This is Throwback Thursday #48.  In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general.  If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc …), please sent them to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Thanks!

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25 Years Ago – March 1996

• The General Meeting was titled “Plate Tectonics in the Andes, and a General Overview of Fossil Mammal Assemblages in the Miocene Volcanic Sediments in Chile, South America”.
• The Paleontology Study group discussed Horses, while the Lapidary Study group talked about Sapphires.
• The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil show was held on March 2nd and 3rd, with setup in the 1st.
• The Junior Group was looking for a new leader.
• Andrew Hay wrote an article about Meteors/Meteorites.
• Librarian Don Brazda had a library update.  We added some new books and did some reorganization.
• An announcement from the MWF Newsletter told about the closing of the last existing underground fluorite/fluorspar lines in Southern Illinois.  The mines were owned by Ozark Mahoning Company.  They were called the Annabel Lee and the No. 1 Mines.  The mines were sealed with a concrete cap.
• We published a thank you letter to the College of DuPage for the use of the Jewelry Lab for a previous meeting. (see below).

50 Years Ago – March 1971

• In the Presidents Message, Dick Ade mentioned the World Flower and Garden Show in Chicago’s McCormick Place from March 20th – 28th, 1971.  ESCONI displayed the “Plant Life Through The Ages” exhibit.
• The General Meeting featured micromounting.  Mr. Horace A. Greene of Elmhurst was the speaker.  He was a teacher of Physics in Elmhurst and at Roosevelt University.  He showed slides of specimens from Pint’s Quarry in Iowa.
• The Downers Grove Juniors were studying Pyrite-Gold-Quartz
• Lapidary had a presentation by Mr. David Kinney of the Lizzadro Museum.  The title was “Gem Hunting on the Mississippi River”
• On March 6th, 1971, an indoor field trip to display your collections was held at Hummer Park.
• There was a report on a paper by Dr. Robert Bakker called “Habits of the Sauropod Dinosaurs”.