President’s Message

Vice-President’s Message

Section News

Shop and Building News

Notes from Neal

Field Trip to Fort Kerr Petrified Wood House

HGMS Scholarship News

Earthquakes, Cosmic Rays, and GPS

Weighty Matters

Minutes of the July 11th Board Meeting

July 25th General Meeting

Upcoming Shows

About Us

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Calendar

Officers and Contact Information

It’s finished! The Lapidary Shop shines like polished quartz! The walls, ceiling, and floor are freshly painted, with new lighting creating daylight brightness. The plumbing is moved out of the electrical closet. The Jewelry Shop’s plumbing is updated including a new sink. The electric closest walls are covered in sheetrock and painted. The ceiling and wall vents are cleaned, painted, and new ones added. The contractors from Wood and Stone Remodeling finished the renovation within the predicted time frame, even with the additions we made to the job. The rest is up to us, the members.

Eight people came Saturday, July 29, at 10:00 and cleaned the trim saws. The guys power- washed some parts. The rest of us scraped and scrubbed the oil and grit build-up off of the motors. There is still a lot to do before we can move everything back into the Lapidary Shop: sorting supplies; cleaning machines and furniture; and refurbishing cabinets and old tables. Once the furniture is in place we can start filling up the storage cabinets with the supplies crowding the Main Hall. This Saturday, August 5, and Sunday, August 6, between 10:00 and 3:00, I’ve asked members to volunteer to prepare machines and furniture to go back into the Shop.

I hope to reopen the Shops for regular hours, 10:00 to 3:00, starting Wednesday, August 9. Our new hourly rate of $3.00 an hour will begin when we reopen. But our volunteers for the renovation will have a one-hour free coupon for every hour they volunteered. Having the renovation finished in August will free me up just in time to start planning for the Annual Show Volunteers. This is our 70th Annual Houston Gem, Mineral, Jewelry, and Fossil Show. It ought to be a terrific event!

The Show is always followed by our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Party. Volunteers for the Shop Renovation project will be honored guests at this event, so watch the e-blasts for information on that Party in the middle of November. Stay cool and hydrated. Be careful and patient on the roads. There’s a lot to look forward to in the fall of 2023.

Fiberglass panels on the grinding machine wall, new plumbing, paint and a non-skid floor!

The August 2023 General Meeting talk, Mineralogy of the Asteroid Belt, will be given by Sigrid Stewart.

That’s Mineralogy, so far.

Beading – Third Saturday, 12:30 PM  

 Always bring beading mat, scissors, wire, wire cutter, round nose and needle nose pliers, thread, and beading needles if you have them.  

We hope to meet in August, and we may start with learning knotting with silk thread.

Our July Meeting was a field trip to 4 different bead shops in the Hillcroft area. Following lunch at Salata, the group visited Jemco, Fang’s Trading, May’s Beads, and LT. We had a lot of fun – and got lots of beads!

NOTICE: Do you have a bracelet or necklace that needs restringing?  The Beading Section will carefully restring your piece at an hourly rate of $15.00 + materials.  Contact Beading @HGMS.org to make arrangements.  All funds will go to the Beading Section.

Gemstones and Faceting – Second Thursday, 6:30 PM

Zoom meeting begins at 7:30 pm. The next time we meet will be Aug. 10th (The August meeting will be in person and zoom permitted if the clubhouse is opened at that time, If not it will be zoom only and I will make an announcement before hand information everyone).

John Lee has offered to give the section a lesson on how to judge stones for a competition for one of our fall meetings. Keep an eye out for that as you don’t wanna miss it!

If you’d like to display your work at the clubhouse, starting in August if you bring your stone up to the club I can put it in our section of the display with a note of “on loan by”. That includes any other HGMS members, if you’d like to have your stone displayed let me know and I’ll put it in the case. Please note there is limited space so I’ll only be able to include a few at a time.

If you’ve missed a meeting (and if I’ve recorded it) you can find it here –
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7vizAay3DmC_GfCpEARGdw

**These are the rules for the Facet Section 2023 Competition Stone.** 

Email Faceting@HGMS.org if you’d like to participate and which tier you’ll be attempting. If any other Sections or Members who facet that haven’t been to a meeting are interested in joining please let us know!

