www.cochisecountyrock.org
“Finding
and Grinding Rocks in Cochise County, Arizona since 1962”
April 2008
This issue edited by Debi Breese
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Sunsites Gem and Mineral Club General
Meeting Minutes - March 10, 2008
President Don Hammer called the
meeting to order at 7 p.m.
The meeting began with a
presentation by John R. Ratje entitled, “Flight Through The Universe”. Mr. Ratje
is Assistant Director for Operations at the Mt. Graham International
Observatory and has been employed by Steward Observatory, the research arm for
the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona.
After a brief intermission, the
regular business meeting followed Mr. Ratje’s
presentation.
Don introduced new members and then
entertained a motion to approve the minutes for our last meeting. The
motion was moved, seconded, and approved.
Walter Sigel gave the Treasurer’s
Report. The current account balance is $2,047.31, and Certificate of
Deposit balance is $3,112.71. Don entertained a motion to approve the
report. It was moved, seconded, and approved.
Announcements:
A Lapidary class, led by Larry Strout, is held Thursday evenings at 6:00 and another led
by Irvin Pontious meets at 9 on Friday morning.
A silver soldering class taught by Larry Strout meets
at 10 am on Tuesdays. A Silver Smithing class, led by Keith McRoberts,
is held the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month.
The club has purchased a slab saw from Bob Fenner, which will ease the bottleneck for cutting slabs during the Lapidary classes.
A “Thinking of You” card was passed
around for Carol Pontious who is ill, giving members opportunity to express their thoughts to Carol.
Volunteers are needed to supply
refreshments for our General Meetings.
Don asked that all members fill out
the program survey as soon as possible.
We will meet for field trip on
Saturday, March, 15, at 7:45 a.m. at the Sunsites
Community Center and leave at 8:00 for the Lucky Cuss Mine in Tombstone.
Bob Fenner displayed an assortment of the types of
minerals to be found at this location, many of which fluoresce. High clearance vehicles only for this site.
Don opened a discussion of whether
our field trips should take place on Saturdays only or alternate with Sundays.
Some members can’t make it on Sundays because of Church services, but generally
everyone can participate on Saturdays. It was suggested that Don e-mail
all members to see if anyone objects to Saturday only field trips. Don will
follow this suggestion.
Following announcements, our rock
raffle was held. Barbara asked that those bringing rocks to be raffled
identify their composition and provenance for the benefit of those who win
them.
Don entertained a motion to adjourn
that was moved, seconded, and approved. Meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Brower
Sad News:
Carol Pontious
passed away, Saturday, March 29. There was a memorial service for Carol
at the Sunglow Ranch on Turkey Creek Road on Saturday, April 5th at 10
a.m. Her obituary is below.
Carol Kinley was born in Ridgway Pennsylvania,
November 25, 1956. She died on March 29, 2008 at her home in rural Cochise
County, Arizona. She was the only child
of Myrna and Glenn Kinley. Her childhood was fulfilling, including
activities in 4-H clubs, outdoor activities, and a love for horses. Carol was a
devoted mother to her child, Daniel Adam, born in 1984.
Carol met Irvin Pontious in 1987 and they
became "soul mates". They were a couple that did everything together! On June 5, 2000, Carol and Irvin were married
at the Maria Lutheran Church, Dagus Mines, Pennsylvania. Carol embraced and loved Irvin's children as
her own.
Prior to moving to Arizona, Carol was a 4-H leader and gave riding
lessons in her community. She was employed at Motion Control, Ridgway
Pennsylvania, for 24 years.
In August of 2002 Carol and
Irvin moved to Arizona and built a wonderful life together meeting special
friends and fulfilling many of their dreams.
If a person's character can be judged by
the friends they have, it is clear Carol was a very special person. Whenever there was work to be done, or if
there was someone in need, she was there to lend a hand. Carol was admired, appreciated, and loved by
those she worked with.
Carol's strong faith in God's
presence accompanied her when she was diagnosed with cancer. She faced her
illness with courage, never complaining, but focusing on the needs of others.
Carol is survived by her husband, Irvin Pontius, her son Daniel Goeger, her step children; Jennifer Anderson, Penny, Jason,
and Chip Pontious; nine grandchildren and a host of
relatives and close friends.
