Sedona Red Rocking News

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1 Sedona Red Rocking News Sedona Gem and Mineral Club P.O. Box 3284, Sedona, AZ sedonagemandmineral.org Newsletter Editor: Marge Herkenham, February 2007 VOLUME 52, ISSUE 2 MEMBER AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MINERALOGICAL SOCIETIES MEMBER ROCKY MOUNTAIN FEDERATION OF MINERAL SOCIETIES February General Meeting is Tuesday, 7:00 pm, Feb. 20, at the Sedona Library off of Dry Creek Road in West Sedona. Guests are welcome. The Board of Directors meets at 5:00 pm the day before the General Meeting, this month only at Kelly Quester s house, as the library will be closed Feb. 20 for Presidents Day. Any members are welcome to attend and participate in input. The program for the February 20 meeting will be given by Ernie and Debbie Leschner from the Wickenburg area, where they have lived for 14 years. Debbie, who had a career in Human Resources, is the Arizona representative to the Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies (RMFMS). Ernie has been a rockhound for 40 years and owned a turquoise mine outside of Tucson. Debbie will talk about the RMFMS, which is made up of Gem and Mineral clubs in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona. She will bring us up to date on the latest information from the RMFMS, including the exciting details about the gem and mineral show in Roswell, New Mexico sponsored by RMFMS and the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AMFMS), to be held next June. Ernie will share information from his vast rockhounding and gold-prospecting experience and be available to talk individually to people who have questions about their metal detectors. They will also show a portion of a DVD called Rock Hounds, the Movie, which features a section on crystal hunting in Mt. Ida, Arkansas. We will see how it compares to the crystal hunting at Diamond Point! For information about the Rocky Mtn. Federation and the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, visit these websites: (There is also information about the Roswell show in June on the websites.) Raffle Highlights for the evening include the traditional and popular raffle of fascinating mineral specimens, supervised by Ev Orsborn and Storm Cozy. Refreshments (Cookie Time) will be presented by Judy Feldman (Refreshment Committee) and provided for us this month by Shelly Petluck, Janet Walters, and Marie DePaepe. So it s That Time of the Year Again Dues are Due. Dues time is here again. Our dues become due for every member in January each year. Pay Ray Cooke at meeting, or mail to 97 Pinon Woods Dr., Sedona, AZ ($10 per member, or $20 for family.) March is the last month when you can get your dues in, and still get put on the new membership list, and also continue to receive the Club newsletter. The April newsletter will include a new membership list; until then, you ll have to make do with the old one. If you need one of the 2006 lists, request it from Rose Marie Licher RMFMS: AMFMS:

