Rockhound Rambling. First Class Mail. The Ventura Gem and Mineral Society presents: Visit us on the web!

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1 Angela D. Brown Editor, Ventura Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. P.O. Box 1573, Ventura, CA First Class Mail photo of the month (See inside for details) scribe.rbnet.net/ Visit us on the web! The Ventura Gem and Mineral Society presents: In this months issue: The Official Bulletin of the VGMS Our 71st Year CFMS Awards Golden Bear to Jim Brace-Thompson, pg. 5 Rockhound Rendezvous in Review, pgs. 6-7 CFMS Lodi Show in Review, pg. 11 s; Agates in Scotland, pgs

2 Ventura Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. (VGMS) P.O. Box 1573, Ventura, CA Purpose of the VGMS: Promote popular interest in, sponsor and provide means and activities, which will result in the dissemination of information and knowledge in geology, mineralogy, paleontology, lapidary and similar sciences. Conduct lectures, classes or study groups to further education and interest in the aforesaid sciences. Make and exhibit mineral collections. Club Central 2015 Elected Officers Committee Chairs Club Membership Dues $20 - Single $30 - Family/Couple (1 bulletin) includes Children < 19 Years $17 - Students >17 Years + 12 Units Pebble Pups <13 years No Charge Regular Meeting 7:30-9:30 PM at The Poinsettia Pavilion Santa Paula Room 3451 Foothill Rd, Ventura, CA January through October: 4th Wednesday of the Month. November and December: 2nd Wednesday of the Month. Anyone may attend and are welcome. The December meeting is normally a Holiday party. Location is announced elsewhere in the bulletin & may vary. Field Trips Announced monthly in the bulletin and at the regular meeting. See also: President Diane Cook 1st Vice President - Programs John Cook 2nd Vice President - Field Trips Jim Brace-Thompson 3rd Vice President - Show Chair Open Treasurer Nancy Brace-Thompson Recording Secretary Greg Davis Membership Secretary Richard Slyker Federation Director Kathryn Davis Bulletin Editor Angela Brown Ways and Means Maria Flores Hospitality Deb Sankovich Museum Jim Brace-Thompson Library Terry Wilson Website Terry Wilson Historians Lowell Foster Steve Mulqueen Hostess Shirley Layton Refreshment Schedule July - The Slykers August - The Brace-Thompsons Sept. - Open (Volunteers?) Annual Show The Club s Annual Gem Show is held the first full weekend in March at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Workshop/Museum N. Creek Road Ojai, CA Open Workshop Day: 3rd Saturday of the month. VGMS Club Colors Blue and Gold Parliamentarian Rob Sankovich Board Meeting 1st Thursday of the Month, 7:30PM. Union Bank Community Center, 801 S. Victoria Ste 200B, Ventura Clip Art Credits B&W animal/fossil clip art 2009, Florida Center for Instructional Technology Crystal & Mineral clip art Diamond Dan; Original clip art by the editor marked AB. This Month s Cover Photo: Taken by Jim Brace-Thompson Scottish Agate Nat l. Museum of Scotland All images are member photographed and submitted to Rockhound Rambling. Images submitted to the editor should be accompanied b y subject name and location. Selection is at the discretion of the editor. Submit images to: VGMSeditor@gmail.com

3 President s Message What a great Picnic and Rendezvous on June 20th. Super thanks again to Don Depue and Diamond Pacific for coming with all his equipment for members to use. He also cooked the pulled pork, which was great again! The weather at the clubhouse was perfect and the food was excellent. The silent auction had great selection to bid on and it great visiting with everyone. Over 50 rock lovers attended. It was great fun at the CFMS Show in Lodi. It was 104 degrees when we arrived, but it did cool down! VGMS had approximately 11 members attend the show. The kids booth was run by Jim Brace- Thompson, who recruited Nancy, Phyllis and Dick White, along with some others to man the booth. Mike Havstad was a speaker, and he and Terry Wilson won 1st and 2nd place with their cases. It was a great honor to award the first VGMS Novice Winner Kimberly Loe from the Roseville Club. Her Educational Case about the Sutter s Mill Meteorite was great. CFMS also voted and accepted VGMS s offer to host the 2017 CFMS/AFMS Show. We are gearing up to form committee heads now. If you are interested, please contact me. It s Fair time. This is a great time to share our hobby with the public. If you have any single items or have reserved a case, bring your gems and fossils on entry days, 10:00am to 5:00 pm, Friday July 24, Saturday July 25 and Sunday July 26. See you there! Rock On Team PINK. VGMS! Birthdays... 3 Table of Contents CFMS Golden Bear Award... 5 Chips & Boulders Club Merchandise Editor s Note... 2 Educational Corner Education & Community Outreach... 8, 9 Federation News... 10, 11 Field Trips Are Fun! Hospitality... 2 Let s Go To A Show! Meeting Minutes... 4 Membership... 2 President s Message... 1 Program Review & Schedule s: Agates in Scotland Thank You!... 3 Workshop News: Rockhound Rendezvous Diane Cook, VGMS President

4 2 Editor s Note Summer is here, and it s gettin hot! Make sure to drink plenty of water if you go to the clubhouse or out on a field trip! The Rendezvous was a warm one this year. Congrats to the winners at the CFMS show in Lodi! The Novice Best of Show trophy was handed out at the show, too, and was very well received. See the photo at right. And now that we know we ve been approved to host the 2017 show, please consider a position on our planning team. Since many of us were on the planning board for the one we hosted a couple of years ago, a lot of things were learned and will carry over. Interested? We will be announcing a date for the first meeting of the board soon; come then and see where you can help out. Rock n roll. Hospitality Angela Brown VGMS Editor vgmseditor@gmail.com At our June 24th meeting we had 32 members; 5 guests and 4 pebble pups! It was a great meeting. Deb Sankovich, Hospitality Membership The following new members are welcomed to the VGMS: Welcome New Members! Justin Brown and his daughter Kayli joined at our June Meeting. They reside in Ventura. We are always happy to have new pebble pups to share our hobby. Howard and Kristie Walther of Camarillo joined the Society at our June Rock Rendezvous. Howard retired from the US Navy and enjoys lapidary work. Kristie makes beautiful wire wrapped jewelry from Howard s polished cabochons. They show and sale their work at local fairs from their Lapidarygifts4U booth. The above members contact information is contained in the membership section of the VGMS web site. An addendum to the 2015 Membership Directory are available at the regular monthly meeting. The addendum lists new members information and corrections to the directory listings. We currently have the largest membership of Ventura County Gem and Mineral clubs. Thank you for making the Ventura Club a success. Richard Slyker, VGMS Membership Chair 334 Wesleyan Ave., Ventura CA sbsven@hotmail.com