May God bless her memory. (From the program at Carol’s memorial.)
Before Carol’s health began to fail this past year, Carol and Irvin
participated in every Gem & Mineral Club activity. Irvin is teaching a lapidary class. Carol served as secretary last year, and I
think cooked at least one turkey for our Christmas party every year – she
volunteered to cook both a couple of years ago, but I thought that was a bit
much and found someone to cook the other turkey. Carol was a secretary in the Sheriff’s
Office, and most of the office was at her memorial including Sheriff Deaver. She worked
four 10-hour days in Bisbee, and then helped at Sunglow Ranch in the evenings
and on the other three days. DAH)
On
Saturday March 15 twenty members and two guests assembled in the Community
Center parking lot, Don explained the route we would follow pointing out that
we would be re-tracing the path that Coronado most likely followed from the San
Pedro River through Mule pass (Davis Road today) into the Sulphur
Springs Valley. We arrived at the sand
and gravel operation in Tombstone shortly after 9 AM and then maneuvered
through town to the Third Street entrance to meet the owner who led us to the
Lucky Cuss silver mine. After a short
orientation by Bob, we scattered out and found several interesting types of
rock. Later Bob found a better mine
complex further in, and we all relocated to those mines. We found white, black, yellow and blue
calcite, onyx, travertine, popcorn aragonite and
manganese dendrites in sizes from lapidary use to yard rocks. In fact, a major portion of the hill was a
solid white calcite outcrop with large crystals weathering out. Henri even found a large piece of silver
ore. Everyone got all the rocks
they wanted by 1 PM, and one member commented during the lunch break that if
you couldn’t find a rock that interested you here you probably couldn’t
anywhere. Several vehicles were riding
noticeably lower on the way out. We
thank Bob Fenner for arranging an excellent field
trip to a very productive collecting site.
We will go to French Joe Canyon in the Whetstones for bright red coral and nice jasper. Meet at 9 am on Saturday, April 19 in the south parking lot of Gas City in Benson – Exit 302 off I-10; we will leave promptly at 9:15. You will need high clearance vehicles but not 4 WD; once we turn off Highway 90 into the canyon we will be driving on rocks for the last mile or so to the wash. The site is generally flat with a couple of washes cut through it and coral can be found anywhere on the prairie as well as in the washes. Bring light digging tools, bags or pails, rock hammers, chisels and water. Also bring lunch, sun and eye protection, gloves and lawn chairs.
Membership
Dues
We thank all the Club members that have paid their dues in a timely manner. We thank Ed Fenn for the $10 donation to the Club that arrived with his dues payment. Donations to the Club are always welcome. If you have not paid your dues, please mail your checks to:
Sunsites' Gem & Mineral Club
P.O. Box 87
Pearce, AZ 85625
Silversmith classes are scheduled for the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month from 2 – 4 PM at the Lab behind the Fire Department.
Lapidary classes are in session
on Thursday from 6 to 9 PM and Friday at 9 to noon at the Lapidary Room behind
the Fire Station.
Come and join the fun for
lapidary, silversmith, and wire wrap lessons.
Interested, any questions? Call Irvin Pontious
for lapidary at 824-0110. Silversmith -
call Don Hammer 384-3105. Wire Wrap - call Larry Strout
826-3991.
Robert and Alicia Miller will examine rough gems, specimens, and materials collected from all over the world. They will show examples of big and small rough and cut sapphires, garnets of various types, cab rough, fossils, etc. They will examine and provide handouts on recognizing crystal structures in the rough, recognizing ruby origins from their color axis and general inclusions. They will also discuss the geological factors that bring about the formation of such stones and where logically they should be looked for.
Club
Calendar:
April May
3 Board Meeting 1 Board Meeting
14
Monthly Mtg 12 Monthly Meeting
19 Field Trip 17 Field Trip
June
7 Picnic
New Mexico Gem
& Mineral Clubs (from RMFMS.org)
New Mexico:
P.O.
