By Fred Ott, CFMS President
Happy New Year!
I am very honored to be your Federation’s President for 2010 and promise to work diligently throughout the year to further the goals of the CFMS.
Starting this month, we will begin a process to expand the Federation by 1) developing methods of attracting new societies to the Federation and 2) providing information and opportunities to current CFMS Societies for increasing their membership rolls.
The California Federation has a long and wonderful history and owes a debt of gratitude to the many men and women who contributed so much throughout the years. The best way in which we can honor those who came before us is to see that the Federation continues to prosper.
While the value in “Growing the Federation” may appear obvious, there may be those who don’t understand the benefits, particularly in increasing each society’s membership. Here are just a few reasons:
- Societies that do not attract new members will eventually be forced to disband.
- If 15% of the membership “does all the work”, wouldn’t you rather have 15% of a large membership?
- Without “new blood”, the same individuals have to serve as officers and
directors each year, leading to “burn-out”.
Each month, I will be working with Elizabeth “Beth” Myers, Chair of the recently formed Membership Committee, to provide some “silver bullets” which have been instrumental in the success of several CFMS societies. These will represent the “specific actions” which led societies such as the Mother Lode Mineral Society and El Dorado Mineral and Gem Society to double and triple their membership rosters, now with over 300 rockhounds in each society!
Does your society have something to contribute to the conversation? If you have a success story, please contact me or Beth Myers so that it can be shared with the other societies in the Federation.
I invite you to come along for the ride!
Rockhounding is MORE than a hobby; it’s a PASSION!
-Fred
By Dot Beachler
With Sections 1 through 5 completed, there is one last Section to complete our book for 2009.
Section 6 refers to Government Agency and Legislative Relations.
Questions asked are:
Did members serve on Government Agency Committees?
Did members provide comments on agency proposals?
Did members contact congressional representatives concerning legislation affecting access/collecting?
Did club or members support access/collection lobbying organizations?
To support the above information the club could include pictures, certificates, and thank-you cards.
Remember our own lobbying group—ALAA. Any club and/or member can join ALAA. With Section 6 completed,
recheck the book for grammar, spelling and neatness.
The notebook should be just large enough to hold the club’s entry.
Remember the due date for books to enter the judging is February 28, 2010.
- Dot
By Marion Roberts
I’m happy to say that the first Desert program held in the late fall did turn out very well.
The only real problem came in the form of very early darkness.
I have no real indication why we had a shortage of RVers, but it did lead to a shortage of participants.
Two last minute cancellations left us with a total of 57 people, instead of the average of 62-64 in past years.
Everyone had a great time and did accomplish a huge amount of fantastic projects.
The wild life this year was great as we were exposed to the usual Coyotes,
many variety of birds, big horn sheep, cottontail rabbits, and a pair of pesky, cute, a
nd friendly grey fox, of course we also had numerous variety of mice,
but not as visible as in past years due to the fox and coyote presence.
Between Tommy Sand, John Martin, John Christiansen, and Vivien Roberts,
I Can only guess the number of pictures taken , probably somewhere between 1000-2000.
The field trips as usual were excellent and produced a lot of good material, thanks to Field Trip Leader
Frances Pandean, who has decided to take a break and made this his last year as field trip leader
for the Zzyzx program. We will all greatly miss him.
I’m now working on the date for 2010 and will publish it as soon as I get it secured.
- Marion
By Loretta Ogden
December 2009 nomination:
I would like to nominate JAY VALLE as the North Orange County Gem and Mineral Society's ROCK HOUND OF THE YEAR.
Jay has been, and continues to be an enormous asset to NOCGMS. He currently holds the office of club Secretary.
He also holds the position of Chairman of the Field Trip Committee, and in this role
(which he has held for a number of years) he does the vast majority of our club's field trip planning.
Additionally, Jay does considerable work in both the set up and tear down of our club's annual Gem Show.
Also, during the show Jay is a regular demonstrator of "cabbing" on a grinder he brings to the show.
Jay is always willing to help and answer questions and teach. My wife, Wendi,
and I have been a member of NOGGMS for just a few years, but in that time Jay has provided us both
with a great deal of help, answers, suggestions training demonstrations and offers to assist us further
as we expand our knowledge of our "hobby". And, he displays this
same helpful attitude and availability to anyone who asks.
He is also a reliable helper in all sorts of other club activities and takes his responsibility very seriously
to "suit up and show up" when he says he will do so. He also helps his wife each month
coordinating the refreshments for our monthly meeting.