5 THANK YOU! 3 Biggest thanks this month goes to Ron Wise and all the members of his crew who gave us yet another terrific Rockhound Rendezvous on June 20. Huge thanks, too, to Don Depue and Diamond Pacific! (See article pages 6-7.) Thank you to Dick & Phyllis White, Nancy Brace-Thompson (left) and John & Diane Cook for helping man the Kids Booth during the CFMS Show & Convention in Lodi last month. (See page 11.) Thank you to Marilyn Fox (right) and Mike Morgan for educating our Ventura youth via a week-long summer program Marilyn taught the last week of June. (See page 8.) Thank you to Valli Davis who has been helping with our latest upgrade efforts in our museum room with new curtains. Thank you to Paul Dougherty (left) for his donation of the dinosaur egg and a great story to go along with it. We will be happy to display this for all to see and learn. Know of someone who has gone out of their way to help the club? a thank-you note even if to yourself to our newsletter so that a pat on the back can be passed along! August VGMS Birthdays Wishing you all a very Happy Birthday, and Many More! Mike Morgan Philip Kaminski Riley Coyner Marie Haake...August 8...August 14...August 28...August 14 Karen Foster...August 24 Lisa Rittenberg...August 25 Shirley Bromser...August 25

6 4 Meeting Minutes VGMS Regular Meeting - June 24, 2015 The regular monthly meeting of the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society was called to order by President Diane Cook at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at the Poinsettia Pavilion Center in Ventura. Diane introduced visitors and then asked for corrections, if any, to the previously printed board and regular meeting minutes. It was then m/s/c to accept the minutes. Members were led in the pledge to the flag. Old Business: Diane Cook : The new handbooks have been finalized and are being handed out. If you should see any corrections needed, contact Diane or any board member. The Rendezvous BBQ was a huge success. Thanks to all those who helped set up and take down. We desperately need someone to step up and oversee our Educational Outreach program which provides tours at our museum and presentations at schools. Educating young people is one of the primary purposes of our club. We also are in real need for someone to step forward and take on the position of show chair for our 2016 annual show! John Cook next introduced Mike Havstad, who gave a slide show and presentation on the CFMS-sponsored training camps given each year at both Zzyzx and Camp Paradise. Both are open to the public with first come, first served. Camp Paradise is located farther north and in the pines, and Zzyzx is located farther south in the desert. With a rustic setting, no frills but all the essentials, it s a bargain for the hobbyist who would enjoy a week to delve into any of many aspects of rockhounding. Next John introduced Paul Dougherty, who spoke to our group as a visitor and who, after seeing our museum article on the front page of the Ventura County Star, decided to attend our meeting. Paul described his years of hunting dinosaur foot print impressions in Utah and coming across an object of interest. After years of research and even going to the extent of paying to have this item x-rayed, it was determined to be a dinosaur egg! After deciding he d like someone who appreciates it and would use it to educate others, he offered it to our club! It was graciously accepted by Jim Brace-Thompson on behalf of our club museum and will be displayed with all the pertinent data and facts that go with this find. Thank you Paul Dougherty. Janie Duncan presents Stone Stories in July, and Dick Weber presents Rain Forest Jasper in August. New Business : Diane Cook: Lapidary training will continue for members on July 12, 9:00 am at Camp Comfort. Educational outreach will include a presentation for Girl Scouts of Moorpark. The first CFMS novice trophy, sponsored by VGMS and awarded at the Lodi show, went to Kimberly Lew of the Roseville club! Jim Brace- Thompson won first place for bulletin article and was also awarded the Golden Bear award. Mike Havstad won first place in the Educational Case category, and Terry Wilson won a third place in bulletin articles. Congratulations to all our club members who not only won awards, but entered and assisted with the show! Sign-up sheets are available for those who would like to take a knapping class at Camp Comfort. Set up for the Ventura County Fair starts July 10, with the Fair starting on August 5th. Entries go in July and Ron encourages all members to enter their cabs from the recent classes. Jim Brace-Thompson: Upcoming field trips include June 26 to Bishop, Sept to the Greenhorn Mts., and Oct to Jade Cove. The Aspen Academy of Minnesota exchanged mineral samples with out club. Terry Wilson: A picture gallery has been added to our club web page. Also, there are many helpful field trip guides available through our library check out system. Richard Slyker: Membership directories have been printed and are being distributed. Our club now has 115 adults and 8 pebble pups. Raul Barraza and Maria Flores awarded raffle prizes to winning ticket holders. Lowell Foster :Lowell is putting a history book together of our club. Kathryn Davis: The CFMS show in Lodi was a warm but great success with awards going to our own. Our club sponsored novice trophy will be awarded for the first time in Lodi. Our offer to host the 2017 show has been accepted. Angela Brown: Submissions to the bulletin are due by next Wed, July 1st. Refreshments were provided by Raul Barraza and Maria Flores. The next board meeting will be held on July 2, 2015, at the Union Bank, 801 S. Victoria Ave. in Ventura and the next monthly membership meeting will be on July 22 at the Poinsettia Pavilion, 3451 Foothill Rd., Ventura. There being no further business, Diane adjourned the meeting at 9:15 pm. Respectfully submitted, Greg Davis Recording secretary VGMS Board Meeting - December 2, 2015 Present : John & Diane Cook, Jim & Nancy Brace-Thompson, Angela Brown, Kathryn Davis, Dave Mautz, Richard Slyker, Terry Wilson and Greg Davis. The Board meeting of the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society was called to order by President Diane Cook on July 2, 2015, 7:30 pm at the Union Bank Bldg., 801 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura. It was m/s/c to accept last months minutes as written in the bulletin. Old Business : Diane Cook : The Rendezvous, on June 20th went well. New Business : Diane Cook : After discussion, it was m/s/c to allocate $ for the purchase of a new vacuum cleaner for the club house and other housekeeping materials. Saw cutting charges will begin this month with Ron Wise overseeing the process. CFMS has accepted our contract for the 2017 AFMS/CFMS show with the first show meeting being scheduled for August 23, 2:00 in the Union Bank meeting room. All are encouraged to attend. The matter was tabled but the idea of setting a price per lb for club yard rock was discussed. It was decided that our club will enter both a Society case and a Publicity case the this year s County Fair. Richard Slyker : After discussion, it was m/s/c to accept the membership applications from Howard & Kristie Walthers and Justin Brown & PP Kayli. Membership is now up to 119 memberships. Jim Brace-Thompson : Upcoming field trips include Jade Cove on September 20-24, North Edwards in October or November, and possibly La Brea Tar Pits in November or December. Work continues on the museum with curtain rods being installed, lighting upgrades by Blake and an idea for travel kits for school presentations. Kathryn Davis : Lodi was great. At the CFMS meeting, new rules for collecting, specifically invertebrate fossils was discussed. There have been changes made by the federal government but a clarification is yet needed and that will be forthcoming. John Cook : July s presentation will be Janie Duncan of the Monrovia Gem & Mineral club and Dick & Mary Pat Weber will present Rainforest Jasper in August. Angela Brown : Nothing new to report this month. The next club membership meeting will be held on July 22, 2015, at the Poinsettia Pavilion, 3451 Foothill Rd., Ventura and the next Board meeting will be on August 6, 2015, 7: S. Victoria Ave., Ventura. There being no further business, Diane adjourned the meeting at 8:50 pm. Respectfully submitted, Greg Davis Recording Secretary

