This is Throwback Thursday #286. 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 send them to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! email:esconi.info@gmail.com.
The following piece appeared in the September 1966 edition of the ESCONI newsletter. The attribution is from “Rock Chips” of Spokane, but a little research (on the Spokane Rock Rollers Facebook group) led to the Deming Gem and Mineral Society in Deming, New Mexico. They’ve been around since 1965. Their newsletter is still called “Rock Chips”. Here’s a description of the club from their website.
Welcome to The Deming Gem & Mineral Society. DGMS was founded in 1965, with 41 members dedicated to the pursuit of rockhound interest, currently we have over 200 members. Yearly membership fees are $25 per family/household and $15 for an individual. Membership fees are due January 1st and if not renewed by March 1st the CHIPS Bulletin and shop access will stop.
The club’s general meetings are held the 1st Wednesday of each month at 1pm and the board meets at 10am the first Wednesdayof each month and all members are welcome to attend. During the general meetings there will be t-shirts, name badges, pins and rocks for sale. We also have drawings for those wearing your name badge, attending the meeting and a 50:50 raffle. Officers are voted on in March and the meeting days could be changed with the new officers in May. No meetings are held in June , July or August.
The club offers a lapidary shop with trim saws, grinders and polishers to make slabs, cabs, necklaces, bolos and etc. There is a small shop fee of $1 per hour and a small fee for rocks to be slabbed by our sawyers on the 18’ and 30” saws (come learn to be a sawyer). The club also offers a silversmithing shop, a lending library of books and videos, rock & mineral displays, educational presentations, monthly club newsletter (CHIPS) and guided field trips. We also host wire wrapping and beading classes during the year. The club is open Monday, Thursday and Saturday from 9am to 12pm. Summer hours will be posted in the CHIPS.
The DGMS host the annual Rockhound Roundup at the SWNM Fairgrounds in Deming. This event is the largest club sponsored Gem & Mineral Show of the Southwest and is held the second weekend in March. We host over 120 vendors and 10,000 patrons from across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The club depends on the Roundup profit for the club’s yearly expenses. It’s a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. We need all the help we can get to put this event on.
The club also hosts an annual Holiday Craft & Gift Fair held at the fairgrounds for holiday shoppers.
As a club we depend on our members participation and ideas to have a successful club!
And, here is “A Rock is a Rock”…
A ROCK IS A ROCK – BUT, all people don’t think of the same thing when you say “rock”. “rock”. I have heard of a 2-carat diamond in an engagement ring referred to as a “rock” and some others cam think of the Rock of Gibraltar. Rocks to a farmer are only things to dull the plow, while another sees them as materials to build a beautiful fireplace with. To some, a rock tells a story of the ages and to another it is a good stone to put on top of the sauerkraut crock. To small children, a rock is sometimes just the thing to throw in the water and see it splash, while to others, they are stepping stones to cross the creek on.
Some see rocks as beautiful scenery while another sees the same rocks as an obstacle to build a road through. Some see only the rough exterior, while others envision the beauty to be revealed when it is cut and polished. Even in “rockhounds” there’s a variation – some. see crystals for a specimen-cabinet, some for cutting into a faceted gem, some think only in the terms of dollars, some see something to ooh and ah over, some as something to clutter up the house and dust.
Whichever way YOU look at rocks here’s wishing you GOOD HUNTING.
from “Rock Chips” of Spokane
via The Miami Gemcrafter
Leave a Reply