All in all, Jay is a super club member, leader, and active participant in many key areas of the NOCGMS,
and is an outstanding helper to those of us who have questions and need help.
I heartily and enthusiastically nominate JAY VALLEY as this year's NOCGMS ROCK HOUND OF THE YEAR.
(Submitted by John Erskine)
- Loretta
By Jonathan North
Permit me to introduce myself as the CFMS Field Trips North Chairman. My name is Jonathan North and I live in the northern California area, more precisely, Roseville. I am a member of the Nevada County Gem & Mineral Society, representing CFMS as their Federation Director. I have held practically all of the elected and many appointed positions in the club including President during my 13 years membership. I am also a member of the Roseville Rock Rollers and am currently the President, among other things. During my time with both of these clubs, I have learned quite a lot about the workings of gem and mineral clubs and what members are interested in within the hobby, and what they expect from their field trip leaders.
This year I want to concentrate on providing a two-way communication between CFMS and all the clubs in the northern part of the state. Two organizations I want to work closely with are the Cooperative Field Trip Chairmen’s Association and North Bay Field Trips. I had the pleasure of attending the last COOP meeting in Oroville last month and we exchanged some good ideas.
Plans are in the works to have a couple CFMS North field trips. I have some good ideas already, but would like any inputs you may have on collecting sites that could accommodate a large number of collectors.
-Jonathan
By Dick Pankey
Mark your calendar NOW and plan to attend this next seminar in our series on claims. The purpose of the seminar is to encourage CFMS societies to file and share claims and to provide them with the information to do so. At the conclusion of our seminar in March of 2009, Gregg Wilkerson from the BLM recommended that filing and maintaining claims on our rockhounding sites is a good way to establish and preserve our right for access and use. Some CFMS societies already have claims and it is recommended that more societies do it, also.
Current legislative activity makes it imperative that we establish and file our claims now. The new “Hard Rock Mining and Reclamation Act” was introduced in the House and Senate last July. The proposed “Desert Conservation and Recreation Act,” specifically the Mojave National Monument section, will eliminate collecting on many of our traditional collecting sites along and near old Route 66 and affect over 1.6 million acres. By acting now and establishing claims before these become law we can insure future access and our right to collect.
The agenda for this seminar will include:
- Why and who should file claims.
- The experiences of current CFMS societies that have claims.
- Liability and insurance issues.
- Use of claims to have and maintain access to rockhounding areas.
- What your society can do.
- How to stake a claim, establish and file a claim with the county and BLM.
- Claim Filing deadlines, Assessment Work, and Intent to Hold
- Where and how to get information about claims and claimed land.
- Answers to your questions.
This seminar will be hosted by the Mother Lode Mineral Society on Saturday, April 24, 2010 in Empire, CA, near Modesto. This is an all day seminar and lunch will be served. More details will be in the February CFMS Newsletter and an announcement flier with details and directions will be available on the CFMS Web Site - www.cfmsinc.org, in February. This seminar is for societies who have question about claims, for societies that want to have a claim, and for all rockhounds that are interested in claims.
Mark your calendar now for Saturday, April 24, 2010, watch for the announcement flier and plan to attend this important, timely and sure to be informative seminar.
-Dick
A Rockhound Wedding
Theresa & Adam Dean
November 7th 2009
Family and friends came out to welcome my arrival at 7:00 Am. There was still so much to be done before Teresa’s arrival. As I’m sure you can imagine, I was overwhelmed with
excitement and emotions. I had a strong desire to make this day perfect for my bride. Thank God I had so many willing to make it easier for me.
I began sweating geodes, boy was I nervous! When I heard them say “go hide in the tent, Teresa will be here in a minute”, I got short of breath.
Before I knew It, Teresa was walking down the isle; she was more than a sight of beauty. I couldn’t help but loose a tear. I had never seen her look so beautiful, and she was going to be all mine! For real! We had been together for 7 years to the day and I thought this was all for her until it started happening and I realized it was for us. What a feeling (or should I say feelings).
The turn out was terrific with all our family, as well as, many of our Rockhound friends coming out to celebrate with us.
Teresa and I would like to say thanks to all of you.