7 2015 CFMS Golden Bear Award Presented to Jim Brace-Thompson 5 Our own Jim Brace-Thompson (VGMS 2nd VP, Museum & Educational Outreach Chair, and Past- President) received the 2015 Golden Bear Award for outstanding lifetime service from the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies (CFMS). In a letter nominating Jim, Susan Chaisson- Walblom credited him as a driving force in CFMS since In her letter, she noted that Jim single handedly developed the AFMS Future Rockhounds of America Badge Program modeled on programs offered by the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. It is available to rock clubs nationwide and includes 20 activity badges for kids to earn. Jim sat on the CFMS Executive Committee from 2007 through 2011, serving in turn as Secretary, 2nd Vice President, 1st Vice President, and President, and he currently serves as the CFMS Liaison with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County as well as CFMS Juniors Activities Chair and AFMS Juniors Program Chair. Additionally, he is a contributing author for Rock & Gem magazine with a monthly Kids Page containing childfriendly articles on rocks, minerals, and fossils. In 2014 he was inducted into the National Rockhound & Lapidary Hall Fame in the Educational Category largely for his role creating and maintaining the AFMS Badge Program. The Golden Bear Award was presented at the annual June CFMS Show & Convention, which took place this year in Lodi. Following a nomination and vetting process, the CFMS Golden Bear is presented in appreciation for and recognition of long, sustained, and outstanding service to CFMS beyond that expected in the usual course of CFMS activities. Over the past 79 years, CFMS has award 68 Golden Bears to outstanding individuals and couples. These have also included our own deceased members Ray and Florence Meisenheimer, who were recognized as Golden Bears in Other past Golden Bears from our local area include Bob and Jeane Stultz (former members of the Conejo club and both CFMS past-presidents) and Lois Allmen (a deceased member of the Oxnard club and a past CFMS and AFMS President). The California Federation of Mineralogical Societies is a regional umbrella organization governing more than 120 local gem and mineral societies across California, Arizona, and Nevada. It was founded in 1936 to bring about a closer association of clubs devoted to earth science studies and lapidary arts and crafts. CFMS sponsors an annual show and convention, awards college scholarships, hosts annual spring and fall workshops on jewelry making and the lapidary arts, sponsors field trips, and grants awards such as the Golden Bear. Nationally, CFMS is affiliated with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies. For more information about each, go to and -The above are extracts from a general CFMS Press Release issued about the Golden Bear Award

8 6 WORKSHOP NEWS Another Successful Rockhound Rendezvous and the History Behind It On June 20, VGMS hosted yet another successful Rockhound Rendezvous. Thanks to the vision and guidance of Ron Wise, we have kicked our annual club picnic to a whole new level these past 7 years. In addition to our own members, we invite and welcome members from the Oxnard and Conejo clubs. Plus, we enjoyed one very special occasion this year. Shortly before lunch, President Diane Cook called everyone to attention, and Ron and Jean renewed wedding vows on the occasion of their 50th anniversary with a ring goldsmithed at Quartzsite and with Lowell Foster serving as pastor. (It was actually their 51st anniversary, but as Ron said, I m always a day late and a dollar short, so let s call it 50 and do it! ) In attendance was Lynn Varon, Managing Editor at Rock & Gem, along with her son. She has asked that I do an article on our Rendezvous for the magazine, so between playing with machines, placing bids at the silent auction, and munching on lunch, I did interviews to get background on how our Rendezvous originally came about as an enhancement of our annual club picnic. Following is what I learned. During Ron s many travels into the Mojave and during stints at Camp Zzyzyx (the annual weeklong spring workshop of the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies), he has struck up a cordial relationship with the folks at Diamond Pacific Tool Corporation in Barstow, particularly with Don Depue. Diamond Pacific ( is the manufacturer of such lapidary machinery as the Genies and Pixies we play with in our club workshop. It was through Don that Ron worked to bring a so-called Demo Day or Fun Day to Ventura to augment our annual club picnic. It all started over a decade ago with a club in the Porterville/Exeter area. As Don relates it, all clubs have issues and a member of a club in Porterville wanted a fun day devoid of any issues. It would be a day to bring club members together in an informal event to interact and to play with lapidary equipment. No formalities, no debating or bickering over this or that, and what with Don supplying the equipment and heading set-up and tear-down no responsibilities. People would have a chance to try out machines they might not normally see, they would acquire new skills, they would interact and learn from one another and most off all they would come together and just have a great time.

9 7 Mel Hixson, a former VGMS member who has moved to Texas, had a summer cabin near Porterville. He had participated in one of those Fun Days, which had become an annual event, and he had told Ron of the experience. For the next two years, whenever he was in Barstow or on January visits to the rock shows at Quartzsite, Ron pursued Don to ask if a similar arrangement might be made with VGMS. Finally, Don agreed and there s been no looking back. It has become a welcomed VGMS institution that we ve christened our Rockhound Rendezvous and we look forward each and every year to seeing Don and to trying out Diamond Pacific machines, including Genies, Titans, flat laps, trim saws, band saws, ring saws, Foredoms, tumblers, and more. In addition to the machines, Don brings an assortment of slabs folks can purchase to cut and polish on the spot, along with basic lapidary supplies like Genie wheels, cabbing templates, grit and polish, books on lapidary arts, and more. This year s Rendezvous was 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. For a lunch break, Don provided pulled pork with funds supplied by VGMS. VGMS provided drinks and members brought side dishes, salads, and deserts for a huge potluck. Before and after lunch, members and guests tried out Diamond Pacific machines. We also offered the opportunity to swap or sell self-collected rock or fossil specimens and lapidary creations in an informal tailgate along with a silent auction. This year, the auction raised nearly $300, which more than paid for the lunch and supplies with a little left over for our shop supply fund. While Ron is the real engine behind our Rockhound Rendezvous, this day would not be possible without a concerted effort given the way it has grown. Although it remains a fun day, it does now come with responsibilities, and a good number of stalwart VGMS members kicked in to help with parking arrangements, set-up for a food station, set-up for Diamond Pacific machines, and layout for a silent auction while docents gave firsttime visitors to our facilities a tour of the place and of our club museum. Our thanks to everyone who pitched in this year and in years past. You gave us a wonderful time! Our VGMS Rockhound Rendezvous has evolved into a miniature version of tailgateoriented shows like the Orcutt Mineral Society show in Nipomo or the Stoddard Wells Rockhound Tailgate sponsored by the Victor Valley Gem & Mineral Club. At times Ron has visions of expanding the Rendezvous into just such a larger event but given that this would involve much more advance coordination, business licenses, an expanded venue to accommodate parking, and not least a concerted volunteer effort from club members who already host a big and active annual show each March, we ve put such visions aside and have kept the focus local and amateur. We concentrate on playing with Diamond Pacific machines and engaging in rock exchanges with members from our own club and from nearby clubs rather than expanding into a full-scale tailgate with professional dealers and wider publicity to draw in a bigger crowd. In short, thanks to the generous spirits of Ron and Don, and in line with those beginnings in Porterville, with our Rockhound Rendezvous we just seek to have fun and fun we surely had! Photos & article by Jim Brace-Thompson, Museum & Educational Outreach