Stones are due at our October 12th meeting and results will be announced at our November meeting just before the HGMS Annual Show. We will display the winners at the Annual show and then in the display case in the wall at the club house.

No specific stone material was decided on, so any material is acceptable. There are 2 Tiers which will be judged separately at the show (Beginner and Advanced). If you require a different IR than the one for Quartz let us know.

If you are done with your stones please schedule a time with LT “Logan” and he will collect them otherwise bring it to the October meeting and we will collect it then.

Please note – Judges will not be allowed to submit stones this year, however this may change for 2024.

Judges are as follows:
Randy Carlson – Advanced Tier
Pat “James” Cockrell – Beginner Tier
John Lee – Both Tiers

Lapidary and Silversmithing – Third Monday, 7:00 PM

Monday, August 21st, the program will be a continuation of polishing fire agate. We learned how to carve the rough to expose the fire in May but ran out of time to polish the pieces. We will complete polishing our fire agate using Nova points in August. Please bring the fire agate you started in May, and if you missed that meeting you may bring your own fire agate rough to work with.

Refreshments will be served. Email Lapidary@hgms.org if you have questions.

Day Light – First Wednesday, 1:00 PM

The Daylight Section meets the first Wednesday of the month from 1 to 3 PM.

The August meeting will be cancelled as Nancy Searle is unavailable, and the clubhouse will still be closed.

Please register in advance to make sure we have enough materials for everyone. A $5.00 fee is necessary for each class to pay for materials. Register by sending an email to Nancy Searle at daylight@hgms.org. All programs are $5.00 and the fee is paid at the meeting.

Mineral – Third Wednesday, 7:30 PM

The August 16th meeting will be via Zoom. Program to be announced.

The link for the Zoom meeting is:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4517997588?pwd=SnZjckZBTnRMbHRxZitScE9WU3RWUT09

Paleontology – Third Tuesday, 7:30 PM 

We’ve started hybrid Zoom meetings that include members attending remotely via Zoom; if you’re intrigued by dinosaurs, trilobites, field trips to collect Texas fossils and all other paleontology-related topics we’d love to have you attend a meeting in one way or another and see what we’ve got going on. If you’d like to join the Paleo Section email list, send an email to hgmspaleosection@gmail.com and ask to be added.

The next meeting, in September, will on Petrified Wood and we will learn how to identify the common types of wood. If I can get a saw ready, we will have samples to give to you.

Youth, First and Third Saturdays, 10:00am – 12:00pm

The first meeting in August will be cancelled as the Shop will not be open yet. We will probably have the 3rd Saturday meeting, but please look for a message. Mostly we will  work on cabochons.

Non-Skid Surface: Once the grinding room was truly empty, I could see what I forgot to put on the repair list – a non-skid floor. About 20 years ago I was concerned about people slipping on the wet floor in front of the grinders and put in an epoxy and sand finish there. It has only worn off is a few places. I have tried latex and sand at home on concrete and it peeled off within a year. Now we have a new epoxy floor in the shop! And wait until you see the new shop lighting!!

Boyd has been very useful in this effort. He re-bent shelf clips to hold the new shelf that was installed in the grit and polishing powder storage. I was also impressed with his solution to removing an electrical switch from a table. He split the 4×4 block that held the switch it so that the lag bolt just fell out. Smart kid.

I sorted my crates and found 30 % could be thrown away because I cannot figure out where they could be used. I even got rid of my heritage silicon carbide grinding wheel collection. (Check out the give-away area on the porch.) BTW remember that the carbide wheels can be put on a shop grinder that does steel. Carbide is carbide. Diamond is not suitable for grinding steel because you will make very expensive iron + carbon (from the diamond).

Surely you have heard of the many houses in Texas constructed of petrified wood. If, like me you have collected petrified wood for landscaping and lapidary uses, you have probably developed an appreciation for the patterns and colors of these rocks formed from ancient trees. When collected wood is set into walls and chimneys it is even more impressive.

