CFMS NEWSLETTER

CFMS Newsletter December 2019refreshments/supplies; also did a great job with thelibrary, she is a co-director with John on the board-soattends meetings has great lapidary skills, - she sharesknowledge, has helped me in class with projects, alsohelps with ways and means and silent auction too!FRA booth. We are happy to nominate Little ChipperDemelza.Submitted by Thalia GoldsworthyMichael Hopkins, Contra Costa Mineral & GemSocietyJohn has taken on several responsibilities as part of ourorganization. He serves as Ways and Means Chair, andon our Board of Directors. As a member of the Boardhis greatest asset is his ability to see a situation andoffer a solution that shows a deeper understanding ofwhat is needed.Mike has been a dedicated volunteer for many years.This year he has assumed the position of Show Chairwith enthusiasm and energy. He has also takeninformation from the Mother Lode Mineral Society andmade substantial upgrades to our membership tableactivities. Mike created a new, more functional lay-outfor the show activities, enhancing traffic flow andmaking our membership table more visible andinviting. Mike created a new, more functional lay-outfor the show activities, enhancing traffic flow andmaking our membership table more visible andinviting. Over the past eight years, Mike has beenespecially involved in events teaching the youngerWebelo Scouts (Boy Scouts) about the Earth Sciencesto earn their badges. Whenever there is work to bedone, Mike is there with his upbeat attitude and smile.If John says "I can do it" he really has considered itthoroughly. An example was his offer to serve on theBoard as a "Co-Director" - with his wife being theother half (with one vote between them). Knowing hemight not be able to attend some Board meetings hehad concern for our having a quorum to do business.This was a unique solution for a legal way to coverwhat many societies do casually. We agreed andofficially approved of that position.When he took on the Ways and Means Chair he foundthat the monthly supplies for our raffles were helterskelter in our storage trailer. With Shanna's help theyremoved, consolidated, updated and organized thesesupplies.Submitted by: Donna Albrecht, PresidentJeanny Pierce, The Vista Gem & Mineral SocietyWe are appreciative andare grateful for theircontributions and team work supporting our society.Woodland Hills Rock Chippers acknowledge John andShanna O'Brien as our Rock Hound(s) of the Year.We nominate Jeanny Pierce this year. Jeanny is a busywoman! She not only belongs to Vista (currentlySecretary), but also Lake Elsinore Gem & Mineral (pastSec. & Treasurer), and also Temecula ValleyProspectors & the Treasure Seekers of San Diego.From a little kid her mom had to check her pocketsbecause she knew she had rocks in them! She has arock shop in her home with lots of lapidary equipment.Now she is taking a silversmithing course at the Vistaclub so she can set her cabs. She loves the camaraderieat the clubs & shows. And she enjoys doing programson fluorescent minerals and copper mines in Bisbee,AZ. and also leading field trips. Her true love isinstructing young rockhounds on gems & minerals. Weare lucky to have such a jewel to honor.Submitted by Debbie HirlingerDemelza Adamson, Woodland Hills Rockchippers,Junor,The Woodland Hills Rock Chippers nominate Demelza(Adamson) as our Junior Rockhound of the Year. Inthe short 2 1/2 years as a Little Chipper she has earned10 badges towards her Rock Star Pin; she alreadyearned her Rockhound badge (5 badges required). Inaddition to her FRA badge activities she designed,arranged, made labels and set up the Little Chippersshowcase at our 2019 show, working along with a guest8 yr. old, Aidan, who was interested in displaying too.As a special addition to her work on her FluorescentBadge, she had a second exhibit at the games table atour show. With her parents help making a box with UVlighting, it became a showstopper with visitors to ourMark Salais, President,Nancy Bird, Federation Director4