Best Wishes and Better Agates,
-Adam
THANK YOU EVERYONE… We never could have pulled it off without all the help we got from so many CFMS Members! Not only did Members from our home club (Orange Belt Mineralogical Society) come to our aid, but also so many from different clubs pitched in. Thank you to all who took pictures, being the bride, I only got to see half of the wedding I was happy to see the other half through these pictures. It made me proud to show off my Rockhound friends to our family.
Thank you to all who attended and we missed all that couldn’t make it. Thank you for the many cards and the gifts. Special thanks to Helen Gardner for saving me from myself! She took my simple ideas and made it classy. She put together all the flowers, handled the potluck and made our beautiful cake. Shep was a big help too. He enabled us to enjoy our wedding by helping out with the fieldtrip. Also, Thanks to Eloy Martinez who worked for Rocks! The Navajo Prayer was the perfect touch to a perfect day.
Adam said I could have any kind of wedding I wanted. I’m so glad I decided to have a Rockhound Wedding, because the day came out perfect for this Rockhound Bride! I even had time during the fieldtrip to walk above the canyon and watch our family and friends rockhound while I
cleared my head… I still can’t believe that handsome Cowboy is all mine!
-Teresa Dean
Hi Hounders,
By now you all may have heard or even attended Adam & Teresa's wedding at Afton Canyon November 7. And what a wedding it was! Both bride, groom and families were attired in western formal garb and officiated by a shaman/justice of the peace in an outdoor setting overlooking Afton Canyon itself. After the ceremony, we all partook in a deluxe potluck meal with decorated tables, listened to speeches of congratulations by friends and family, then reassembled for a quick rock hunt up a little used wash for agates and jaspers. Dozens of us covered various hills and ravines and pretty much everyone found enough to fill their buckets with multi-colored multi-patterned specimens suitable for lapidary.
Congratulations to the newlyweds.
-Shep
Adam and Teresa’s Honeymoon
November 2009
Our adventure started Sunday morning the day after the wedding. Teresa and I where off on a Rockhound’s Dream Honeymoon!
This was perfect because we both share the same passion for hunting Agates.
The day started early at 3:00 am when we started the first leg of our adventure.
We stopped for the night in Deming NM and Monday morning we where off early again to Woodward Ranch in Texas.
We arrived at the ranch mid-morning and as you might guess we went out hunting before we even unloaded our supplies into our cabin.
That afternoon we found a couple plume agates and returned to the cabin before sunset.
The next day we started out on what would be one of our best days collecting Agates in West Texas.
Trey Woodward took us to Needle peak, not only was it a breathtaking area, there where many agates to be collected.
I found one large psudomorph of agate after aragonite, and what a beauty it is. It will proudly be displayed it in my Museum.
This day we also found some of the Agates this area is famous for POM-POM agates. Green moss agate with yellow sagenite bursts.
This was a well worthwhile trip but requires a lot of hiking up hill.
While we were in town, we called our next guide Terri Smith and made arrangements for the rest of our stay in Alpine. Terri and her husband own a great hotel in town.
I highly recommend any Rockhound going to the area to stay at the Antelope Inn. Not only does it have cute little cabins with all the amenities including kitchenettes,
but also Terri has a rock museum in the office/lobby. Terri turned out to be a wonderful field guide.
After checking in to our rooms she took us to the Singleton Ranch to collect Bouquet Plumes in Marfa.
She told us before going out that she had scoped it out and she thought we could find nice material.
I must say that was the understatement of the year. When we got to the collecting site she had directed us to, we couldn’t take a step without landing on an agate!
We were likes kids in a candy shop. Then she told us to enjoy ourselves and she would meet us back at the car just before dark.
Now that is a woman after our own hearts. Not only does she take us to an agate wonderland, she was ready to spend as much time there as we could. We couldn’t believe our luck.
Terri had arranged for us to pay a flat fee to the owner of the ranch and we could get as much agates as we wanted.
Boy did our packs get heavy! The next day Terri offered to take us down to her collecting area at Needle Peak and after getting the great sagenites with Trey,
we not only jumped at the chance, we begged.
Terri’s area was just as good as the Woodward’s but her area had many different kinds of material. We found sagenite, petrified wood,
and a nice form of cathedral agate as well as fossils. We were in heaven. Rockhound Heaven. you back.
While we were in Texas, we seemed to turn rockhound into a sport. We must of hiked miles with full packs going up and down hills
and eating like muscle builders (lots of protein). That was the best time we ever had!
After five days in West Texas it was time to say good-bye and off we went to Carlsbad New Mexico. T
he next morning we were up early and took the tour of Carlsbad Caverns. Teresa’s Mom felt is was the most normal part of the trip.