10 8 Education & Community Outreach Marilyn Fox Engages Youth in Summer Program VGMS member Marilyn Fox is an English teacher within the Ventura Unified School District, but her heart has always been with rocks. She and husband Mike Morgan joined VGMS within the past year to engage more with the hobby, and as a teacher Marilyn especially has been interested in our education outreach activities. She has volunteered to help me with a project I ve been deferring for some time now, namely, to better organize our varied educational specimens and resources and to craft readymade educational tubs that members can easily grab and check out when volunteering to give presentations to area schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, scouts, and other kids groups. These will include tubs with big rock samples, hand-outs, and flyers on such things as basic mineral identification, forms of fossilization, earth processes and the three rock types, economic uses of minerals, etc. More immediately, this summer Marilyn taught a weeklong class to kids age 7-11 (2nd to 6th grade) in a program sponsored by the Ventura Education Partnership with Ventura Unified School District teachers. Held daily at Ventura High School from June 29 through July 2, sessions offered fun activities for kids to learn about planet Earth, rocks, dinosaurs, and fossils. Activities included hands-on rock and mineral identification, panning for gold, growing crystal eggshell geodes, making volcanoes, identifying dinosaurs, digging for fossils, making fossil casts, and making a fossil shark tooth necklace. Thanks go to Marilyn for helping promote the earth sciences via this summer program! Thanks also to her husband Mike for assisting her (and putting up with all the materials she scattered about their house), and to other VGMS members such as Diane & John Cook, Jim Brace-Thompson, and Raul Barraza, who have been providing materials and support, plus Lousia Carey and Brett Johnson from OGMS. Our VGMS museum has loaned educational specimens of rocks and fossils and dino casts to assist in the effort, and we re hopeful that more than one student might be inspired to take up our hobby and to goad their parents into joining VGMS! Photo by Pres. Diane Cook, article by Jim Brace-Thompson, Museum & Educational Outreach Rocks Received from Aspen Academy Rockhounds Earlier this year Michelle Cauley, leader of the Aspen Academy Rockhounds in Minnesota, had asked about doing a Rock Pals Exchange with VGMS, so in April I sent her a box with packaged and labeled specimens of Monterey jade pebbles and howlite nodules. In June, we in turn received Lake Superior agates and taconite nodules from Minnesota s Mesabi Iron Range. We distributed specimens to our junior members who attended our June meeting. If you have kids, bring them to the July meeting where we ll continue distributing specimens. Then one or two specimens will go into our club museum and any leftovers will go toward the Kids Booth for our annual club show. Photo & article by Jim Brace-Thompson, Museum & Educational Outreach

11 Education & Community Outreach 9 VGMS Highlighted by the Ventura County Star Last month, I noted reporter Hannah Guzik had interviewed me about rockhounding for an article she was assembling for the Ventura County Star newspaper in advance of the release of the latest Jurassic Park movie. She was especially interested in our VGMS dinosaur fossils and skull casts to tie into the movie. I ve been interviewed by reporters before, and the results didn t always seem to match my own recollection of the interview. I have to say, this time reporter Hannah did a darn good job. The interview was followed up by a visit to our clubhouse and museum rooms when Raul Barraza and Sharon Cunningham were giving an educational tour for a field trip by 18 kindergarten through second grade students (plus teacher Liz Cossairt and parent chaperones) from the Montessori School of Ojai. Other VGMS members in attendance included Jeff Geist and Diane Cook, with Ron & Jean Wise, Blake Hahn, and Richard Slyker on hand to do work in our saw room. A photographer for the Star captured Raul and Sharon s interactions with kids, and we saw a wonderful front-page article in the June 9 issue of the newspaper! Now if we can only figure out how to get this kind of attention from a reporter in the week leading up to our March show Our thanks to the Ventura County Star for highlighting our society s educational efforts and to everyone involved with the article. Upcoming Educational Endeavors? Jim Brace-Thompson, Museum & Educational Outreach As of this writing, we re still waiting for confirmation, but it looks like we have at least a couple of educational outreach endeavors in the making. Glenn Hunter of the Boy Scouts of America has contacted us to help their boys earn merit badges in July or August. Mike Havstad, who is registered to provide Boy Scout geology programs, has offered to assist at the Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center on July 11 or 25. Awaiting confirmation. In addition, some sort of kids club group associated with National Geographic has requested some sort of rocks and minerals presentation at the Pacific View Mall for kids spanning ages 2 to 13 on either July 18 or August 15. This is all we know at present. As details firm up and we learn exactly what they want, we ll decide if this is something we can do. Meanwhile, just a reminder that we welcome volunteers who can help with our educational outreach, especially anyone able to participate on weekdays for school visits. We can generally handle weekends, but weekdays present a challenge since many of our current educational outreach folks hold down full-time day jobs. Member Donates Items for Amer. Assoc. of Petroleum Geologists Convention Jim Brace-Thompson, Museum & Educational Outreach On June 20, mementos of appreciation were distributed to officers of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Pacific Section, who worked diligently in planning the annual 2015 Pacific Section AAPG convention held at Mandalay Beach Hotel on May 3 5, The mementos consisted of fossil whale bone from the Gaviota Beach area with a sample of shale from Modelo Canyon near Piru, both from the Monterey Formation. Steve Mulqueen donated 40 fossil whalebone specimens for this project. Photo & article by Steve Mulqueen