In June, just before the heat reached toxic levels, HGMS sponsored a field trip to a well-known petrified wood house, “Fort Kerr”, in Columbus, Tex. This house was built by Ralph and Margaret Kerr with assistance from a master stonemason, Ernest Treeter, to plan the building and set doors, windows, and chimneys. Beginning in 1947, the foundation was laid on an expansive site surrounded by live oaks on a high bank of the Colorado River on the edge of town. Kerr collected and purchased petrified wood from many different areas.

During construction, he and his children carefully selected pieces that would fit together to form a harmonious whole. None were cut to fit but placed as they were found, and some pieces were quite large. Almost 100% of the stone in the building is petrified wood. Most of the wood came from the Smithville and Caldwell areas, from the Wilcox and Yegua formations. There was some Eocene material with chalcedony also. They moved into the house in 1949 before it was 100% completed, essentially camping out with tin covers for the windows.

Mike Dawkins, our field trip captain, collected field trip forms, and Scott Singleton, club petrified wood expert (and Show Chairman) spoke about petrified wood in Texas and the Kerr  house in particular.  Our hostess, Debbie Damon, daughter of Ralph and Margaret Kerr, greeted us and had many wonderful stories about her family and the construction of the house.  We were able to tour both the outside and the inside of the house. The setting is beautiful and serves as a wildlife sanctuary. Our hostess explained that she is having an engineer look at the foundation; there are some problems due to the immense weight of the petrified wood. A movie is being planned about the building of the house.

The Houston Gem and Mineral Society is again able to award three (3), $2500 scholarships to deserving students in or from the Houston metropolitan area and adjacent counties for the 2023 academic year! While applications were not of the same quantity as the 2022 academic year, which was by far a record year, there were many more well-qualified candidates than we are able to assist. Of course, while we are disappointed that we cannot help each of them, we are pleased to be able to lessen some of the financial burden of achieving the educational goals for the following three deserving awardees:

We wish these deserving students the best of luck in their educational endeavors, and as always, if you know of any Earth Science or Jewelry Arts student currently residing in, or previously (at any time in the past), or currently attending a school within Harris or one of the adjacent surrounding counties, please encourage them to apply for our scholarship. Any questions can be directed to scholarships@hgms.org.

Earthquakes and Cosmic Rays

Weirdly, there is an apparent correlation between the devastation wrought by strong earthquakes and the cosmic rays measured by the Cosmic Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory, hereafter referred to as CREDO. Scientists hope to turn an observed statistical link between earthquakes and cosmic rays into a prediction tool that could someday save lives.

The CREDO project was initiated in 20156 by the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow. The Distributed part is due to the fact that the observatory collects data from both large scientific  detectors and many smaller detectors including the CMOS sensors in smart phones. Want to participate? Download the free CREDO detector app!

The mission is to monitor global variation in the secondary cosmic radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface. Primary radiation hits the stratosphere and produces the secondary radiation.

Dr. Piotr Homola, coordinator of CREDO and first author of the article first describing the link between earthquakes and cosmic rays (Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics), says that physicists looked at cosmic ray intensity from two stations on different sides of the equator, and factored in solar activity recorded by the Solar Influences Data Analysis Centre and seismic data from the USGS Geological Survey program. The theory is that eddy currents in the Earth’s liquid core create the Earth’s magnetic field and since that field deflects the paths of charged particles, if earthquakes are associated with disturbances in the eddy currents in the core, the deflection of primary cosmic radiation would affect the changes in the secondary cosmic rays.

Analysis revealed a clear correlation between changes in the intensity of that secondary cosmic radiation and summed magnitude of earthquakes greater than magnitude 4, which was only apparent when the radiation data was shifted 15 days forward relative to the seismic data. This is what suggests the possibility of predicting earthquakes. There is currently no indication yet that scientists will be able to identify the location of such earthquakes.

The correlation maximum is every 10-11 years suggesting a similarity to the solar activity cycle, but it does not correlate to solar maximum activity. The lack of suitable explanations has led to theories about dark matter streams and interesting new research opportunities.