Box 13718, Albuquerque, NM 87192-3718 Pres: Susan Seymour, (505) 877-3621;
suzannerox5@aol.com
Carlsbad: Road
Runner Gem & Mineral Club:
1801 Solana Rd., Carlsbad, NM 88220; Meets 1st Monday, 7pm at Senior
Recreation Center, 1112 N. Mesa; Pres: Frank Pierce, (505) 885-7676; e-mail:
marynixon@valornet.com
Farmington: San
Juan County Gem & Mineral Society:
P. O. Box 1482; Farmington, NM 87499-1482; Meets 4th Tuesday, 7:30pm
in Sun's Dining Room at San Juan College, 4601 College Blvd.; Pres: Duane Gustin, (505) 402-9742; dbgustin@msn.com
Las Cruces: Gem
Crafters & Explorers Club:
P.
O. Box 3091, Las Cruces, NM 88003; Meets 3rd Friday 6:30pm, (except
July & Dec) at Breland Hall, room 189, NMSU
Campus; Pres: LeRoy Unglaub,
(505) 524-9497; pathfdr@zianet.com
P.O.
Box 762, Los Alamos, NM 87544; Meets 3rd Tuesday, 7:30pm at
Christian Church, 92 East Rd.; Pres: Joyce Guzik,
(505) 672-0249; joy@lanl.gov
Roswell: P.O. Box 815, Roswell, NM 88203
Santa Fe Geological
Society, Inc.:
P. O. Box 1245, Sandia Park, NM 87047; Pres: Lee Winn, (505) 820-1085; e-mail:
rwinn@cybermesa.com
Silver City: Grant
County Rolling Stones Gem & Mineral Society: P.O. Box 1555, Silver City, NM
88062-1555; Meets 2nd Thursday, 6pm at Silver City Senior Center,
205 W. Victoria St.; Pres: B J Burch, (505) 388-4312; e-mail: mamafisch@aol.com
Truth or
Consequences: Sierra Gem and Mineral Society: 813 Gold; Truth or Consequences, NM 87901; Pres:
Leon Gorrell (505) 894-0559
Non-Affiliated
Clubs for New Mexico
Clovis Gem &
Mineral Society:
1587 BY 60-84, Clovis, NM 88101
Deming
Gem & Mineral Society:
P.O. Box 1459, Deming, NM 88031
Lordsburg: Rockamania
Gem & Mineral Society: 208 Motel Dr., Lordsburg, NM 88045
President Don
Hammer 520
384-3105
Vice-President
Henri Van den Bos 520 384-0288
Secretary Diane
Brower
520
826-4672
Treasurer Walt
Sigel 520-826-1009
Delegate
at
Large
Jack
Light 520-384-4774
Hospitality Coordinator Hanni Sigel 520-826-1009
Past
President Paul
McKnight 520 824-4054
Quote of the Month: Nothing grows in the shade, so fill your days with sunshine. - dlb
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Financial-Report January 1 - March
31, 2008 |
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BALANCE SHEET |
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Assets |
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Great
Western Bank; Checking Account |
1,882.64 |
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Great
Western Bank; CD 3.60% |
3,112.71 |
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Total Assets |
4,995.35 |
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Liabilities |
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Equity |
-4,610.26 |
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Total Liabilities |
-4,610.26 |
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Profit(+) |
385.09 |
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STATEMENT OF INCOME |
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Expenses |
Actual |
Budget |
Difference |
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Bookings |
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PO
Box rental |
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40.00 |
-40.00 |
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Stamps,
mailings |
|
80.00 |
-80.00 |
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Copying,
office supplies |
14.79 |
75.00 |
-60.21 |
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State
Corporation Commission |
|
10.00 |
-10.00 |
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Refreshments
& Supplies |
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50.00 |
-50.00 |
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Picnic |
|
75.00 |
-75.00 |
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Lapidary
Supplies |
400.67 |
500.00 |
-99.33 |
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Christmas
party |
|
60.00 |
-60.00 |
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Regional
affiliation |
|
315.00 |
-315.00 |
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Community
Center / Rent |
30.00 |
130.00 |
-100.00 |
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Speaker
honoraria |
100.00 |
250.00 |
-150.00 |
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Web
site |
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100.00 |
-100.00 |
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Sunsites Community Association |
25.00 |
25.00 |
0.00 |
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Field
Trip Fees |
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100.00 |
-100.00 |
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Miscellaneous |
40.99 |
50.00 |
-9.01 |
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Total Expenses |
611.45 |
1,860.00 |
-1,248.55 |
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Income |
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