health has improved, Dorothy has been ill, so someone other than Ray will
have to oversee the move.
Dennis Gertenbach reported on
the slate of candidates to fill Club offices in the coming year. A number of board members and officers have
agreed to continue in their positions, while others have declined. There are a
number of offices and at-large seats on the board that need to be filled. Dennis
will put together a slate for the election in time for publication in the
newsletter.
Respectfully submitted,
Emily Epstein, Secretary
Return to Facets Index
Return to Flatirons
Mineral Club homepage
Return to Boulder Community Network
home page
Updated 1/12/04