12 10 Federation News CALIF. FED. OF MINERALOGICAL SOCIETIES FEDERATION DIRECTOR S REPORT This report is based on an article written by John Martin for the AFMS Newsletter dated June-July Thanks to John for the research that he did. Much of this is paraphrased or quoted. The article regards major changes in Rules and Regulations for the collecting of fossils on USFS managed lands. The changes took effect on 18 May 2015 and the rules are now listed in the Federal Register. In brief, the RULE provides for the preservation, management, and protection of paleontological resources on National forest System lands (NFS), and insures that these resources are available for current and future generations to enjoy as part of America s national heritage. There are terms/definitions that are important to know. 1. CASUAL COLLECTING (rather than amateur, hobby or recreational) Casual collecting includes the ideas of happening by chance, not planned or expected, done without much thought, effort or concern, and occurring without regularity. These descriptions are apparently based on the Meriam-Webster definition of casual. Why is this definition important? The definition of casual suggest that the collecting occurs without intentional planning or preparation and that it occur in an area not closed to casual collection. No permit is required. 2. COMMON INVERTEBRATE AND PLANT PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES Common means plentiful and not rare or unique. It suggests wide-spread distribution, either a large geographical area or many areas. It is also evident that not all invertebrate and plan paleontological resources are common. Whether or not an invertebrate and plant fossil is common is determined by an Authorized Officer in accordance with Section of 16 U.S.C.470. Petrified wood is defined as a paleontological resource. 3. FOSSIL Any remains, traces, or imprints of organisms that have been fossilized or preserved in the Earth s crust. A fossil may or may not be considered to be a paleontological resource. Fossilized means preserved by natural processes 4. NEGLIGIBLE DISTURBANCE is used regarding casual collecting. Disturbance caused by powered and/or large non-powered hand tools would exceed the negligible threshold and would no longer be considered casual collection. 5. Casual Collecting is for non-commercial personal use. Collecting for research purposes is not collecting for personal use and would need to be authorized in accordance with section Non-commercial means other than for purchase, sale, financial gain or formal research. 6. REASONABLE AMOUNT A person may remove up to 100 pounds per calendar year and no more than 25 pounds per day. It is the responsibility of the collectors to ensure that they are casually collecting in an area that is open to casual collection and that the materials they collect are subject to casual collection. Items collected cannot be sold. The violator may be subject to criminal and civil penalties. The provisions of Sections of 16 U.S.C. 470 do not apply to material that was in a person s lawful possession prior to the date of the enactment of the Act (18 May 2015). Casual collecting means hand tools only. As John Martin notes, it looks like vertebrate fossils cannot be collected on USFS managed land. Club Field Trips do not fall under the definition of casual collecting For more information: ALAA Website: Kathryn Davis

13 11 CFMS Show & Convention in Lodi Federation News CALIF. FED. OF MINERALOGICAL SOCIETIES Although attendance was low and temperatures were high, the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies hosted a fun show in Lodi June VGMS members spotted at the show included Jim & Nancy Brace-Thompson, John & Diane Cook, Greg & Valli Davis, Mike Havstad, Dick & Phyllis White, and Terry Wilson accompanied by her mom. Jim was in charge of the Kids Booth and was amply supported by wife Nancy and by Dick and Phyllis White, as well as by John and Diane Cook. In fact, Dick and Phyllis went above-and-beyond and were an almost constant presence in the booth. A really big thank you, Dick and Phyllis! VGMS, as a club, helped by supplying our Dino Excavation Box for a free hands-on activity and our Treasure Chest to give kids free tumble-polished stones that had been donated by other Federation clubs and by the B-Ts. Also, as reported in last month s newsletter, VGMS members helped stuff grab bags in the weeks leading up to the show. As noted, attendance was low, so activity at the Kids Booth was a trickle, but all who volunteered reported a good time, and their efforts are appreciated. Thank you to all! During the Saturday night banquet, Jim was presented the CFMS Golden Bear Award, the highest honor presented by CFMS for outstanding lifetime service to the Federation. Mike Havstad was presented a First Place trophy in the Educational category with his meteorite display. In addition, Terry Wilson had entered a competitive exhibit for Lapidary and Jim entered a noncompetitive display on fossil fish. VGMS President Diane Cook had the honor to award the very first Novice Trophy (a new trophy sponsored by Mike Havstad s meteorite case. VGMS) to Kimberley Loe of the Roseville Rock Rollers for another meteorite display. (It was a good night for meteorites!) The next day, Jim received a First Place Trophy for Advanced Articles in the CFMS Bulletin Contest for his article on adventures in India and Thailand, and we saw several other VGMS awardees at the Editors & Webmasters breakfast, including second place in Advanced Articles to Steve Mulqueen, second place in Roseville Rock Roller s winning Novice Case. Diane Cook presenting Novice trophy to Kim Loe. Adult Articles to Terry Wilson, and third place in Adult Articles to Raul Barraza. In addition to activity at the Kids Booth and the awards garnered by VGMS members, Mike Havstad was on the list of program providers. Members who have been around awhile will recall the great presentation he gave to our club entitled Meteorites: A Gift or a Curse? He gave an updated version of that presentation in Lodi. Several VGMS members also stuck around at the end of the Show to help with tear-down, sweeping the floors and gathering up the trash bags Business proceeded pretty much as usual during the Directors Meeting on Saturday morning, with one notable vote: both the Executive Committee and the Directors voted to approve a show bid submitted by VGMS to host the combined regional/national CFMS/AFMS Show & Convention in There was only one vote recorded in opposition. Let the record show that negative vote was cast by Jim Brace-Thompson, the stand-in Federation Director for VGMS So hold onto your hats and roll up your sleeves: we ve got some work to do between now and June 2017 when we invite the entire nation to the Ventura County Fairgrounds! Photos & article by Jim Brace-Thompson, 2015 CFMS Show Juniors Booth Chair

14 12 JUNE Program Program Review & Schedule Our June program was great. Our very own Mike Havstad gave us a guided tour of Camp Paradise, A Rock Hound s Dream. The lapidary, silver smithing, wire wrapping, etc. Classes cover virtually all the arts of our hobby. I would like to thank Mike for the great presentation. A pilgrimage to Camp Paradise or Camp Zzyzx will teach you the basics to the professional, and all in a weeklong retreat. Mr. Paul Dougherty, who donated a spherical rock that could be a Dinosaur Egg, provided an interesting story of where the egg was found and it was his sincere wish the club displays his donation for all to see. It was an added special treat. Mr. Dougherty saw the front-page photo and article in the Ventura County Star (VCS) showing our great museum prior to the release of the Jurassic World movie. Thank You Paul for the great donation. I would also like say this was the direct result our community outreach activities and I would like thank all who worked very hard implementing school demonstration s and to Jim Brace-Thompson who wrote the great article for the Ventura County Star. JULY Program Future Programs The program for July will be Janie Duncan of the Monrovia Gem and Mineral Club. She will be talking about Stone Stories. AUGUST Program The program for August will be Richard Weber of the Conejo Gem and Mineral Club. He will be presenting Rain Forest Jasper of Australia. Samples will be available to view and he will provide specimens for our raffle. We have lots of great and interesting programs for your learning experience. John Cook, Program Chair