2 Sedona Gem and Mineral Club February 2007, Page 2 Field Trip The field trip wil be on Feb. 24 to Diamond Point, which is east of Payson and north of State Highway 260. Meet up at Diamond Point. The quartz points can be fairly easily dug out. For more information, phone Steve Kluck at or be at the Feb. 20 General Meeting. Steve will be up at Diamon Point all weekend, and members would be welcome to stay over and also meet him on Feb. 25. Steve will have maps and directions at the General Meeting. For general information The Saturday following the General Meeting is usually the field trip date, unless there is some special reason to set another date. Executive Board Meeting Minutes for Monday, January 15, 2007 TOPICS AND DECISIONS: EXPECTATIONS: The Board reviewed expectations for Board & General Meeting minutes. PROGRAMS: Linda reviewed the proposed 2007 program with the Board. Actions were taken regarding programs: Saturday June 9 was set as the annual picnic date. May 22 and October 9 were adopted as substitute General Meeting dates due to conflicts with the Library s schedule. The Board determined that September 18 was the best fit for Members Night activities if reminders can be sent to members in late summer to generate interest for this meeting. Actionable items: Linda Yee will poll the membership at the upcoming General Meeting regarding interest in a field trip to the Meteorite Studies Center and the Mining & Mineral Museum. Linda will check with other clubs regarding reasonable stipends and food and lodging allowances for guest speakers. Pat will provide handouts on the Quartzsite and Tucson field trips at the Jan. 16 meeting. General Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, January 16, 2007 Several topics were communicated to Club members prior to introduction of the guest speaker. Dues for 2007 are to be paid promptly to Treasurer Ray Cooke so the membership roster can be updated and published. Communicate new addresses to Membership Chair Rose Marie Licher to ensure continued receipt of the newsletter. A committee has been formed to organize the October Sedona Gem and Mineral Sale. Volunteers were encouraged to note their interest on a signup sheet. The committee s kickoff meeting is set for Thursday, February 15 at 1:00 pm in the Quiet Room of the Sedona Library. Linda Yee asked members to pay special attention to date changes for several upcoming General Meetings. The Club s calendar of events was adjusted due to conflicts with the library s schedule. A handout was provided. The Club s picnic is scheduled for Saturday, June 9 at Pat McMahan s house. The holiday party is scheduled for Tuesday, December 4 at St. Andrews Episcopal Church. Linda Yee polled the members to determine interest in a field trip to the ASU Center for Meteorite Studies and the AZ Mining & Mineral Museum. A date has not been set. Guest Speaker Nora Graf, Park Ranger at the Jerome State Historic Park and Museum, was the guest speaker for the evening. Nora s talk was accompanied by photographs of the mines, the mining baron families, and the unique minerals discovered in the Jerome area. Examples of minerals were available for viewing. More information on Jerome s colorful mining history can be found in the Club s January Newsletter. At the following business meeting, Bernice Brown encouraged members to communicate well-wishes to Sam Ward, Dorothy Bennett, and Dick Clay. Twelve new members, including a family of five, joined during the evening. Pat McMahan provided handouts on the January 24 Quartzsite PowWow and the February 7-9 Tucson field trip. Potential Tucson attendees were asked to put their contact information on a handout sheet for Pat, who is the Tucson field trip coordinator. Pat McMahan asked for a volunteer, who owns a heavyduty truck, to move the Club s 20 ft. trailer to Linda Kappel s property in Hidden Valley (Minutes submitted by Janet Walker, secretary) A Heartfelt Loss of a Faithful Club Member In our Club s memory, we haven t had such a blow as this sudden loss of a long-time active member. Ethel Woodruff was faithfully at that Greeting table so long and so cheer-

3 Sedona Gem and Mineral Club February 2007, Page 3 fully it s hard to believe she won t be there any more. And behind the scenes, she capably and just as cheerfully folded and stamped all our newsletters for mailing, and was happy to be contributing something to our Gem & Mineral Club. She had a lucky touch at winning raffle specimens too. But it was her essential goodness that shone through all she did, and the interest she showed in all the people she came in contact with that makes her so memorable to us. Her daughter Nancy Bihler, who also has contributed much to our Club, especially in participating in the Rock Sales, has written the following about her beloved mother. ETHEL I. WOODRUFF Ethel I. Woodruff, 89, resident of Sedona, passed away on January 26. Born and raised in Chicago she graduated with honors from Nicholas Senn High School in She and her husband Duane (Woody) Woodruff Jr. moved to Sedona in They were life-long partners for 59 years. Ethel worked for an insurance company and a department store in Illinois; however, her true profession was Homemaker. She adored her family and home. Ethel was extremely proud of her Swedish heritage and enjoyed a fascinating visit to Sweden as a young girl with her parents, Oscar and Esther Peterson, who immigrated to the U.S. in She was fortunate to meet all of her Swedish relatives. was an avid reader, visiting the Sedona Public Library weekly. She also enjoyed gardening and birds. Hot dog roasts during 4-wheeling trips in the boonies with family and friends thrilled her and she developed an instant love for the Sedona outdoors and the aspen forests. Every year she had to hug an aspen tree. Until two weeks before her death, Ethel diligently worked out in the Sedona Racquet Club gym up to four times a week, walking on the treadmill, using weight and rowing machines, and chatting with her younger friends. Ethel will always be remembered for her love of life and desire to learn new things, and especially her gentle kindness. She had an incredible ability to listen and was genuinely interested in everyone. She loved people and was constantly cheerful and friendly even when she was in pain or sick she never complained. She always had a smile. She will be dearly missed by all. Ethel is survived by her brother, Raymond Peterson of Chicago; her son and daughter-in-law Philip and Sheila Woodruff of Pennsylvania; two grandchildren, Sarah and Michael Woodruff of Pennsylvania; daughter Nancy Bihler of Sedona; a special Sedona Daughter, Mary Schroeder; best friends Elaine Marstad of Sedona and Pat McMahan of Cottonwood; and Fred Bihler of Sedona and his family in the Midwest. She is preceded in death by her husband Woody and a brother, Robert Peterson of Chicago. She was an active member of the Sedona Gem and Mineral Club for over 10 years, served as the official greeter/registrar at monthly meetings and shows, and was responsible for the distribution/mailings of the monthly newsletter. One of her dreams had always been to go on a rockhounding field trip and in 2005, at the young age of 87, her dream finally became a reality. She joined with members of several Arizona and California clubs at an outing to the Paulsell Ranch, a 60,000-acre ranch next to the Petrified Forest in Holbrook, AZ. With a cane and portable oxygen, and the help of her friends, she was able to explore a small area loaded with the beautiful petrified wood, proudly collecting over 20 pounds of small pieces for her collection at home. In addition to rock collecting, Ethel loved challenging crossword puzzles, playing cards and board games. She