Reference: “Observation of large scale precursor correlations between cosmic rays and earthquakes with a periodicity similar to the solar cycle” by P. Homola, V. Marchenko, A. Napolitano, R. Damian, R. Guzik, D. Alvarez-Castillo, S. Stuglik, O. Ruimi, O. Skorenok, J. Zamora-Saa, J.M. Vaquero, T. Wibig, M. Knap, K. Dziadkowiec, M. Karpiel, O. Sushchov, J.W. Mietelski, K. Gorzkiewicz, N. Zabari, K. Almeida Cheminant, B. Idźkowski, T. Bulik, G. Bhatta, N. Budnev, R. Kamiński, M.V. Medvedev, K. Kozak, O. Bar, Ł. Bibrzycki, M. Bielewicz, M. Frontczak, P. Kovács, B. Łozowski, J. Miszczyk, M. Niedźwiecki, L. del Peral, M. Piekarczyk, M.D. Rodriguez Frias, K. Rzecki, K. Smelcerz, T. Sośnicki, J. Stasielak and A.A. Tursunov, 13 April 2023, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jastp.2023.106068

GPS and Earthquakes

An analysis of GPS (Global Positioning System) time-series data from 100 large earthquakes suggested that there may be an approximately two-hour precursor phase of fault slippage. However, such slippage events do not always presage earthquakes, and additionally, current earthquake monitoring may not be precise enough, and also lacks sufficient coverage in most earthquake-prone areas.

Reference: “The precursory phase of large earthquakes” by Quentin Bletery and Jean-Mathieu Nocquet, 20 July 2023, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adg2565

I have been a fan of the Grateful Dead since my college days, and the successor band, Dead & Company, just finished up their Final Tour, in San Francisco, naturally. One song that they did during the three days of their final performances is called “New Speedway Boogie”. The lyrics are by Robert Hunter and the music by Jerry Garcia, as are many of the Grateful Dead’s songs. One verse in particular caught my attention as I watched the 2^nd night concert online.

“Now I don’t know but I been told, it’s hard to run with the weight of gold
Other hand I heard it said, it’s just as hard with the weight of lead”

What do these metals have in common and what differentiates them? Gold, obviously, is rare and very valuable, and lead is common, not of great value in itself, but both valuable and dangerous in industrial applications. Gold has been known and used since antiquity. It occurs in both ores and in nearly pure elemental forms. A child would have been able to spot a nugget of gold in a creek and to appreciate its beauty.

The symbol for gold is Au, from aurum, the Latin word for gold, and its atomic number is 79. It melts at 1,948°F and has a density of 19.3 g/cm³. The periodic table places it in Group 11 which contains copper, silver, and gold, the so-called coinage metals. Silver and gold are also called noble metals. It is a yellow metal at standard temperature and pressure and is easy to work, to shape or draw into wire. Gold leaf can be beaten into very thin sheets that can be almost transparent, which are used for decoration. It conducts electricity and heat and reflects infrared light, meaning that those thin sheets can be used for heat shields and sun visors. It is so non-toxic that it was used for dentistry.

Gold is also a transition metal, meaning that it forms colorful (if few) compounds and has electrons in two valence shells, not just one. It is also very nonreactive and does not tarnish. These qualities make it dense and shiny, something I actually worked out in a quantum mechanics physics class. Alas, everything I learned in quantum mechanics lasted about 3 months before evaporating out of my brain. Heavy.

Gold is used in jewelry and coins, for electronics and various industrial and medical applications and for investment.

Lead is an element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin word plumbum) and its atomic number is 82. Lead, like gold, is also soft and malleable, and its density is 11.34 g/cm³. As it melts at 621.43 °F, it was easy for even prehistoric people to extract. When freshly exposed, lead is a shiny gray, which you can see if you scratch the lead terminal of an automotive battery, but it tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed to air. Lead has the highest atomic number of any stable (non-radioactive) element, and according to Wikipedia, three of its isotopes are endpoints of major nuclear decay chains of heavier radioactive elements.  Native lead is rarely found; it is usually combined with sulfur with zinc ores. Galena is the most common lead mineral.

