January Meeting is Monday the 14^th

Finding Coronado’s Route

The program for the January meeting of the Sunsites Gem & Mineral Club will be on “Finding Coronado’s Route: Crossbow Points, Caret-Head Nails, and other Oddments” by Gayle Hartmann. In recent years, a supposedly “dead” subject, the epochal journey of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado has come to life. This expedition, 1540-1542, from Mexico through the Southwest and into Kansas and back represents the first interaction between Europeans and Native Americans in the Southwest. Its general route is known, but its precise route is very poorly understood.

Lucky accidents in recent years have led to discoveries in New Mexico and Texas that have pinpointed campsites of the expedition. This talk will focus on those discoveries and on the artifacts that are diagnostic of Coronado and his time. Also, we will discuss some new ideas about specifics of the route in Southeastern Arizona.

Gayle Hartmann received a Master’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Arizona and has worked on numerous archaeological and historical projects for the Arizona State Museum and various archaeological consulting firms. She is a former president of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society and the Tucson Presidio Trust for Historic Preservation which has been involved in the reconstruction of the Spanish presidio founded in 1775 in what is now downtown Tucson.

Gayle, along with her husband Bill, worked together on the recent “Coronado Road

Show” in which a group of historians visited with ranchers and townspeople in several towns in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico to identify Spanish artifacts that might date back to the Coronado expedition.

Hartmann’s presentation will be at 8 pm on Monday January 14, 2008 at the Sunsites Community Center on Treasure Road. The public is invited to hear this fascinating presentation.

December Christmas Party

The Club Christmas party was a festive atmosphere, great food, and a jovial celebrating group of 34 members. Hanni Sigel did an outstanding job of organizing a wonderful party. Barbara Fenner's centerpieces created a festive atmosphere. Karen Grassell and Sandy Bugge each cooked a delicious 20 lb turkey and dressing and everyone else brought a potluck dish. We all ate too much, but we kicked off the Holiday Season in fine style.

The brown bag gift exchange with each member having a choice of picking a bag from the table with an unknown present or taking someone else's present certainly livened up the evening. Henri lost his first choice (a hand painted rock) to another member, but then got a similar hand painted rock on his second brown bag from the table. Joan lost a bottle of her favorite champagne and didn't find another one. Barbara then announced that one chair at each table was tagged and the resident of that chair won the centerpiece on that table - to Joan's delight - since Don had the tagged chair. Once again everyone helped with the cleanup in the kitchen and hall, and we had the center back to normal by 9 P.M. Our thanks to Hanni, her cooks, setup/cleanup crews, and Barbara's decorations for a great time. This Club certainly knows how to celebrate Christmas with fellowship and cheer.

January Field Trip

On January 27, Bob and Barbara Fenner will lead us to Joy Valley for fire agate and chalcedony. They report that the roads/trails are in fine shape for high clearance vehicles but not cars, the distance is 45 miles to Joy Valley and about an hour's drive from Willcox. Meet at the Safeway parking lot in Willcox at 8:45 A.M. on Sunday the 27^th. We will car pool as much as possible and caravan to the site at 9:00 A.M. Bring lunch, water, light digging tools, bags or pails, a spray bottle, lawn chairs, hats, shade, sun screen, long trousers and boots.

Sad News - Rock Club Member:

Sue Bishop passed away suddenly on the evening of Dec. 31st. There was a memorial service at the Dragoon Women's Club, 1871 N. Johnson Rd. in Dragoon (just a short distance from the intersection of Dragoon and Johnson Rds.) in Dragoon on Sun. at 2 PM. This news was forwarded to members whose emails we had.

Flowers can be sent to Rick Bishop at 4780 E. Little Wing Rd., Dragoon, AZ. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Friends of the Benson Library, 300 S. Huachuca St., Benson, AZ 85602 (Sue was a member of the library board). The Board has approved purchasing a book in dedication to Sue for the Benson Library.

Lapidary and Silversmith

Come and join the fun for lapidary, silversmith, and wire wrap lessons. Interested? Call Irvin Pontious for lapidary at 824-0110. Silversmith - call Don Hammer 384-3105. Wire Wrap - call Larry Strout 826-3991.

Club Calendar

January February

3 Board Meeting 11 Monthly Mtg

14 Monthly Meeting 16 Field Trip

27 Field Trip 28 Board Meeting

31 Board Meeting

March April

10 Regular Meeting 3 Board Meeting

16 Field Trip 14 Monthly Mtg 19 Field Trip

May June

1 Board Meeting 7 Picnic

12 Monthly Meeting

18 Field Trip

29 Board Meeting

Upcoming Regional Events

Mesa: January 4-6, 2008. Annual Flagg Gem & Mineral Show. Mesa Community College. Contact Ray Grant 480.814.9086 www.flagshow.info

Quartzite: January 4-13, 2008. Rock, Gem & mineral Show. www,tysonwells.com

Globe: January 18-20, 2008. 51^st Annual Gila County Gem & Mineral Show, Gila County Fairgrounds 3 miles north of Junction US60 & US70. Contact Andy Clark 928-473-3042.

Tucson: Tucson Gem Show, February 2 – 17 http://www.visittucson.org/visitor/events/gemshow/

Cottonwood: March 21-23; 32nd Annual Verde Valley Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Show Held at Mingus Union High School, 1801 Fir St, Cottonwood AZ. Display, Silent auctions, Raffles, exhibits, jewelry & lapidary dealers and supplies, fluorescent display, kid's activities. Hours: Fri & Sat 9 AM- 5 PM, Sun 10 AM - 4 PM Admission: Fri $1, Sat & Sun $3, 3-day pass $5. Parking: Free. Contact: Doug Evenson 928-634-0459, dougevenson@verdecomm.net, Mike Ramsey 928-634-0666 ramsey6264@yahoo.com

Some Arizona 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 1^st 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 4^th 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 2^nd 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

Deming Rock & Gem Society: 3460 W. 2nd St., Deming, NM 88030

Lordsburg: Rockamania Gem & Mineral Society: 208 Motel Dr., Lordsburg, NM 88045