Sedona Gem and Mineral Club February 2007, Page 4 We Wish to Take Notice of, and Welcome, our New Members.

I now have a pretty accurate updated list, although I won t guarantee there are no errors at all.

284-9252 Cunningham, Linda 284-0560 Gorchesky, Mark 282-3694 Hilker,Vivian 284-6830 Hunter, Tish 307/690-5535 Icken, Viola 554-4067 Kasner, Sally 592-0224 Keller, Karen 282-2236 Mahew, Antoinette

757-897-9600 Topp, Rita 284-1570 Walters, Janet 284-1339 Walters, Jerry 284-1339 Remembrances from a Very Succesful November Field Trip Our Club had a field trip to the Club s mining claim, which is

4 Sedona Gem and Mineral Club February 2007, Page 4 We Wish to Take Notice of, and Welcome, our New Members. Your editor has gotten behind in keeping track of the numerous new members we ve acquired since last September. I now have a pretty accurate updated list, although I won t guarantee there are no errors at all. So here is the list: Ammann, Kurt Ammann, Lynette Berry, Anne Cozy, Storm Crosman, Anne S Cunningham, Linda Gorchesky, Mark Hilker,Vivian Hunter, Tish 307/ Icken, Viola Kasner, Sally Keller, Karen Mahew, Antoinette Mills, Aubrey Paxson, Lucrezia Perry, Ben Perry, Edward Perry, Ian Perry, Olivia Schwartz, Marjorie Sutton, John Topp, Rita Walters, Janet Walters, Jerry Remembrances from a Very Succesful November Field Trip Our Club had a field trip to the Club s mining claim, which is down Salt Mine Road, south of Camp Verde. The claim is for agate. A very happy, successful day was had by all. Jerry Walters sent me a group of very good photos he took that day, and I ve selected a few to put in this newsletter. Fossil Collecting Bill Introduced into the US House (From American Lands Access Association-Jan.23, 2007) The ALAA organization listed above is the legislative and political wing that is a part of the American Federation of Mineral Societies (AFMS) of which we are a member. a fossil Collecting Bill HJR 554 Paleontological Resources Preservation Act was introduced into the US House of Representatives by Congressmen McGovern of Massachusetts and Renzi of Arizona. A similar bill was defeated in the last session of Congress. Casual collecting would be allowed as seen appropriate by the govenment land managers. [Big loophole in interpretation here - editor]. Possible violators as so determined can face property confiscation including all paleontology resources. Let s get the word out and contact our Representatives and Senators urging a vote AGAINST this legislation. Remember that new restrictions on fossil collecting today could well mean restrictions on minerals and cutting rough tomorrow. Also do not forget to include a letter to Speaker Pelosi who can determine when this bill is brought out of committee and onto the House floor. Carolyn Weinberger AFMS Editor