We both took our time in the caverns as we discussed the geology of the Guadeloupe Mountains.
The Caverns always takes your breath away with the size and the formation.
I think every Rockhound needs to visit at least once.
When we got back to the hotel Adam decided that he couldn’t wait to get home and grade our rocks!
We were going to go rockhounding in Deming, but our 4X4 lifted truck didn’t have much clearance over the tires and
we had a long drive home. We decided not to stop and drove all the way back, getting home 2 days early.
We turned off the phones and began grading our West Texas agate treasures. We will make Deming another time.
By Shep Koss & Adam Dean
Thanksgiving was upon us again, Teresa and I where on our first trip to Wiley Well as Husband and Wife. Somehow this made it feel like we had never been there before. The road in this time was much better than last year, because in 2008 it had been raining and the road in for people with RV”S and two-wheel drive was not so inviting. We pulled into camp early Thursday morning to be welcomed by many of our Rockhound friends. Thursday we did some collecting in Pebble Terrace and Fire Agate at the Opal Hill Mine and returned early afternoon for a Thanksgiving feast with all the trimmings. Boy was it a feast, we had to go back out for black agate nodules after dinner to burn off some Turkey. We all went back to camp early in the evening for some more pie and a nice warm campfire with many rockhound stories.
Friday I had scheduled two trips. One to the geode beds. And another to the Paisley Agate. Unfortunately Shep was not able to make it, Matt volunteered to help lead a group in to the geode beds. My hat is off to Matt for filling this position at the last minute. Saturday there was more digging for geodes and another group went to the Opal Hill Mine to dig fire agates. I negotiated a deal with Nancy for all CFMS Members to dig for only $10.00 ea. Nancy wanted me to tell everyone; “Thanks for your patronage!” It was a great turn out, seems everybody had good luck collecting, many pictures and memories to take home and no one got hurt. I can’t wait till we all meet again.
From Teresa and I - Merry Christmas to all
of you and a prosperous New Year.
-Adam
Editor’s Note
The three Field Trip South Reports can be seen in their entirety,
along with many pictures on the CFMS website. www.cfmsinc.org
By Bud McMillin
Insurance question of the month!
Our question this month is one answered by Patt at our Insurance Roundtable held in Visalia last month: Why is it important to request that we add on to our CFMS liability policy, as “additional insured’s”, the names of the people/organizations where we hold our meetings, have our workshops, or rent space for our annual show (even if less than 500 in attendance) or any other society event? What if we meet at a member’s house every month?
Answer!
We all hope that Federation and club events go smoothly and no one is injured. If someone is injured, however, we all hope that a number of things go smoothly.
In order to prepare for that, we need to understand how things work and what is possible. There are several factors that particularly need to be understood.
Legal precedent regarding premises liability: The owners and managers of premises have primary legal responsibility (liability) for injury to those who are injured on the premises, whether or not the owner or manager is directly responsible. (Premises can be building space or land.)
General Liability insurance: General Liability Insurance is intended to defend the insured and pay claim settlements for occurrences that result in bodily injury or property damage to others (other than the insured) for which the insured is legally responsible.
General Liability coverage is described in terms of “Premises and Operations”: The premises and operations that are covered by an insurance policy are determined by the information provided to the insurance company and which the company has agreed to cover.
The CFMS policy is designed to cover the normal operations of the organization and clubs as described. We also continually make efforts to determine when clubs have a premises liability exposure (a location owned, leased, or provided for exclusive ongoing use) and have added those premises to the policy. (Premises do need to be added to have premises liability coverage.)
Given the above factors, when a person is injured at a meeting place that is not listed on the policy as owned or leased premises of a CFMS insured club, the question comes up, “Who is legally responsible?”
If an insured club or its volunteer(s) have caused injury to someone through his or her operations, they would likely be legally responsible and the insurer would respond according to the provisions of the policy.
If this were not the cause of the injury, however, the owner or manager would be deemed to have primary legal responsibility.
In many instances, this is not the desired outcome, and there is a way to have the CFMS policy take on that primary premises liability. We can do that by naming the owner or manager of the premises as additional insured on the CFMS policy. Many venues such as fairgrounds or government agencies will require this. Homeowners, churches, local veterans or grange halls, or other small venues, however, may not know that they can and should request this to protect themselves (and their insurance claims history).
