trms t town rockhound volume lxviii issue 9...treasurer jerry nagel 918-640-1324 [email protected]...

TRMS T-TOWN ROCKHOUND Volume LXVIII Issue 9

Tulsa Rock and Mineral Society September 2020 Page 1

September 2020 V

ol. LXVIII N

o. 9

B

ox 2292, Tulsa, OK

74101



SOC

www.tulsarockandmineralsociety.org

2020 Officers - Elected by club members each November-December

The Tulsa Rock and Mineral Society, Inc. was organized in April 1958 to promote interest and provide education in the earth sci-ences, in historical artifacts, in jewelry-making and all forms of the lapidary arts. Field trips, the club workshop, monthly meetings and other activities provide opportunities for life-long learning. Meetings: The second Monday of each month at the College Hill Presbyterian Church, 7th and Columbia Street, Tulsa, OK. Refreshments and coffee begin at 6 p.m. Pebble Pups meet at 6:15 and the membership business meeting and program commence at 7p.m. ALL WELCOME!

The T-Town Rockhound, official bulletin of the Tulsa Rock and Mineral Society, is issued every month preceding the regular monthly meeting. Permission is granted to reprint items from the newsletter unless otherwise designated, provided that full credit is given to the author and the T-Town Rockhound. Please send items for the newsletter by the monthly deadline, the 20st of the month preceding publication, to Editor, T-Town Rockhound: Rebecca Ridgway, [email protected] or mail to 6130 S 1st ST S, Mus-kogee, OK 74401. E-Mail Exchange Publications to [email protected]

Chat Pile Editor Wayne Mouser [email protected]

Rock Donations Larry Wagle [email protected]

Show Chair Eric Hamshar [email protected]

Club Scholarship Dianne Kirk & Richard Jaeger

918-510-0198 918-481-0249

Liz Thomas 918-671-0047 [email protected]

Martha Rongey 918-230-1094

Bob & Nancy Hicks, Scott Robb 918-371-2162 [email protected]

Pebble Pups Julia Allande [email protected]

Hospitality Table Kimberly Perry [email protected]

Uniform Rules Leon Reeder [email protected]

Door Prize Chairman Paulino Allande

President Steve Ridgway 918-348-2299 [email protected]

1st Vice President George Hill 918-587-9873 [email protected]

2nd Vice President Holly Proctor 918-361-3081 [email protected]

Secretary Patti Grice 918-606-7002 [email protected]

Treasurer Jerry Nagel 918-640-1324 [email protected]

Shop Foreman Billy McBay 918-407-6066 [email protected]

Web/Librarian Martha Rongey 918-619-7861 [email protected]

Historian Roberta Wagle 918-695-4291 [email protected]

Past President Donna Loffer 918-407-1194 [email protected]

Newsletter Editor Rebecca Ridgway 918-348-9900 [email protected]

Directors Richard Jaeger, Larry Wagle, Jamie Harl

http://www.tulsarockandmineralsociety.org%20mailto:[email protected]%20mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]



T-TOWN ROCKHOUND September 2020 Vol. LXVIII No.9

Monthly newsletter of Tulsa Rock and Mineral Society tulsarockandmineralsociety.org

A Note from the President…

GUESS WHAT!!!! We are having an ACTUAL, IN-PERSON meeting this month. We will be meeting outside at the D.W. Correll Museum, 19934 E. Pine Street, Catoosa, OK, on Monday, September 14th at 7 p.m. We will have a short business meeting and then for our program, Eric Hamshar will be opening the doors to the museum for your “prowlerizations”. Ha Ha!!

Also, Patti Grice has graciously volunteered to serve as Secretary for the remainder of this year. Thank you! Because of COVID-19, our world has changed dramatically. We all hope that our Society will be able to resume regular meetings soon. At this time, College Hill Presbyterian Church remains closed indefinitely since many of their members are elderly. Also, the Shop at ORU continues to remain closed. As soon as we have the all clear, we will send out an email advising everyone. We are sorry but we want everyone to stay as healthy as we can. Remember, as most of us are older, we need to take special precautions. If you can stay home, please do. If you do need to get out to shop, wipe your cart down with a sanitizing wipe, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer as quickly as you can. Do not touch your face. Do not go to places that are overly crowded. Wash your hands fre-quently. If you feel sick, do not go anywhere. If you need something, PLEASE call someone to bring it to you and leave it at your door. Check on each other by telephone. Most importantly, pray. Also, If you have news to share, please contact our editor, Rebecca Ridgway at [email protected]. Respectfully yours, Steve Ridgway

Neochonetes Brachiopods from Burbank, Oklahoma



Our many thanks to Arden Meeks for the T-Town Rockhound Mascot, who, by the way, has been named Sniffer T. Bones, and to Harlon West for the very fine art work on our cover. (Included here) By the way, I love this dog!