5 Sedona Gem and Mineral Club February 2007, Page 5 Holes in the Ground Buried Crater in Virginia Excerpted from article by Michael E. Ruane Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 23, 2005 (This should be a timely learning lesson for us since the Club is planning a trip to the Meteorite Museum in Phoenix.) A white fireball two miles across thunders from the sky at 30,000 mph and crashes into the ocean off the Virginia coast. The impact vaporizes billions of tons of water, rips a hole in the sea floor six miles deep and fractures the bedrock far into the Earth. The splash is 30 miles high. Debris is lofted over the horizon and rains down on an area of 3 million square miles, as distant as the Antarctic. Towering tsunamis surge toward the Blue Ridge Mountains. Nearby life ferocious-looking sea creatures and dog-sized proto-horses along the tropical shoreline is blasted and then swept into the abyss by the boiling ocean. A calamity of unimaginable scale, it is probably the most stupendous geological event ever on the East Coast. For more than a decade, geologists have believed that a gigantic object, an asteroid or a comet, struck the Earth north of Norfolk about 35 million years ago in a cataclysmic occurrence that left behind a 53-mile-wide, long-buried crater. An international team of scientists, seeking clues to the origins of the planets, has assembled in a windblown bean field near the crater s center to try to determine, among other things, exactly what happened when the object struck. Since early last month, the team has been working with a large drilling rig that uses diamond-tipped bits and brings up core samples to bore through eons of sediment toward the floor of the crater and the place where the impactor hit, believed to be about 7,000 feet below the surface. This is so big that we can t really picture it, said David S. Powars, a U.S. Geological Survey geologist, who said he first suspected the presence of an impact crater in the 1980s. The whole nuclear arsenal in its heyday: Russia, China, U.S. would be just a firecracker compared to what this explosion would be. Impact science is fairly young, the geologists said. As recently as 20 years ago, the study of Earth impacts by rocks from heaven, as Dypvik put it, was considered crazy. The Earth s visible craters were thought to be remnants of volcanoes, he said. Gradually, the scientific community realized that the Earth, like other planets, had been peppered over billions of years by renegade objects streaking through space. There are now more than 170 impact structures identified around the globe, more than 50 in North America. The Earth s biggest, 186 miles across, is at Vredefort, South Africa. The third largest, the 100-mile-wide Chicxulub crater on Mexico s Yucatan Peninsula, is believed to be the result of an impact 65 million years ago that blew so much debris into the atmosphere that it darkened the Earth for months and led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Jens Ormo, a Swedish crater expert working at the Chesapeake site for the Spanish space agency said that small impacts happen almost all the time on Earth. The big so-called hypervelocity impacts are quite rare. He said one of the most recent occurred about 50,000 years ago and formed Arizona s Barringer crater. Next month look for an article on another kind of hole in the ground man-made this time the Lavender Pit in Bisbee and its history. One-Liners off the Internet (gleaned by Mary Jane Cooke) Only in America...do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front. Only in America...do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke! Only in America...do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage. Only in America...do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering. Why is it that doctors call what they do practice? Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons? Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker? Why didn t Noah swat those two mosquitoes? You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don t they make the whole plane out of that stuff?! Why don t sheep shrink when it rains?

Mining and Mineral Museum, 1502 W. Washington St.; Sat.

Washington St.; Phoenix, AZ 85007, (602) 738-2552; e-mail: lkennedy11@aol. com; Web site: www.mines.az.gov. children under 12 free; contact Ron Luce, 1647 E. Skyline Dr.

6 Sedona Gem and Mineral Club FEBRUARY Newsletter, 2007 Volume 52, Issue #2 Feb PHOENIX, ARIZONA: 57th annual show, Phoenix Gem & Mineral Show and Prospectors Day ; Maricopa Lapidary Society, Arizona Mining & Mineral Museum, Arizona Prospectors; Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum, 1502 W. Washington St.; Sat. 10-4; free admission; gold panning, metal detecting, dealers, lapidary and wirewrapping demonstrations, kids crafts, jewelry making; contact Laurette Kennedy, 1502 W. Washington St.; Phoenix, AZ 85007, (602) ; lkennedy11@aol. com; Web site: children under 12 free; contact Ron Luce, 1647 E. Skyline Dr., Cottonwood, AZ 86326, (928) , or Richard Casmier, P.O. Box 556, Rimrock, AZ 86335, (928) June RMFMS & AFMS CONVENTION AND SHOW. ROSWELL, NM March COTTONWOOD, ARI- ZONA: 31st annual show; Mingus Gem & Mineral Club; Mingus Union High School, 1801 E. Fir St.; Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; adults $1 Fri., $3 Sat. or Sun., 3-day pass $5, Sedona Gem & Mineral Club P.O. Box 3284 Sedona, AZ 86340

Sedona Red Rocking News Sedona Gem and Mineral Club

Sedona Red Rocking News Sedona Gem and Mineral Club P.O. Box 3284, Sedona, AZ 86340 sedonagemandmineral.org Newsletter Editor: Marge Herkenham, herk@commspeed.net October 2007 VOLUME 52, ISSUE 7 MEMBER