Page 1 N E W S L E T T E R F O R C E N T R A L B R E V A R D R O C K Brevard Gems Web address: www.centralbrevardgems.org Open Shop Hours: Sun. 1-4 PM; Wed. 9 AM-12 PM, 1-4 PM, and 6-9 PM; and Thurs. 6-9 PM. (except on meeting nights) A N D G E M C L U B V O L U M E 6, I S S U E 4 A P R I L 2 0 1 7 REMINDERS: Next regular meeting is April 6th at 6:00 p.m. at the Merritt Island Library. I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : Meeting Minutes Meeting Minutes Continued March Presentation Speaker 2 3 3 In Memoriam 4 Birthdays 4 March Presentation Pictures 5 Calendar 6 April s Mineral Special Raffles Club Officers & Reminders 7 8 9 President s Message We are making progress. Welcome back Lucy! Craig has ordered up some wheels in case one of the grinders goes South on us. Roz has been shopping again she found a good quality metal cabinet for storage. Two procedures are forthcoming one dealing with locking out a machine and the other is the down and dirty on body fluids cleanup. Hope we never have to use either one. Pam, you done good excellent presentation last month. I ve heard a lot of chatter about doing dig. Will someone step forward; do the homework and get one started. I suspect it would be well supported. This month, Craig s Mineral ID talk will resume. Another great topic. Rock Swap swapping, trading and bartering are key words. KARS Park is the place on May 6. We ask each involved to kick in a nominal table fee to recoup our expenses. Thinking of adding finger food as a potluck. Feedback. Heard Tomoka is interested in coming down. Think we need to go easy on the SELL KARS is not a commercial operation. Picnic on track. Meat and drink on us. Signup for potluck and your choice of hotdog, hamburger or bratwurst. Don t forget the auction to follow Goodies being raffled off. Get your tickets now. April 22 is the day, noon is the time, and Picnic area 2 at KARS Park is the place. Tom Brown 2017 President
Page 2 Meeting Minutes CBRGC General Meeting Mar. 2, 2017 by Cheryl Ostman, Secretary Tom called the meeting to order at 1810 hours at the Merritt Island Library. Pledge of Allegiance. A quorum of 25 members present. Secretary report (Cheryl) Changes/Corrections for the record: No. Motion: Yes- Approved Treasurer s report was given by Eivor, filed for audit. Membership report : (Michelle) : 99 total members, 64 renewals, 3 youth, 6 lifetime Workshop report: (Tom-Craig) Everything is up and running, no equipment issues to report. Class Schedule: (Roz) Has been updated due to Lucy s injury and is posted at the shop. Show: Roz): Alternative venue is being pursued. Kiwanis pricing will escalate for 2018. New Business: 1) Picnic April 22 at KARS Park. Pot luck, signup sheet for what you will bring. Club will provide burgers/ brats/dogs/soda/water. Silent Auction by Emily and Mary. Club Auction by Bill Dewey. See Cheryl for 2) details. 2) Rock Swap May 6th at KARS Park. About 20 tables to display your wares to exchange/swap/barter. Finger food signup plans progressing. See Emily for details. 3) Top Notch Raffle - $5.00 per ticket. 1.) Jade Vase, 2.) Golf Outing at Rockledge C.C. 3.) Weekend on the Beach, Cocoa Beach. Break. Refreshments were served Presentation: Fossil group from Orlando gave an outstanding overview of fossil hunting in Florida. Fund raisers: Club mugs $5.00, Club Tote Bags $3.00, Patches $1.00, Decals.50. Other: Central Florida Mineral and Gem Society, Orlando Club is hosting a Rock, Mineral, Gem, Jewelry, and Fossil show April 29-30 2017 at the FL National Guard Armory, 2809 S. Fern Creek Ave., Orlando 32806. Show times Friday: 1pm-6pm, Sat. 10am-6pm, and Sun. 10am to 5pm. Admission Adult $4.00,
Page 3 Meeting Minutes Continued Students $2.00 uniformed Scouts free. Web site: www.cfmgs.org. Contact phayes3@cfl.rr.com or call Betty Sumner, Club Secretary (407) 816-1229 Meeting raffle was not held due to presentation and time constraints. Meeting was adjourned at 1945. March Presentation Speaker Russell Brown from the Florida Fossil Hunters gave a great presentation! See more pictures on Page 5
Page 4 In Memoriam Louis Nickolopoulos died at home Tuesday evening, March 21. Lou, with wife Sue, retired from New Jersey to Florida in 1995. He and Sue joined CBRGC in 1995 and became avid jewelry artists. Lou did bead knotting and stringing which was quite a contrast to his career in law enforcement. Sue did faceting. Lou became Club President in 2000 while Sue was Show Chairman. They had a booth at the club show from 1998 through 2016. Lou was a member of the last Bylaws Committee in 2015 which Sue chaired. We will miss his wit, intelligence, humor, and greatly appreciate his many contributions to the club over the last 20 years. Happy Birthday to our Members born in April! April 10 Eric Odegaard April 12 Dick Cunnion April 19 Tina Perez April 26 Joan Linindoll April 28 Steve Storm
Page 5 March Presentation Pictures
Page 6 Calendar April classes will be announced at the meeting on April 6th. Club members must sign up at a meeting. If you are interested in a class, please contact Roz. Roz roz.mestre@att.net or 321-431-0159; Opal and Wire Wrap Class Michele at raymich06@bellsouth.net; Cabbing Class Mario at rok3269@gmail.com; Silver Casting John at j.catana58@gmail.com; & Glass Fusing Lucy at 321-794-0697.