Minutes of TRMS Board Meeting – August 10, 2020

The August 10, 2020 General Meeting of the Tulsa Rock and Mineral Society was called to order at 7pm by Steve Ridgeway. The meeting was held virtually via Zoom. REPORTS Finance

Motion made by Dianna Hartzman and seconded by Liz Thomas to approve the Financial report as published in the T-Town Rockhound.

Officer Updates Steve brought up the need for a Secretary to complete the role for the end of the year since the previous secretary resigned.

He appointed Patti Grice to fill that role for Board of Directors Meetings and General Meetings. It is time to take nominations for the 2021 slate of officers.

Education update Eric Hamshar and Bob Hicks have 60 educational boxes ready to put rocks in. Small fossils and small rocks are needed for the boxes. 20 specimens are needed for each box. Members discussed some of the samples that had been collected so far. Need clarification from the Education Committee for specifics regarding the plans for the boxes including how many boxes per

school and which schools. Member Updates – Liz Thomas urged members to support others who need extra care now

Wayne and Geraldine Mouser - He has health issues and wife has Alzheimer’s. He may like some help and would welcome

cards and calls. Please send to:

1541 S Carson Ave Tulsa, OK 74119 918-230-9481

JoAnn and Kenneth Mounce – She has recently had serious health issues and would welcome hearing from TRMS friends. Please send to:

530 N Albert Pike Ave Apt H 31 Fort Smith, AR 72903 479-782-4491

Club Donation Donna Loffer reported that Pat and Larry Gregory made a rock collection donation to the club to be used for the rock sale at

the show as well as the spinning wheel and grab bags. The donation was delivered to Donations Chairman, Larry Waggle. Details are posted on the club’s Facebook page.

Other Updates: Need more articles for the newspaper to be sent to the editor, Rebecca Ridgway. The American Federation Conference has been cancelled. NW Arkansas cancelled their Rock Swap. Tahlequah cancelled theirs, too. The annual Crystal Dig in Arkansas status is uncertain, but Kim Perry will check on it. Rock sale in October is still on. No field trips are currently planned but hope to be able to plan some soon.

Future Meetings For now, future meetings will be virtual with plans to eventually return to the church when safe to do so. Plans for a virtual Show and Tell or videos to be shown at upcoming meetings

Meeting adjourned Roberta Wagle motioned to adjourn. Donna seconded. Meeting adjourned at 7:35 pm.



Richard Jaeger wrote: Took two trips similar to last month. I went to Sheppards Point on Heyburn Lake; it’s a nice area for picnicking, camping, swim-ming; it has good facilities and not as crowded as some of the lakes. Heyburn Lake Park is equally good. I also went back out to the Oxley Nature Center and got to see three does and 5 fawns. Pretty forested scenery and easy trails to walk if you want to get out some day. I also visited two Sapulpa Lakes, Pretty Water and Sahoma. They also have some good facilities. Going down 86th Street West to those lakes I passed the former home of TRMS members John & Dorothy Sanders; they were both extremely active in our club. John was the show chairman when we hosted the RMFMS Show in 1984; he was also the RMFMS President in 1982-83. From there I went out to near the old Discovery Land. We had collected some excellent fossils there – including complete crinoid calyxes and trilobites. The locations are covered with weeds now, so one would have to wait until winter to make a trip. Found a few fos-sils at an area near Prattville but not in good quantity or quality. Another trip was up to Bluestem Lake west of Pawhuska. The facilities are Bluestem are extremely poor compared to the places mentioned above. The Bluestem Falls below the lake didn’t have much water that day but it was still pretty. I had hoped to hunt for fossils in the shale beds below the dam but it was a wet, soggy day and the paths down to the shale beds were not really safe to negotiate. Stopped at the Mercantile in Pawhuska for a snack on the way back.