CFMS Newsletter December 2019volunteered to run the Member’s Sales during theVGMS Open House during the Solano County Fair.Lynn Varon,Ventura Gem & Mineral SocietyWe are extremely pleased to announce our "Rockhoundof the Year" for Ventura Gem & Mineral Society in theperson of Lynn Varon. If you feel you recognize thisname, you are correct! For many years running, Lynnwas none other than Managing Editor of Rock & Gemmagazine, the official hobby magazine of AFMS.Lynn has been a VGMS member for only two years,but within that brief period she has put a definite stampas Bulletin editor, upgrading an already award-winningbulletin with a refined graphic presentation. Whilestepping forward to take on a second year as BulletinEditor for 2020, she also recently volunteered to helpour annual show next March as Raffle Chair, which is amajor money-maker for our society. In just two shortyears, Lynn has made herself indispensable and isalways willing to help when something needs to bedone. We proudly name her "VGMS Rockhound of theYear"!She organized the other Members and the Fair Saleswent smoothly. She also set up a Gem Tree MakingWorkshop in preparation for the Fair which were usedon both the Wheel of Fortune and the VGMS Sales. Shealso found a way to reduce cost for polished rocks andother materials we use for both the G&M Show and theFair. She submitted the plan to the Board and spent herown time implementing the plan. In addition, she is aforeperson and volunteers many hours in the shophelping other Members.Submitted by Aubrey Daniels, Federation DirectorSAFETY REPORTBy Joe Goetz, Safety ChairThis month I'm going to talk about breathingprotection, both in the field and around the house or inthe shop. There are some choices for different levels ofprotection . For larger dust particles or saw dust a fibermask will do. It does a fairly good job. A problems iswhen you exhale and are wearing safety glasses theycan get fogged up causing another problem of not beingable to see. The next step up is still a fiber mask,however this one has a exhalation valve.Thatinnovation won't fog up your eye protection unless ofcourse you are wearing a face shield. The next versionis a respirator type with one or two filters on the mask.What is nice about this is you can get filters thatremove common dust to filtering molds and even makethings smell better. All these are interchangeable on themask. The next type is a respirator with a full mask andis a closed system with having a tank of compressed airor pure oxygen just like the ones firefighters wear.Submitted by: Nancy Brace-Thompson, PresidentMichael Polasky, Long Beach Mineral and GemSocietyMichael Polasky is one of our newer members and hasbeen involved with LBMGS for about 2 years. He cameeager to dive into many unfinished projects and hashelped us tremendously with fixing up our workshop,lapidary equipment and broken faceting machine. Hehas revived our library and we are grateful to be able tocheck out a book or DVD once again. Michael istalented at playing his Native American flute andcharms us with melodies when tense moments bring usdown. Congratulations for being our Rockhound of theYear, Michael PolaskySubmitted By: Karin Alvarez, TreasurerOf course any of these masks could be compromised bysomeone with a full beard. Even though there is thatproblem, it's still better than a wet bandana in a duststorm. The other annoyance is there is no way forsomeone to be able to drink coffee or whatever whenwearing any of these devices. You'll just have to takethem off before drinking whatever.Pam Taylor, Vallejo Gem and Mineral SocietyPam does a significant amount of work for the VGMSClub. She took on the Show Chair for the 2019 Gemand Mineral Show. She organized the event whichwent smoothly and was one of the club’s best yearsever. Pam also stepped up to fill a Director at Largeposition on the Board of Directors. She has been avaluable contributor to the Board. Pam alsoBe safe!!5