There is not currently a cost for adding additional insureds, and we find that, in the event of a claim, this can make a big difference in satisfaction with how the claim is handled so we always recommend that you add the owners and managers of the venues or home where you meet or have activities as additional insureds on the CFMS policy..
The Chubb Insurance Company has the best claims settlement reputation in the industry, but they can only respond in accordance with the policy wording and the information we provide to them.
The request form for adding an additional insured is available on the CFMS website at www.cfmsinc.org and at the McDaniel Insurance Services website in a hidden,
password-protected section that has all forms and policies for club use and review.
To access that site go to: www.mcdanielinsuranceservices.com/CFMSI The user name is: CFMSI
The password is: rocks. Please note that ‘CFMSI’ and ‘rocks’ are case sensitive.
We look forward to helping you with your “Additional Insured” requests.
- Bud
By Jim Brace-Thompson
Darryl Powell of Manchester, New York, is creator of Diamond Dan Publications and author of a wide range of fun, educational materials for young mineralogists, ranging from coloring and activity books to “Earth Digger Clubs” activities and patches, mineral note cards and placemats, and more. (See his web site at
http://www.diamonddanpublications.net.) His excellent activities for mineral identification and crystal shapes and models are referenced in the AFMS Future Rockhounds of America badge program manual, and I’ve written about the terrific resources he provides in some of my prior CFMS juniors columns.
One neat resource Darryl provides is Mini Miners Monthly. Now in its third year, it’s the only periodical about minerals written specifically for young collectors. Throughout the year, it brings kids articles about minerals, crystals, and mineral collecting, along with fun activities like crossword puzzles, word searches, cut-and-fold crystal models, and coloring pages. It features interviews with important mineral collectors of our day and suggestions on how to build and take care of a mineral collection. It also welcomes mineral art, photography, and articles sent in by kids themselves!
As announced at the Fall Director’s Meeting, CFMS has entered into an arrangement with Darryl to provide a free two-year electronic subscription to CFMS clubs that have indicated they have junior members on the club directory listing of the CFMS web site. Darryl and I have gone through that list, and we’ve identified 78 clubs. Here’s how we’ll proceed. Darryl has compiled email addresses from those clubs (unfortunately, 9 of them have not provided email addresses in the CFMS Directory; for those, Darryl will be writing or calling for this info; this serves to provide a reminder to all clubs to make sure your CFMS directory info is complete, accurate, and up-to-date!). Darryl will email each of these 78 clubs to introduce himself and to ask for a preferred contact person and email address and, starting with the January 2010 issue, he’ll email Mini Miners Monthly as a pdf attachment.
With the subscription, clubs receive permission to reproduce a reasonable amount of material from each issue (4 or 5 pages) in their newsletters, on their web sites, and/or in club meetings with kids. CFMS is underwriting these subscriptions on a 2-year experimental basis with the ultimate goal of encouraging clubs to grow their kids’ programs, providing them with good material to use in their meetings, and encouraging our children in pursuit of the earth sciences as a hobby and potentially as a career. If you have questions about this new service from the CFMS, please contact me (805-659-3577, jbraceth@roadrunner.com). Meanwhile, here’s thanking Darryl for enabling us to make this arrangement, and here’s to having fun!
-Jim
P.S. An early alert! On Saturday, March 13, I’ll be at the Mother Lode Mineral Society’s annual show, where I’ve been invited to host a Roundtable discussion on juniors’ groups within our clubs, seeking to share ideas on kids’ activities. If you'll be at the MLMS show this year, we welcome your participation. Watch for more details in next month’s CFMS Newsletter!
By Elizabeth Myers
If you want to grow your society, what are the tools that your society uses to promote itself? Consider these:
Newspaper advertising – In the “Classified” section of your local newspaper, do you have an ad in the “Meetings” portion reflecting the date, time and location of your monthly meetings? Does it list a contact telephone number?
Telephone – Does your society have a designated, locally listed telephone number to call for questions and information? This could be tied to an answering machine, with a member responsible for returning calls. The cost per month is very reasonable and provides a lot of “stature” and “stability” to your organization.
Handouts - What sort of handouts do you have to distribute to someone who may be interested in joining (or just learning more about) your society?
Postcards - You can make your own “Got Rocks?” postcards which are pre-addressed to your society’s mailing address. All that’s needed is the “sender’s” name, address and telephone number and a postage stamp. With permission, these postcards can be left at libraries, chambers of commerce, select businesses (such as rock shops).