The Conglomerate News from the Chat Pile

By Richard Jaeger, [email protected]

Bluestem Lake, Osage County, Oklahoma



Compiled by Richard Jaeger from T-Town Rockhound archives

5 YEARS AGO – SEPTEMBER 2015: The meeting was called to order by Vice President Barry Parks; it was held at the Correll Muse-um thanks to Eric Hamshar. Sixty-nine members and guests were present. Seven Pebble Pups received chert specimens and Mozarkite donated by Kay Waterman. The field trip arranged by Ken Siler was for Rose Rocks near Noble; Julia & Paulino Allande led the field trip. Leon Reeder presented the program on Cabochons; he also had a display in the church showcase. It was an-nounced that Steve & Donna Loffer were our AFMS Club Rockhounds of the Year. Paulino Allande was in charge of our TRMS Work-shop at ORU.

15 YEARS AGO – SEPTEMBER 2005: Forty-eight members & guests were present. Linda Jaeger presented Federation Bulletin Awards to Mary Watts and Gene Cockrell. Richard Jaeger awarded Teco Blanchard, a University of Tulsa Geology student, a $500 scholarship from TRMS. Peter Aradi presented an interesting program on the history of Chinese and Japanese viewing stones. The field trip was to the TXO Quarry in Midlothian, Texas. Ed Brooks did the September library rock exhibit. Kay Atkinson wrote an arti-cle titled “How Hot Was It”, about the July field trip to Richard’s Spur in 100-degree weather. Margueritte Hunt will be teaching classes on gem trees & shell art and beading. Margueritte wrote an article with illustrations on how to sew grab bags. Chris Fite wrote an article titled “New Rock Find. Porphyritic Basalt, Discovered by Chris Fite”.

35 YEARS AGO – SEPTEMBER 1985: Linda Jaeger called the meeting to order. Fred White awarded door prizes. Roy Stockton re-ported that our TRMS & the Tulsa Geological Society worked together and replaced some specimens and repaired display cases that are loaned to Tulsa Public Schools. Harvey Shell & Ivan Pope presented a program on electroplating without using cyanide or other harmful chemicals. The field trip was to hunt fossils and attend the OSCMS rock swap at Keystone Lake. Dr. Joe Whitteberry wrote that the 4th floor library display will have a collection of barite minerals from Eleanor Jaeger’s collection. Richard Jaeger wrote an article telling why the Rush, Arkansas area was now closed to rock hunting. Arden Meek wrote an article titled “Minerals & More, Chapter One”. Linda Jaeger wrote an article titled “It Led to The Best Dirt Road We Ever Traveled” about visiting the ghost town of Alta, Colorado south of Telluride.

45 YEARS AGO – SEPTEMBER 1975: The meeting was called to order with 160 members and guests present. Jack Kelley conducted the drawing of door prizes. Cheryl Skillern volunteered to sponsor the Junior Gems for 9 to 14 year old children. Homer Jones intro-duced John & Dorothy Sanders who gave the program titled “Rockhound Vacation” on their trip to New Mexico and Arizona to col-lect turquoise and fire agate, with well illustrated slides & John’s typical humor. The field trip was to hunt colonial coral and various other fossils at Fort Chickamuauga near Cookson. The trip also took in the underground St. Clair Limestone Quarry near Marble City to collected amazing calcite crystals with hydrocarbon inclusions.