CFMS Newsletter December 2019SHOW CONSULTANTSOUTH REPORTBULLETIN EDITORS’ADVISORYVisalia, November 9, 2019By Susan Chaisson-WalblomCFMS Fall BusinessMeeting–Visalia–11/09/2019By Suzanne Webb, ChairExciting news!Participation in the B ulletinEditors’ contest for 2019 was, for the second year in arow, very light. I attribute that to the very early AFMSConvention and Show date yet again this year whichforced what I consider to be unreasonably earlydeadlines for submission of entries. Nevertheless, therewere 4 intrepid editors who sent in entries. Thank you.But consider: four out of over a hundred!The 2020 CFMS Show & Convention will be a selfhosted event, taking place in Lodi, California.There is a bid to host the 2021 CFMS Show &Convention! The Antelope Valley Gem & MineralClub submitted a bid for the 2021 Show & Conventionto the CFMS Ex-Board. The bid was discussed inVisalia & voted on. Hopefully I will be coming to youat the Directors Meeting on November 9 th with apositive outcome from the Board Meeting.This year, the AFMS meeting is in October, so thedeadline is much more reasonable—January 15 to meas BEAC. That allows judges plenty of time to get theirwork done before our CFMS Convention in Lodi inJune. Phew!The 2022 CFMS Show & Convention has an interestedclub from Bakersfield discussing with our President thepossibility of hosting.Therefore, I am expecting a veritable flood of entriesdue to the pent-up demand the early dates have created.Those of you who are new editors, there’s a categoryfor you! Bulletin editors large, small, and mini—now isyour chance. Send those entries! Will you need areminder in December? Or in January? Please check theCFMS newsletter and/or the Website for dates andaddress. By the way, first place winners for 2018 and2019 in any category are ineligible for this year’scontest.Hosting a CFMS Show & Convention can be a veryrewarding endeavor for your Club/Society! Many,m any C FM S C lubs/Societies have taken theopportunity of hosting this event over the past 50 years and made it their own.A few of the advantages of hostingShow/Convention are:aCFMS!Gaining new Members!!Showing your community what your hobby is allabout.!Making money for your Club/Society.!Showing all of the other CFMS Clubs/Societies whatyou’re all about.!Each Show is unique in its own way. Think about theways hosting a State Show/Convention could benefitYOUR CLUB/SOCIETY!Federation Reps: please encourage your bulletin editorto submit the entire bulletin or at least an article, poem,feature, or drawing for this year’s contest. You are thebest and most reliable way to reach those editors, soPLEASE let them know about the contest. If they don’thave an internet connection, please printout theinformation for them. Although digital submissions arerequested, we cheerfully receive paper copiesconforming to the rules printed under the contestinformation on the Website—also available at theAFMS Website.If you would like more information about possiblyhosting a future CFMS Show/Convention, pleasecontact me.DUES ARE DUE ONJANUARY 1slchaisson@yahoo.com(661) 406-01436

CFMS Newsletter December 2019!Each month I cross check all show information thatappears online against what I have received to makesure we match. Merryan and I contact each other if wefind missing submittals, so corrections occur monthlybefore the newsletter is published.!I will always respond to the email submission that Ireceived it . If you don’t receive that email, I did notget your submission.!Realize that this is free advertising and the longer it isposted, the more folks have a chance to see what ishappening in the area they are visiting.!Each month, I pull that printed copy of the show datesand I post those shows on my club’s bulletin board sothey are visible to everyone who visits.!All submittals should be entered before month end tobe listed two months from the date. The Show Datesarticle submitted in October will appear in theDecember newsletter.Respectfully Submitted, Jennifer Rhodesrgmsdirector@yahoo.comCFMS FIELD TRIP SOUTHCFMS Fall Business Meeting–Visalia, CA–11/9/2019Bart Solomon, ChairIn order to provide Club field trip support; I plan tostart a field trip information database including thematerial available at the site; directions to the site; GPScoordinates and latest information of the site. Thedatabase would be available to clubs thru the CFMSwebsite and accessible using a pc or smartphone.Steps Planned:1.2.3.4.5.Development of the database – this has beenstarted as a spreadsheetContact clubs for site information to be addedto the database – I plan to start this after theVisalia meeting and acceptance of this planDevelopment of a phone app for access (willuse Appsheet)Development of the website