15 Field Trips Are Fun TRI-CLUB FIELD TRIPS (VGMS/OGMS/CGMC) ~ 2015 This is a tentative schedule. Please call your club field trip leaders to confirm that there is a field trip scheduled in the event of changes like unpredictable weather, etc. More trips may be added in the future. Please look for Field Trip fliers at the monthly meetings for directions, maps, etc., as well as the WhosComing site Field Trip Information (by sponsoring club): (VGMS) NEW Field Trip Leader; Jim Brace-Thompson Phone: ; jbraceth@roadrunner.com (OGMS) Oxnard Gem & Mineral Society - Facebook Field Trip page: Use the new sign-up page so we know you plan to come! Pick a trip, get location information, maps, and sign up! Here s the schedule of field trips being sponsored by the tri-clubs of Ventura County (VGMS, OGMS, CGMC) for the remainder of the year. As the dates for various trips near, full details will be published in the newsletter, posted to the website, and announced at monthly meetings. Ventura County Fair Set-up. Last weeks of July. Lots to do; can you help? Info coming soon! Contact VGMS President Diane Cook, johndianedaisy@yahoo.com. Ventura County Fair. Aug We need helpers to walk the gem building, clean glass and answer questions for visitors. (CGMC & OGMS) Green Horn Mountain, CA. Sept Rose quartz (lapidary grade), tungsten, sheelite, garnet, and epidote. Contact Rob Sankovich (CGMC), rmsorca@ roadrunner.com, or Carolyn Howe (OGMS), cswhowe50@yahoo.com. Searles Lake Gem & Mineral Society Annual Gem-O-Rama, Trona, CA. Oct :30am-5pm both days. Salt minerals (halite, hanksite), www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/ FLYER.htm. This is not an officially sponsored trip but one that members are encouraged to check out on their own. 24th Annual Big Sur Jade Festival, Big Sur, CA. Oct. 9 11; Fri. (Noon-6pm), Sat. (10am-6pm), Sun. (10am-5pm). See website: See website: Again, not an officially sponsored trip but one that members are encouraged to check out on their own. (OGMS) Paradise Road, Santa Barbara, CA. Oct.17, 8:30am. Meeting at Paradise Road Market, Santa Barbara. More information as trip gets closer. Epidote, rose quartz. Jade Cove, Monterey Co., CA (sponsored by CGMC). Oct Collect green Monterey jade (variety, nephrite) and California s state stone, serpentine. Reserve campsites early! For details, Rob Sankovich, rmsorca@roadrunner.com, or Chuck Borchart, chuck.cgmctrips@gmail.com 13 -Jim Brace-Thompson, 2nd Vice President/Field Trips

16 14 s Seeking and Finding Agates in Scotland Nancy and I enjoyed a wonderful rockhound rambling May 24-June 6 that extended across the country of Scotland. Accompanied by my mother, our daughter and her fiancé, we visited museums, skirted Loch Ness, saw geologic wonders on the Isle of Skye, made contact with a local lapidary club, collected beach agates in the rain, and oh, yes participated in our daughter s wedding. Come to think of it, wasn t the wedding why we were there? I almost forgot! (For those of you who never met her, Hannah is a former VGMS Pebble Pup now living in Edinburgh with her Slovakian husband, Peter Sidor.) As Lowell will be pleased to hear, in addition to the wedding, agates became a focal point of our trip. For its small geographic extent, Scotland enjoys a greater variety of agates than any other country, or so say the Scots. There s just one problem: although the variety is great, the quantity is not. And when you have a country where it rains twelve times each day, accessing agates under a twelvefoot mass of grass and peat is a feat in itself. (An American apparently once asked a boy in Scotland if the rain ever stopped, to which the wee lad replied, I don t know. I m only ten! ) Thus, unlike industrialscale operations enjoyed in Brazil or Idar-Oberstein, Germany, Scottish agate production has always been more of a cottage industry, and their agate variety is perhaps one of the best kept secrets in the rockhounding community. I certainly had no idea about it until researching for this trip. The heyday of collecting and working with Scottish agates was in Victorian times with Scotch Pebble jewelry made popular by Queen Victoria with her love of all things Scottish. Such jewelry typically consists of brooches with multi-colored agates and jaspers polished and set in silver. Our first encounter with Scottish agates came on day one at Mr. Woods Fossils, a rockshop just blocks from Hannah and Peter s apartment with a view of Edinburgh castle from the cobblestone street out front. He had a couple agates on display, but when we expressed interest, he opened a trapdoor on the floor, descended into what can only be described as a dungeon, and reappeared with a flat holding an assortment of small agates that had been cut and polished. We poured through the flat, seeking agate halves that matched then trying to figure out the exchange rate between dollars and pounds. When we asked how one acquires a really nice big Scottish agate, we were told in a thick Scottish brogue, Ya wait fer some-un ta die! Apparently, Scots hold onto the limited supply of agates nature has blessed them with. The next night, we found ourselves at 20 Maritime Lane in the Leith district of Edinburgh to meet up with a half dozen members of the Scottish Mineral & Lapidary Club (SMLC), including Chair Scott Porter, who had been my advance contact. Were it not for the accents and the thick stone walls of their 18thcentury clubhouse it was like walking in on a VGMS club event. It seems we rockhounds are the same the world over. They were gracious and welcoming and showed us a clubhouse containing a kitchen, library and meeting room, faceting room, gold- and silversmithing room, museum room, and a huge hall with an office and space for rock saws and grinding and polishing units. (Ron would be impressed: you could actually get to their saws and machines without tripping over buckets and miscellaneous boxes and supplies!) Their museum is impressive. It benefited greatly when a college donated their entire collection.