Members - It is that time once again this year to nominate and find new officers for the club. If you are interested in any position, please let Donna Loffer know. Her phone number is 918-407-1194 or 918-371-5051. What are the duties of the officers? President - It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all regular meetings of the Society, and of the Board of Directors; to appoint committee chairs as needed; to be an ex-officio member of all committees; and to coordinate all Society activities. If he is unable to preside over a meeting then the vice-president will step in and run the meeting. The President shall also obtain, at the expense of the Society, a surety bond on himself and the Treasurer adequate to insure the safeguarding of Society assets. First Vice – President - It shall be the duty of the First Vice-President to assume all the duties of the President when that person is absent, to assist the President when needed, and to appoint and be Chair of the Standing Program Committee. In case the office of the President becomes vacant for any reason, the First Vice-President shall become President for the unexpired term. Second Vice – President - It shall be the duty of the Second Vice-President to assume the duties of the President in case both the President and First Vice-President are absent, appoint the Standing Field Trip Committee and be its Chair. Secretary - It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep accurate minutes of every regular meeting, and every meeting of the Board of Directors, and to present the minutes of each Society meeting to the membership and to the editor to publish in the newsletter. The Secretary shall author and maintain a permanent record of the correspondence of the Society. Editor - It shall be the duty of the Editor to publish the newsletter and act as Chair of the Standing Publications Committee, whom the Editor may appoint. The Editor may also appoint and chair an Ad hoc Newsletter Competitions Committee Treasurer - It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to be custodian of all funds of the Society, to collect all dues and other assets due the Society, to make disbursements authorized by the Board of Directors, to maintain a record of all assets of the Society, and to keep a permanent record of receipts and expenditures. Treasurer shall also be responsible for obtaining suitable tax advice and presenting to the Board of Directors facts which will permit maximum pursuit of the Society aims with a minimum of tax liability. Monthly reports of assets, liabilities, receipts, and expenditures will be presented to the Board of Directors. Treasurer shall main-tain a complete list of the membership of the Society, classified as to voting or non-voting members, and furnish the names of new members for inclusion in the Society publication. Treasurer will bring the membership list to each regular meeting, or any special meeting called to transact business. This list will be the official list of those qualified to vote. The Treasurer may appoint and chair an Ad hoc Membership Committee or an Ad hoc Membership Reporter and Committee Chair to assist with maintenance and use of membership records. Historian - It shall be the duty of the Historian to keep an accurate record of all past and present Society history for the review of all members. Should the Society decide to participate in annual regional or national competitions involving the Society history, the Historian may appoint and chair an Ad hoc Historical Competitions Committee to assist and coordinate the effort. Librarian - It shall be the duty of the Society Librarian to keep an accurate record of all publications belonging to the Society, to maintain a record of their locations at all times and have available for all members to review. Workshop - The Workshop Chair shall be responsible for the location, operations, maintenance and scheduling of the Workshop and appoint a Standing Workshop Committee, subject to Board approval, to aid in that effort. Three (3) Directors at Large – It is their duties to attend meetings and be the voice of the people at the business meetings. Immediate Past President – It is the duty of the Past President to help the incoming president and new board members with any-thing that they may deem necessary. These jobs are not hard but they are a little time consuming. But you do not turn it into a job. It is something that is needed to make sure that the club is doing all they can for the members and the public to educate them. This is a group of people that guide us and help us to keep some sort of assembly. I do hope you will think this over and step up and take a position. We are all here and we are all behind you if you so chose to do so. Thank you, Liz Thomas.



Helenite: Crafted in the Furnaces of Nature and Labs By Jim Brace-Thompson Rock & Gem May 7, 2020 I was a young guy getting ready to graduate from college when it happened. On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted with a bang, killing 57 people and unleashing untold damage. When this stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of America’s West Coast let loose, ash spewed 80,000 feet (15 miles!) into the air. There, it drifted and fell like snow across the states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. In total, ashfall was reported in 11 of the 50 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces. It’s estimated that within the first nine hours of the initial eruption, 540 million tons of ash was spewed across an area of 22,000 square miles. Small vials of this ash became popular souvenir items sold to tourists.

Born of Volcanic Ash

Just as the mythical phoenix (a beautifully bold bird) was born from fire and ash, so too was a thing of beauty born from Mount St. Helens’ ash. That silica-rich ash has been melted and crafted into a gem-stone of man-made glass similar to obsidian. The glass goes by a variety of trade names: Helenite, Mount St. Helens Stone, Mt. St. Helens Emerald, Emerald Obsidian, Ruby Ob-sidianite, and Gaia Stone, among others. When melted at temperatures of up to 2,700 degrees Fahr-enheit, this volcanic ash typically produces a green glass. This was discovered by accident during salvage operations after the eruption: workers using acetylene torches saw that the ash would turn to green glass. By mixing the ash with coloring agents such as gold or cobalt, helenite has been produced in other colors, such as red and blue.

Article provided by: Roberta Wagle

https://www.rockngem.com/earth-science-news/http://mountsthelens.com/http://mountsthelens.com/https://www.rockngem.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Helenite-photo-4.jpg



Jonathan English

Olivia English

Mary Hiner

Zara Hoge

Tim Lee

Steve Loffer

Ralph McLendon

Daxton Moreno

Geraldine Mouser

Mark Peterson

Mary Jo Peterson

Jackie Robb

Michael Schneider

Carla Shwadlenak

John Smith

Jerry Toops

Fred White

Donna and Chris Abbott

DeLane and Wayne Cox

Judy and Bob Lieser

Cherie and Ralph Merry

Mary and Steve Skaggs

Ruth and Jim Williams

Cindy and Mark Zinger



TRMS WORKSHOP—A GREAT RESOURCE FOR CLUB MEMBERS!