accessField trip Chairman South would beresponsible for updating the database with mostrecent site informationVISUAL PROGRAMSCFMS Fall BusinessMeeting–Visalia, CA–11/9/2019By Sharon Rogow, ChairCFMS SHOW DATES END OF YEARREPORTAs of this writing, we have hadrequests for 10 program discs with afee of 10.00 per program. Anadditional check will coming in November so it has notbeen included in the total yet for this year. This is notnearly the amount that we had hoped for. I would liketo suggest that the program chairs consider requestingfrom our library as there are a great number and a greatvariety to choose from.CFMS Fall Business Meeting–Visalia, CA–11/9/2019By Jennifer Rhodes, ChairTo date this year, the Show Dates Committee hasreceived the following number of show submissions forW ebsite Posting and inclusion in the CFMS Newsletter.Merryan O’Neill has been graciously filling in for thenew webmaster posting the forms online, while I havebeen posting them for the CFMS Newsletter. We havebeen cross checking each other’s work for errors.!18 Local Shows are listed to the end of 2019 and into2020. These dates are received via email from anonline form that members fill out and are thenforwarded to my RGMS Director’s email.!Year to Date 56 Show submittals were received. TheNational and Regional shows are listed until the showis past. These shows are listed with bold font and are alarger font size to draw attention to them.Theinformation is up-to-date for 2020.The most popular subjects were, Red Treasures of theRockies (gorgeous rhodochrosite from the Sweet Homemine in Colorado with history of the mine) #57,German Agates #22, Flint Knapping #43, Franklin, NJFluorescent Mineral Capital #3, Sedimentary and VeinAgates #4, and Tree Stories #2.No postal fee are charged to CFMS as an anonymousdonor covers them.7

CFMS Newsletter December 2019Are the members of your Board of Directors coveredfor their actions and decisions on behalf of your societywhich may jeopardize them personally and financially?If your society hasn’t already purchased Directors andOfficers Liability Coverage, the Federation’s insuranceprogram offers a very affordable D&O policy.INSURANCECFMS Fall BusinessMeeting–Visalia, CA–11/9/2019By Fred Ott, Insurance Chair“Insurance Checklist”Sometimes it is difficult to recognize the value of theFederation’s Insurance policy and how it protectsCFMS societies and their individual members, so Ithought it best to provide a little ‘history’ as well assome examples of actual CFMS claims that have beenpaid throughout the years.With the many recent wildfires throughout California,it’s now more important than ever to make sure that theassets belonging to your society are properly coveredwith adequate insurance.If your society owns a building:Almost 20 years ago prior to the current Chubbpolicy .and before McDaniel Insurance Services, Inc.became the Federations’ insurance agent .the ‘perCFMS member premium’ for the Federation’s GeneralLiability Insurance policy was only 1.00 per year permember; it is now 6.00 per year per member. Thingswent very smoothly for many years; then all hell brokeloose!!The amount of insurance coverage should reflect the‘full replacement cost’ of a new building .includingdemolition costs .not the ‘market value’ of theproperty.!The policy should include “building code upgrade”coverage (also known as “building ordinance or law”coverage) which would pay for the increased cost ofconstruction as the result of ‘current building codes’.!The policy should provide adequate ‘premisesliability coverage’ to protect your society againstclaims and lawsuits.A claim involving the death of a CFMS member on afield trip cost the CFMS’s insurance company 250,000and the insurance carrier at the time, now recognizingthe exposures posed by ‘rock and gem clubs’, droppedthe Federation’s insurance policy ‘like a hot potato’leaving Bob Stultz and Pat LaRue to frantically searchfor a quality replacement agent/carrier. Contrary tosome beliefs, getting liability insurance coverage forrock and gem clubs whose activities includerockhounding, mining, lapidary, rock-and-gem shows,etc. was not then (and is not now) an easy task.Fortunately, Bob and Pat located Patt McDaniel and therelationship that