Page 7 April s Mineral Star Blue Quartz Alabama s State Gemstone Quartz is an abundant mineral in Alabama rocks. Several varieties of quartz are valuable as gemstones, including the popular amethyst variety. Alabama's state gem is the Star Blue Quartz, (SiO2,) Silicon dioxide. It is one of the most beautiful gemstones on earth, and the cheapest because there are so many. There are also other states with quartz. With the approval of a bill proposed by Senator Don Hale, Cullman County, the star blue quartz was named the official gemstone for the State of Alabama by Act no. 90-203 in 1990. Most quartz is a souvenir of volcanoes, which melt silica, which is then carried by water into crevices, where it crystallizes. Such quartz often includes traces of other minerals picked up by water flowing underground. Crystalline form of silica SiO2, one of the most abundant minerals of the Earth's crust (12% by volume). Quartz occurs in many different kinds of rock, including sandstone and granite. It ranks 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness and is resistant to chemical or mechanical breakdown. Quartzes vary according to the size and purity of their crystals. Crystals of pure quartz are coarse, colourless, transparent, show no cleavage, and fracture unevenly; this form is usually called rock crystal. Impure colored varieties, often used as gemstones, include agate, citrine quartz, and amethyst. Quartz is also used as a general name for the cryptocrystalline and noncrystalline varieties of silica, such as chalcedony, chert, and opal. There is different colored quartz. New Hampshire has smokey, South Dakota rose, Arkansas and Georgia star blue. Quartz is made into glass, eyeglasses, electrical components, abrasives, and gemstone and building stone. Some forms of Quartz, especially the gemstone forms, have their color enhanced. There is a transparent sky blue form of Quartz crystals, as well as a wildly iridescent type that are synthetically colored by irradiation of gold. In some localities, Hematite forms a thin red or brown layer internally in the Quartz crystal, giving it a natural bright red to brown coloring, and sometimes even a mild natural iridescence. Information from ereferencedesk.com, Minerals.net Physical Properties of Star Blue Quartz Chemical Formula SiO 2 Chemical Classification Cleavage Color Crystal System Crystal Forms and Aggregates Fracture Luster Silicon Dioxide Indiscernible. Seldom exhibits parting. Colorless, white, purple, pink, brown, and black. Also gray, green, orange, yellow, blue, and red. Sometimes multicolored or banded. Hexagonal Crystals, which are hexagonal in shape, vary in shape and size. Quartz crystals are unique and very identifiable with their pointed and often uneven terminations. Crystals can be in enormous prismatic and stubby crystals, or in pointed aggregates of such crystals. Crystals are usually striated horizontally, and are sometimes doubly terminated. Quartz crystal habits include drusy, grainy, bladed, as linings of geodes, as rounded waterworn pebbles, radiating, as pointy pyramids on a matrix, as dense agglomerations of small crystals, massive, globular, stalactitic, crusty, in nodules, and in amygdules. Conchoidal Vitreous. Transparent, colorless Quartz crystals from a few distinct localities may be adamantine. Mohs Hardness 7 Specific Gravity 2.6 2.7 Streak Transparency Tenacity White Transparent to opaque Brittle
Page 8 Special Raffles Buy your tickets for the special raffles! Drawings will be at the Rock Swap on May 6th. You do not have to be present to win. Tickets are $5 each. Raffle #1 Beautiful Jade Vase donated by club member Rich Spechler. Raffle #2 Weekend Getaway at the Ocean Landings Resort in Cocoa Beach. Enjoy a three-day, two-night stay in a one bedroom condo. Raffle #3 A Round of Golf for Two at the Rockledge Country Club.
Page 9 Club Purpose: The purpose of this club is to foster interest in and to promote knowledge and appreciation of minerals, gems, fossils, and the earth sciences. We also disseminate information and instruction in the lapidary arts and the utilization of precious metals in our crafts. These purposes are accomplished through regular meetings with informative programs, workshops, study groups, and field trips. Officers: OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Tom Brown (321) 632-6572 tbrown2045@cfl.rr.com 1st Vice President: Pam Felski (321) 459-1422 PFelski@cfl.rr.com 2nd Vice President: Michele Huntington (321) 799-8536 raymich06@bellsouth.net Secretary: Cheryl Ostman (321) 890-7530 rickostman@yahoo.com Treasurer: Eivor Brown (321) 632-6572 eivor99@cfl.rr.com Directors: Bill Dewey 2017 Shop Location: Sara Fellows 2017 407 Imperial Blvd, Unit D Emily Holston 2018 Cape Canaveral, FL Bill Felski 2018 (Imperial is located off A1A just south of the Port) Member of Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc. - www.amfed.org/sfms/ Affiliated with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies - www.amfed.org Reminders Raffle tickets for a Weekend Getaway at Ocean Landings, Round of Golf for 2 at Rockledge Country Club, and a beautiful Jade Vase will be sold at the April & May meetings! Have a suggestion to improve the club? Contact any officer or board member. Get involved! Mary MacLaughlin, Editor (321) 322-7907 cbrgc407@gmail.com Deadline for items for May newsletter is April 21st. B R E V A R D G E M S
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