TRMS members are welcome to use the club workshop during the scheduled sessions. You will be asked to sign a waiver if you work at the shop. Young people must be accompanied by an adult. Material for cutting and polishing is available at the shop for $1 a slab. There is a charge for cutting a piece on the big saw. Please, contact the shop foreman or the charge person 24-hours

in advance.

TRMS WORKSHOP HOURS

First Saturday 1:00 to 5:00 PM

Third Saturday 1:00 to 5:00 PM

Third Tuesday 5:30 to 9:00 PM

Fourth Thursday 5:30 to 9:00PM

Contact Billy McBay, supervisor, 918-407-6066

The workshop is located next to Elsing Museum in the lower level of the Learning Resource Center on the campus of Oral Roberts University, 81st and Lewis, Tulsa.



TRMS September 2020 The club regularly meets at 7 p.m. the second Monday of the month at the College Hill Presbyterian Church, 7th and Columbia near the TU tennis courts. A social hour precedes each meeting, with coffee and snacks. Visitors are always welcome. Pebble Pups meet at 6:15 preceding the general membership meeting. For Work-shop sessions, contact foreman Billy McBay at 918-407-6066 or the charge person 24 hours in advance.

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TRMS BOARD

Meets 7 pm College Hill

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TRMS MEETS

7 pm -

DW Correll Museum 19934 E. Pine St., Catoosa, OK

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SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY



RMFMS clubs observe the AFMS Code of Ethics

will respect both private and public property and will do no collecting on privately-owned land without the owner’s

permission. will keep informed on all laws, regulations and rules governing collecting on public lands and observe them.

will to the best of my ability, ascertain the boundary lines of property on which plan to collect. will use no firearms or blasting material in collecting areas. will cause no willful damage to property of any kind - fences, signs or buildings. will leave all gates as found.

will build fires in designated or safe places only and will be certain they are completely extinguished before leaving the area. will discard burning material - matches, cigarettes, etc. will fill all excavation holes which may be dangerous to livestock.

will not contaminate wells, creeks or other water supply. will cause no willful damage to collecting material and will take home only what can reasonably use. will practice conservation and undertake to utilize fully and well the materials have collected and will recycle my surplus for the pleasure and benefit of others.

will support the Rockhound project H.E.L.P. (Help Eliminate Litter Please) and leave all collecting areas devoid of litter, re-gardless of how found. will cooperate with field trip leaders and those in designated authority in all collecting areas.

will report to my club or Federation officers, Bureau of Land management or other authorities, any deposit of petrified wood or other materials on public lands which should be protected for the enjoyment of future generations for public educational and scientific purposes. will appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources. will observe the “Golden Rule”, use “Good Outdoor Manners” and at all times conduct myself in a manner which will add to the stat-ure and public image of rockhounds everywhere.

Adherence to the AFMS Code of Ethics assures compliance with most statutes and regulations governing collecting on public lands and encourages respect for private property rights and the environment. Clubs are urged to read the AFMS Code of Ethics in at least one meeting every year, to publish the Code frequently in the club newsletter, and to compel compliance on club field trips.

issues of proposed legislation and enforcement affecting field collecting of minerals and fossils.

organization with responsibility for advancing the interests of earth science amateurs with legislatures and land use management agencies.

The AFMS will receive a report from ALAA at its annual meeting.

The AFMS endorses the principle of multiple uses of public lands as a guarantee of continuing recreational opportunities.

Wilderness and monument designations are inconsistent with the principle of multiple uses. In view of the vast amount of public land al-ready designated as wilderness and monuments, future such designations should be minimal, taking into account the increased demand for recreational opportunities, including rockhounding, created by a growing population.

In furtherance of the principle of multiple use, the AFMS believes that laws, regulations and rules established by relevant govern-mental authorities should be designed to allow freest possible access to all public lands, coupled with minimal restrictions on the recrea-tional collection of minerals, fossils, gemstone materials and other naturally occurring materials.

A right to collect minerals and fossils on public lands should be protected by statute.

The AFMS urges its members to work with any or all government authorities to achieve a good working relationship in order to improve the

trms t town rockhound volume lxviii issue 9...treasurer jerry nagel 918-640-1324 [email protected]...

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