Fliers - You can print “bi-folds”, “tri-folds” or other such literature containing information about your Society for distribution at shows and to provide to prospective members.
Displays - would your local library, community center or county offices allow you to display rocks, gems, fossils and other items in their foyers?
Internet - Do you have a website? Is it updated regularly?
Subscriptions – How about contacting your local library and donating a subscription to Rock and Gem Magazine (or other such publication)? The library would greatly appreciate the donation; your society would receive the recognition; and new readers could be introduced to rockhounding.
Replies -How do you respond to “inquiries” about your society? Consider sending an “acknowledgement letter” thanking the sender for their interest, a copy of a recent society newsletter, an application for membership (with a return envelope) and some literature (e.g. tri-fold, bi-fold, etc.) and inviting them to attend an upcoming general membership meeting.
These are just a few of the ways that “growing” societies continue to expand their membership. If you would like more “details” or to serve on the committee, I’d love to hear from you. Call me at 408-897-3060 or send me an email at: eme2@wildblue.net.
-Elizabeth
By John Martin
The U. S. Forest Service is proposing changes to its directives governing permits for operation of campground and related Granger-Thye concessions (concessions with Government-owned improvements) on National Forest System lands. The proposed directives would reduce from 50 to 10 percent the camping fee discount campground concessioners (concessioners) are required to offer to holders of Senior and Access Passes and Golden Age and Golden Access Passports. Additionally, the proposed directives would allow concessioners to propose camping fee discounts above 10 percent for these pass holders in their applications; would require concessioners to offer a 10 percent discount to holders of Senior and Access Passes and Golden Age and Golden Access Passports for standard amenity recreation fee (SARF) day use sites that they operate; and would require concessioners to provide free use to holders of Annual and Volunteer Passes at SARF day use sites they operate. Furthermore, existing concessioners could request amendment of their permit to incorporate all of these changes, as well as an increase in their land fee for the remaining term of their permit if their gross revenue increases significantly due to the reduction in the camping fee discount. Alternatively, the proposed directive changes would allow existing concessioners to continue operating under the terms of their current permit until it expires. Public comment on the proposed directives is invited and will be considered in development of the final directives.
Comments must be received in writing by February 1, 2010.
Send comments electronically by following the instructions at the Federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Comments also may be submitted by mail to U.S. Forest Service, Attn: Carolyn Holbrook, Recreation and Heritage Resources Staff, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Stop 1125, Washington, DC 20250-1125. If comments are sent electronically, please do not send duplicate comments by mail. Please confine comments to issues pertinent to the proposed directives, explain the reasons for any recommended changes, and, where possible, reference the specific section and wording being addressed.
All comments, including names and addresses when provided, will be placed in the record and will be available for public inspection. The public may inspect comments received on these proposed directives in the Office of the Director, Recreation, Heritage, and Volunteer Resources Staff, 4th Floor Central, Sidney R. Yates Federal Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, on business days between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Those wishing to inspect comments are encouraged to call ahead at 202-205-1426 to facilitate entry into the building. Copies of comments may be requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carolyn Holbrook, 202-205-1426, Recreation, Heritage, and Volunteer Resources Staff.
All Non-Fee usage areas are not currently being affected by this proposed rule change. Only Day Use, Camping and entry Fee Usage areas are going to be affected. If you are Rockhounding in any of these areas you will need to be prepared to pay an increase in the daily use fee collected by the US Forest Service. This fee structure change will have the greatest affect on our Senior and Physically Challenged Rockhounds. Please contact the US Forest Service and your elected officials to voice your opinion on these US Forest Service Usage Fees on our Public Lands.
-John
By Dee Holland
Once again we have been invited to the Ventura Gem & Mineral Show, Seaside Park, Ventura County Fairgrounds on Sunday March 7th. Last year Marion and Vivian Roberts, Shirley Leeson and myself, Dee Holland attended the Ventura Show on Sunday. We had Jim Brace-Thompson announce to his exhibitors ahead of time that we would evaluate exhibit cases on Sunday afternoon. The event went beyond our wildest dreams. Lots of interested people came out, some to watch and see and some very serious exhibitors who were interested in getting their exhibits evaluated so they could enter exhibits in the CFMS.
This is a repeat, we want everyone who puts an exhibits in the Ventura Show to know we are there to help them make their exhibits the best they can be. This is a partnership between the exhibitors and the judges (we perfer to call judges "teachers") We're there to help, not make people feel it's "them against us."