17 Members have also donated wonderful polished agates. Plus, it now also boasts a small collection of California minerals, gemstones, and fossils! The society got its start in 1958 with the passing of the last professional lapidarist in Edinburgh, Alexander Begbie, who passed along his knowledge of the craft to club founder Ron Bennet. The club is mostly focused on lapidary, especially working with materials they collect themselves from gold panned in Scottish streams, to agates collected from plowed fields and along beaches, to cairngorm or smoky quartz for faceting. I left them with 3 dozen lapidary rocks including California jade, Oregon and Hauser Bed thunder eggs, John Cook s blue chalcedony, Arizona turquoise, Utah variscite, and more. They, in turn, will be assembling and mailing a box in trade. When I told them I d be seeing The Heddle Collection the next day at the National Museum of Scotland, they chuckled Good luck with that! So they seemed genuinely surprised when I said that, in fact, I already had an appointment to meet the curator the next morning. Come 10:00 AM, that s where we were: not in the main building of the National Museum of Scotland, but in a new facility built within the past year that now houses their research collections. Mineral curator Peter Davidson and his boss Rachel Walcott provided a behind-the-scenes peek at The Heddle Collection. Matthew Forster Heddle has been described as the father of Scottish mineralogy. A chemistry professor in the late 1800s and early 1900s, he is said to have personally walked across nearly every square foot of the country and amassed the largest collection of Scottish minerals, now housed at the museum. He also published a 2-volume tome, The Mineralogy of Scotland (1901), which is still used by collectors today seeking promising localities to hunt s Modern jewelry made with Scottish agate. 15 rocks. What we were there to see, though, was just a tiny slice of the Heddle holdings, namely, his agates. ( Tiny is relative here since the agates in the collection number 1,300!) Because the facility was so new and all the collections had been transferred within the past year, we had the pleasure of being the first to unwrap agates in the drawers we examined. It was like Christmas! And I snapped photo after photo after photo. With our visit limited to two hours, we barely scratched the surface, but Peter has since issued an invitation to return whenever we re back an invitation I ll certainly take him up on! Backing up to the night before, after reviewing our itinerary Scott and others in the SMLC had suggested spots we might want to search for agates. He noted laws governing access and collecting are very liberal and common-sense based in Scotland and the UK. Thus, alongside general site-seeing (castles, Loch Ness, snow-capped mountains in The Highlands, stone-age monoliths and ruins, and whiskey distilleries), we did indeed get a chance to pick up Scottish agates of our own. Certainly not of the size and breathtaking beauty of The Heddle Collection, but agates nonetheless! We found small nondescript white nodules and zeolite minerals in Tertiary volcanic deposits on the Isle of Skye and an assortment of more colorful agates eroding out of 300-million-year-old andesites and basalts on the North Sea coast from Montrose south to Lunan Bay. Montrose hosts one of those wonderfully cluttered Victorian-era museums covering local history but also geology, and they, too, had a nice little display of agates. Even better, the welcoming lady behind the counter pulled out a map to show us just how to access nearby localities and where to park before continued next page...

18 16 Definition of the Month Sharktooth Hill Jim with an agate at Lunan Bay, Scotland. s unting! After hearing tales of local rockhounding from SMLC members and seeing their club collection, after seeing gorgeous specimens in The Heddle Collection, then visiting, photographing and actually picking up some agates at spots visited by Heddle himself, as something of a capstone at the end of our journeys, we found a few specimens of Victorian Scotch pebble jewelry so beloved by Queen Victoria. They were in an antique shop just steps from where Hannah and seeing us off with a cheery, Good unting! I had thought I would merely be photographing localities where Matthew Heddle had collected his agates but despite hundreds of years of collecting, we found that one can indeed still find agates on Scottish beaches, even during a hurried visit and while huddling against the rain. If we do return and we do plan to return! I m going to mail my rock hammer and pick ahead of me and will devote time to some serious good Looking for Ferryden beach agates. Peter got married in Edinburgh. We also found more contemporary agate rings, pendants, and cabs in a street stall selling locally crafted jewelry. We look forward to sharing these along with agates we collected and our many photos (as well as a few Scottish jokes) in a club program, so stay tuned! Sources: Nick Crawford & David Anderson, Scottish Agates (Lapidary Stone Publications, 2010). National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK, web site ( & personal conversations with Peter Davidson and Rachel Walcott on May 28, Roger Pabian with Brian Jackson, Peter Tandy, & John Cromartie, Agates: Treasures of the Earth (Firefly Books, 2006). Scottish Mineral & Lapidary Society, Edinburgh, UK, web site ( & personal conversations with Chair Scott Porter and others on May 27, Johann Zenz, Agates, Agates II, and Agates III (Bode Verlag, 2005, 2009, & 2011). Photos & article by Jim Brace-Thompson (Editor s Note: There were tons of great photos, and I m sorry I ran out of room, but you ll see some on the cover in coming issues) Educational Corner Sharktooth Hill is the most prolific vertebrate fossil site in North America. It is located northeast of the community of Oildale, surrounding the geographic feature known as Round Mountain in Kern County, CA. Within the past 160 years of detailed excavations, over 125 species of marine and non-marine animals have been identified from the abundant fossilized remains. These animals include, but are not limited to; sharks, bony fish, sea mammals, sea turtles, marine crocodiles and birds. Thousands of tons of fossil bones and shark teeth have been excavated and identified from this deposit, contributing significantly to our understanding of animal life that existed during the middle Miocene. The Sharktooth Hill region is currently recognized as a Registered National Landmark. This status is directly related to the scientific discoveries that have been made by exposing the fossil assemblage that occurs in this region. The Fossil Deposit: The Bone Bed at Sharktooth Hill is an informally named stratigraphic unit that is up to 4 feet thick, consisting primarily of an agglomeration of fossilized vertebrate remains of large marine animals. The Bone Bed occurs in the upper beds of the Round Mountain Silt Member of the Temblor Formation. The strata outcrops at hundreds of sites throughout the hills surrounding Round Mountain and extends laterally several square miles. Its age varies from million years old, having been deposited near the end of the middle Miocene.

19 Educational Corner The Inland Sea: An inland sea covered the present-day San Joaquin Valley during the Miocene, extending from what is now Salinas southward to the northern foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains. This inland sea was linked to the Pacific Ocean during the Miocene, enabling marine mammals and fish to migrate into the ocean basin. The Bone Bed was deposited along the southeastern margins of the inland sea, in waters as deep as 200 feet. One of the great mysteries of the Round Mountain Silt is why the bed is devoid of marine invertebrate fossils such as diatoms, echinoderms, foraminifera, gastropods and pelecypods. These organisms were usually common in marine environments during the Miocene. History of its Discovery: Prior to the 1850s, local cattle ranchers and sheepherders noticed bones protruding from natural outcrops in the hills surrounding Round Mountain. The occurrence of these fossil bones was not publicized until the region was explored by the geologist William P. Blake in Blake and a team of surveyors were charting railroad routes through southern California on one of the five Pacific Railroad Surveys that were conducted between Published reports of his fossil discoveries as well as the actual collected specimens were presented to the scientific community during the mid-1850s. Early Scientific Analysis of Fossils: In 1856, Blake s fossil collection, from what was later known as the Sharktooth Hill area, was analyzed by Louis Agassiz, a Swiss geologist, paleontologist and leading authority on vertebrate fossils. Agassiz s work resulted in the publication of numerous professional articles that led to the worldwide recognition of the significance of the fossil deposits at Sharktooth Hill. History of Amateur Collecting: The first known amateur collector to excavate fossils at the Sharktooth Hill deposit was Charles Morrice, an employee of Pacific Oil Company. During the early 1900s, Morrice excavated hundreds of thousands of fossils. Most of the specimens in his collection were donated to museums and universities throughout the world. Two extinct animals, identified from the fossils at the Sharktooth Hill deposit, have been named in his honor; Carcharias morricei, an extinct giant shark and Aulophyseter morricei, an extinct sperm whale. First Scientific Excavations: The first formal scientific investigation of the Bone Bed at Sharktooth Hill was conducted in 1924 by a group of scientists from the California Academy of Sciences (CAS). After many fossil-collecting trips to the area, it took several years to clean, identify and catalogue all of the excavated fossil specimens. This effort by the CAS led to the discovery of 18 new species of animals including mammals, birds, sharks, bony fish and rays. Museum Exhibits: Between 1960 and 1963, the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (LACMNH) assembled a group of scientists to conduct excavations at the Sharktooth Hill deposit. Heavy equipment was employed to remove overburden in order to expose the Bone Bed, the fossil-rich layer. This effort by the LACMNH led to the discovery of an almost complete skeleton of an extinct sea lion. The fossil discoveries contributed significantly to the Sharktooth Hill fossil collection at the LACMNH. The Buena Vista Museum in Bakersfield also has extensive collections and exhibits of Sharktooth Hill fossils for public view. Fossil Discoveries, Temblor Formation: The Bone Bed at Sharktooth Hill has provided the single largest assemblage of middle Miocene vertebrate animal fossils in the world as described by Karol McQueary in her article in a Southern California Paleontological Society bulletin referenced below. The following list details animals found as fossil remains from this area. A portion of the species were first identified and named from the Temblor Formation at or near Sharktooth Hill. Many of the listed animals became extinct sometime after the late Miocene. Marine Animals, Temblor Formation Non-Marine Animals, Temblor Formation Dolphins & dolphin-like mammals, 10 known species in all. Porpoise, 1 Sea lion, 1 Whales, 5 Sea cow, 1 Walrus, 1 Seal, 1 Marine turtles, 4 Marine crocodile, 1 Bony fish, numerous species Sharks and rays, 27 Birds, 20 Mustelid (weasel-like), 1 Amphicyonid (beardog), 1 Extinct dog, 1 Three-toed horses, 2 Rhinoceroses, 2 Desmostylus (hippo-like mammal), 1 Tapir, 1 Dromomercyids (dear-like), 2 Protoceratid (deer-like w/even-toed hoofs), 1 Gomphothere (elephant-like), 1 17 continued next page...