It is used for batteries, bullets and shot, weights, construction, radiation shielding, solder, various alloys such as pewter, plumbing, paint, and leaded gasoline. Lead is also extremely toxic. There are good reasons why we no longer have leaded gasoline, lead pipes, or lead paint! Children’s neurological development can be compromised by lead poisoning from chips of lead paint. Adults can also suffer from exposure to lead. The Wall Street Journal is currently doing a great series on abandoned lead-sheathed cables no longer used by telecom companies. Some technicians who serviced cables have symptoms of lead poisoning.

Gold is currently valued at $1950/ounce while lead is about $0.0642 per ounce. Which one would you rather run with?

Meeting Statistics:

The Zoom Meeting was called to order by President Nancy English at 7:35 PM. A quorum was present and there were two non-voting members in attendance: Debbie Seid and Theo Glanton

President’s Comments:

President English gave a brief update on the progress of the rebuild. At present, the contractors seem to be ahead of schedule.

Treasurer’s Report:

The June Financial Report was emailed to the board members by Michele Marsel on July 4, 2023. There +no questions or comments about this report.

Approval of Minutes:

On July 6, 2023, Secretary Heidi Shelley moved via email to approve the minutes of the June 6, 2023, Board of Directors’ Meeting.  Board Member Randy Carlson seconded it. The motion passed with eight approvals and two no-responses.

Committee Reports

• BBG Notice – Beverly Mace has not yet notified members that the Back Bender’s Gazette is available on the website. As of July 11, she has not received a notice from Sigrid Stewart stating the BBG is ready.
• Donations, Sales, Auction Committee (DSAC): HGMS is still looking for a chairman for this committee.
• Education Committee (Maggie Manley): No classes will be posted for August until the construction project is finalized.
• Safety/Policy Committee (Nancy English): President English gave an update on the progress so far: Construction has started. Renovation has completed. Insulation, sheetrock and FRP have been installed on the new wall and FRP added to the West wall. The lapidary shop has been painted. The Silversmithing/jewelry room inside wall has been patched and prepped for FRP and a hole for a new electrical outlet has been added for the new sump pump to be installed below the sink. The committee has started organizing and cleaning supplies and furniture from the lapidary room that is now stored in the main meeting hall. Theo Glanton has refurbished the blue cabinet that was under two grinders before the move. New stainless-steel tables were ordered but arrived with many parts damaged in shipping. Volunteers were only able to set up two of the five tables due to damaged parts. President English is working on getting replacement parts from the table company. The new sink for the jewelry room has arrived and new faucets for both sinks are on order. Electrical conduits have been added and the electricians are moving forward. Plumbing work will begin once all new tables have arrived and are put together. (Note: The plumber wants the new tables in place so he knows how to plumb such that the sump pump and settling tanks can be accessed by moving the tables away from the wall. Construction crews have been cleaning up debris and sweeping, etc. as they go. The project is moving forward. Secretary Heidi Shelley reported that Neal Immega has started rebuilding air filter box during the construction project. The new air filter box will be significantly smaller than the existing filter box.
• The board, Theo Glanton and Debbie Seid discussed scheduling a “Grand Opening” Party to be held on Aug 19th, from 1-4pm. They discussed having treats, giving tours of what was updated and allow members to work. Suggestions were made to also hold a silent auction or have classes held in conjunction with the party.
• Board member Fred Brueckner asked if anything further had been done for determining the load capacity of the attic. Theo Glanton reported that he is a civil engineer and has looked at load capacity calculations for the shop but was missing some data needed to complete the calculation.
• Membership Committee (Beverly Mace): There were three new single adult memberships added, one family membership added, and two individual lifetime memberships added during the month of June. There was one single adult membership and one couple membership renewed during the month of June.
• Scholarship Committee (Mike Sommers): The three scholarship winners have been selected. (Side Note from Minutes:  The winners are Sophia Layman, Caroline Mackin, and Virginia Williams. More information about the winners was announced during the weekly eblast.)
• Show Committee (___):

Section News/Problems to Report:

• Beading Section (Maggie Manley):
• Day Light Section (Fred Brueckner): The Day Light Section is taking June, July, and August off.
• Gemstones/Faceting (__):
• Lapidary/Silversmithing (Richard Good):
• Mineral (Ray Kizer):
• Paleo (Mike Dawkins): Mike Dawkins reported on the field trip to the Debbie Damon’s “Petrified Wood House” in Columbus, Texas. About 25 people attended. History of the house construction was shared. Petrified wood used on the house was collected in Caldwell and Smithfield areas. No pieces of petrified wood used in the chimney or exterior of the house were cut for the project so whole logs and shapes of all sizes could be seen.
• Youth (Beverly Mace):

Old Business

• President English needs help finding a treasurer/bookkeeper. She has a few names of people to call but no further progress has been made on this item.
• Equipment Schedule for insurance – There has been no update on this item.
• Facebook/Instagram E-Blast Class Advertising: Sarah Metsa has been advertising via Facebook. HGMS is still looking for someone to help post to Instagram.

Report Back on Items from the June Meeting – for your Information

• Nancy English emailed Steve Blyskal to ask him to reserve the December 9, 2023 at the Unitarian Fellowship Hall. Steve Blyskal confirmed that HGMS is scheduled for this date.
• Jewelry Room Rules Documentation: Jeanean Slamen is working to get prototype done to present to the board by the time the shop reopens. President English is currently reviewing example documents from another shop that Jeanean provided. They will discuss options for HGMS so Jeanine can know how to move forward with possible documents for HGMS.

New Business

• Changes in Board for 2024: President English reported that First Vice President Sarah Metsa will agree to take over membership and become Second Vice President for the 2024 calendar year. Second Vice President Beverley Mace and Secretary Heidi Shelley plan to resign as of December 31, 2023. President English will also resign as President if another individual wants to volunteer for the position, otherwise she will continue to serve. All other Board members will remain in their current positions. In summary, HGMS will be looking for a new 1st Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary for the coming 2024 year.
• 2021 and 2022 Taxes: These have not yet been completed. This could jeopardize the Tax-Exempt status of HGMS. Michele Marsel submitted an extension for our 2021 taxes. They are now due October 15, 2023. The Board discussed possible recommendations of a professional CPA that could be hired by HGMS to complete taxes for the organization. Michele Marsel is resigning in August and a new replacement needs to be found.
• HGMS Trailer and contents: The HGMS Trailer needs to be removed from its current location by January 15, 2024. The Board of Directors discussed feedback from Clyde McMeans and Steve Blyskal. Suggestions included selling the trailer, recycling steel from the old mineral display or selling it to another rock club and moving the new display boxes from the trailer to the attic at HGMS.

Motion: Sarah Metsa moved that HGMS sell the trailer as well as the old [florescent] booth as a booth, if possible, or if unable to sell the booth then recycle the metal. Mike Dawkins seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. The vote was unanimous.

Adjourn

Sarah Metsa moved to adjourn the Board of Directors Meeting. Ray Kizer seconded the motion and it passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:46 pm.

The July General Meeting was canceled due to construction.

Dallas Summer Gem, Jewelry & Bead Show

08/04/2023 – 08/06/2023

Grapevine Convention Center

1210 S. Main St, Grapevine, Texas

Southwest Gem and Mineral Society

09/23/2023 – 09/24/2023

Sat. 10:00am-5:00pm, Sun. 10:00am-5:00pm

Wonderland of the Americas

4522 Fredericksburg Rd

San Antonio, Texas

www.swgms.org/

contact John Speck, (210) 596-1611

Email: jspeck2@att.net

Lubbock Gem and Mineral Society

09/23/2023 – 09/24/2023

Sat. 10:00am – 6:00pm, Sun. 10:00am – 5:00pm

Lubbock Memorial Civic Center

1501 Mac Davis Lane, Lubbock, Texas

www.lubbockgemandmineral.org

Email: walt@lubbockgemandmineral.org

There are some fabulous mineral shows in Colorado in August and September!

Check out https://www.rockandmineralshows.com/location/colorado-mineral-shows