Come out and join us on Sunday, March 7th at the Ventura Fairgrounds. We'll all learn something together.
For those of you who plan on entering CFMS/AFMS competition, please don't hesitate to contact me regarding your exhibit, which division, and class to enter and anything else you might feel concerned about. We're there to help. Applications can be downloaded off the CFMS website. Supplemental Rules are there also. Please get your applications to enter in early. Unfortunately this year there is limited space available. Don't want till the last minute.
-Dee
By Betty Pankey
I have researched the current books and have come up with each clubs
contributions over the years, most of them starting back in the 60’s.
I have made up a list of current clubs and how much they have contributed.
Things have really slowed down for the donations but hopefully they will improve in 2010.
-Betty
By Jennifer Haley
Dear Members,
It is the beginning of a whole new year for the CFMS Scholarship Fund. Last year was a lot of fun and very productive. We had a handful of Honorees to celebrate at our Awards Banquet and most of the scholarship students were able to join us for dinner that night. It was a wonderful time for Honorees and students to meet each other and for all of you who make a special effort to donate to the fund each year to get to know them too. We hope you as Federation Directors shared the interesting articles about each 2009 student and Honoree with your club so your members get to know the value of this part of CFMS. Now through October we are looking forward to receiving your letters of nomination for the 2011 Honorees. A nominee need not be a member of a rock & gem club. It can be a club member or that special person in your community who has made exceptional contributions towards furthering the purposes and goals of CFMS. Maybe it is that geologist you know who teaches kids about rocks in his spare time. We welcome all donations big or small and look forward to another great year with you all.
- Jennifer
By Merryan O’Neill
You are invited to enter the 2010 Web Site Contest.
The Webmasters Contest was originated by AFMS in 2009. Now renamed Web Site Contest, it attempts to determine the effectiveness of a society’s web site in providing information needed to meet certain goals of societies. In general, judging is based on the standard that the web site should: (1) attract new members; (2) provide information to members; (3) aid in the public promotion of society’s activities, such as shows; (4) and fulfill the mission of the society. Also, some basic technical features need to be functional on the site.
The Score Sheet was modified for this year's contest to better rate these objectives. The Contest Guidelines coupled with the Score Sheet offer excellent references to help you tune up your society's web site or build one for the first time.
Webmasters wishing to enter their society's web site should download the following files from the CFMS web site: Contest Information, Guidelines, Entry Form and Score Sheet. (Go to www.cfmsinc.org and click on the AFMS - Webmaster Contest link at the top of the left hand column.)
These documents are in pdf format and can be opened with Adobe Acrobat Reader, Version 9 (for a free Reader update, visit www.adobe.com/products/reader). Save the files to your hard drive then fill in the entire Entry Form and the top part of the Score Sheet. Include the name of your society within the file names.
Send the two completed pdf forms as email attachments to: Merryan O'Neill at mvoneill@comcast.net by January 15, 2010.
Both the CFMS and AFMS web site contest winners will be announced and awards given at the Sunday Bulletin Editors and Webmasters’ Breakfast at the joint CFMS/AFMS Show & Convention. Hosted by the North Orange County Gem & Mineral Society of La Habra, the show will be held June 18-20, 2010, in nearby Whittier.
Last year, we had 12 very impressive CFMS entries. The Roseville Rock Rollers placed 1st in both CFMS and AFMS! Let's achieve that level of excellence again!
-Merryan
By Cheri George
When the North Orange County Gem & Mineral Society accept the challenge to sponsor the 2010 CFMS/AFMS Show, they were in almost the same situation a the biblical lad David when he went up against Goliath with nothing more than a simple slingshot. In case you do not remember, David slew Goliath. WOW, what a challenge, especially in these trying economical times.
There are some hardworking people on the 2010 Show committee, not the least of which is our show chair, Mike Beaumont. In the middle of all this planning hoopla, he and his lady have become the proud parents for the very first time. How exciting! Mike has a great crew working along with him to plan and make tall those little things keep moving along like clockwork.
Those of us on the 2010 Show Committee hope you will all consider attending our show. It promises to be a great time, with lots of displays, demonstrators and other funs things to do. There may even be a few surprises thrown in.
Join us in one of California’s HIDDEN TREASURES, La Habra for the 2010 CFMS/AFMS Show next June.
-Cheri