20 18 Educational Corner Geographic Location: The Sharktooth Hill fossil area is known by many other names including Round Mountain, Round Mountain Silt, Temblor Formation and Ant Hill. Ant Hill is located a few miles south of the common dig areas. Private collecting sites near Round Mountain are known as the Ernst Quarry and the Tohill Property. The Sharktooth Hill area is located north and west of Round Mountain Road in a remote area northeast of Oildale, CA. Access: The properties surrounding Round Mountain are privately owned by individuals or corporations and are behind fences and locked gates. The land is used for cattle grazing and oilfield operations. Access to the area for fossil collecting can only be achieved by permission on organized field trips. To inquire about field trips, call the Buena Vista Museum of Natural History & Science in Bakersfield at or contact The Ernst Quarries at Conclusion: The Sharktooth Hill area is the most prolific marine and non-marine vertebrate fossil localities in North America. The Bone Bed, within the Round Mountain Silt Member of the Temblor Formation, is the single largest assemblage of middle Miocene vertebrate animal fossils in the World. Numerous new species have been uncovered and identified from this unique deposit. Fantastic fossil discoveries will continue to be made, including the identification of new species, as a result of the ongoing excavations within the Round Mountain area. All who are interested in paleontology should visit Sharktooth Hill at least once in their life by attending an organized field trip to one of the many collecting sites. Source of Information: Refer to the recent article: McQueary, Karol, 2015, A Look at the History of Sharktooth Hill, Bulletin of the Southern California Paleontological Society, March-April 2015, pgs Also, review scientific publications and website articles on the subjects of Sharktooth Hill, Ant Hill, Round Mountain, Round Mountain Silt Member, Temblor Formation, the Bone Bed, Ernst Quarry, Los Angeles Museum of Natural History and the Buena Vista Museum. Written by Steve Mulqueen for the VGMS, July The Definition of the Month features words related to geology, paleontology, mining and desert history. Refer to other definitions featured in past VGMS bulletins under the heading of Educational Corner dating back to June 2001 available on the VGMS website at Illustration of the Month Ventura Gem & Mineral Society, Official Emblems These illustrations feature the early official emblems or logos of the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society. In 1944, the VGMS became the first gem & mineral club in Ventura County. At that time, there were only a few gem & mineral clubs in California. During the regular monthly meeting of the VGMS in November 1945, the issue of deciding on an official VGMS emblem was discussed. By March 1946, an illustration of two prospector s picks arranged in a crossed-fashion was prepared and submitted during the regular meeting by member Mr. H. L. Smith. At the time, his drawing of the two prospector s picks was voted-in as the official emblem. In April 1955, an illustration of the poinsettia was chosen as a second VGMS emblem to be used in addition to the prospector s picks. From this point on, the VGMS had two official logos. The City of Ventura was once known as the Poinsettia City as a direct result of the poinsettia crop that was grown in abundance by the local growers in the farm fields surrounding the city. Later, the City of Ventura was officially named the Poinsettia City by the Sea by the city council. During early 1958, the general outline of the County of Ventura appeared on the cover page of the VGMS monthly bulletins as one of three emblems. The crossed prospector s pick was later dropped. Today, the VGMS recognizes two symbols, exhibited separately, that include a modernized version of the outline of Ventura County as well as the poinsettia plant. Text written by Steve Mulqueen with data researched by Lowell Foster for the VGMS, July The Illustration of the Month features a drawing, sketch, pen & ink rendering, engraving print or any form of art rediscovered in books, maps, manuscripts and many other sources related to geology, paleontology, mining and desert history. This illustration was chosen for its educational content by the author. Refer to other featured illustrations from previous bulletins beginning in June of 2001 available on the VGMS website at

21 Chips & Boulders 19 Got something to sell, trade or barter for? Submissions do not have to be hobby-oriented, but you do have to be a member! Send your brief advertisement (and photo?) to the editor: VGMSeditor@gmail.com. Submission will be posted as soon as possible; the due date is the 1st of the month. FOR SALE - Rock: Onyx for sale: Yellow & White (Baja). Various sizes & shapes. Price - negotiable. Call Alix FOR SALE - Equipment: We were lucky enough to inherit some equipment from an estate sale recently. Please contact a shop steward for details or purchase, or come to a workshop weekend: 8 Grinder unit w/expanding drums & silicon carbide wheels - $25.00, Classic Industries glass-fusing kiln (12 x 12 ) w/supplies, ($150 new), 350 Watt, o - $75.00 Club Merchandise VGMS continues to have Club T-Shirts for sale. Priced to all VGMS members at $12.00 and any club member associated to CFMS $ Sizes S-M-L-XL-2X-3X. All profits go directly to the VGMS. Contact Diane Cook at johndianedaisy@yahoo.com to order. VGMS logo merchandise is available at Cafe Press! Everything from shirts, mugs and aprons, to mousepads, pajamas and jewelry. New items added regularly, too! Please visit or contact Angela at VGMSeditor@gmail.com for more information.