they established with McDanielInsurance Services has been excellent ever since thatfateful era.If your society rents/leases a facility (whether formeetings, storage, lapidary, etc.):!Be sure to purchase ‘premises liability insurancecoverage’If your society owns tangible business personalproperty (such as lapidary equipm ent, officeequipment, supplies, furniture, etc):!The amount of insurance coverage should reflect the‘full replacement cost’ of all items, not the ‘ActualCash Value/Depreciated Value’ of those items.!Be sure to conduct a ‘photographic inventory’ ofeverything owned by your society and keep the photos‘off-site or in the ‘cloud’Some actual claims paid by our Federation’sinsurance policy include:!Theft of hand tools, tile saw, vacuum pump, aircompressor and lapidary equipment,!Vandalism and burglary including gems and silver!Burglary involving tools and stones!Liability claim involving the rental of a truck totransport Society assetsIf your society owns vacant land or a claim:!Be sure to purchase adequate “liability coverage” forany claims that might arise from the ownership or useof the property.8

CFMS Newsletter December 2019!Damage to a display case and its valuable contentscaused accidentally by a club member!Water damage to a building and its contents!Major fire damage to a building and its contents(3) Use on the public lands explosive, motorized ormechanical devices, except metal detectors, to aid in thecollection of specimens permitted under paragraph (b)or (c) of this paragraph.(b) Except on developed recreation sites and areas, orwhere otherwise prohibited and posted, it is permissibleto collect from the public lands reasonable amounts ofth e fo llo w in g f o r n o n c o m m ercial p u rp oses:1)Commonly available renewable resources such asflowers, berries, nuts, seeds, cones and leaves.2) Nonrenewable resources such as rock and mineralspecimens, ommon invertebrate and common plantfossils, and semiprecious gemstones;3) Petrified wood as provided under subpart 3622 ofthis title;Subpart 3622—Free Use of Petrified Wood4) Mineral materials as provided under subpart 3604;andSubpart 3604—Free Use of Mineral Materials5) Forest products for use in campfires on the publiclands. Other collection of forest products shall be inaccordance with the provisions of Group 5500 of thistitle.PART5 5 0 0 — N O N S A L E D IS P O S A L S ;GENERALAs you can see, the Federation’s insurance companydoesn’t “just collect premiums”; they pay claims forlosses incurred by the Federation and its membersocieties, so it’s very important that each society obtaininsurance to cover the assets of the society as well asliability claims that occur on a regular basis. Havequestions? Contact Patt McDaniel or a member of herstaff at:McDaniel Insurance Services, LLCCA DOI License # 0K28791; mcins@west.net; (800)400-7288; 206 N. Signal Street, Suite O,PO Box 1294, Ojai, CA 93024 (805) 646-9948; Fax(805) 646-9976PS Patt McDaniel asked that I also mention that severalclaims have been submitted wherein the amount of loss(theft or damage) to property owned by a society wasless than the amount of insurance purchased by thatsociety. All the more reason to make sure that yoursociety has adequate limits of coverage.(c) The collection of renewable or nonrenewableresources from the public lands for sale or barter tocomm ercial dealers may be done only afterobtaining a contract or permit from an authorizedofficer in accordance with part 3600 or 5400 of thischapter.PART 3600 — MINERAL MATERIALS DISPOSALPA R T 5400 — SA LE S O F FO REST P R O D U C T S;ROCKHOUND SOAPBOXCFMS PLACBy John Martinplac@antelecom.netR ecreational R ockhounding asdefined in the United States Code ofFederal Regulations 43 CFR §8365.1-5 Property and reso urces,GENERAL48 FR 36384, Aug. 10, 1983; 67 FR 68778, Nov. 13,2002; 75 FR 27455, May 17, 2010 e-CFR data iscurrent as of October 18, 2019](a) On all public lands, unless otherwise authorized, noperson shall:1) Willfully deface, disturb, remove or destroy anypersonal property, or structures, or any scientific,cultural, archaeological or historic resource, naturalobject or area.2) Willfully deface, remove or destroy plants or theirparts, soil, rocks or minerals, or cave resources, exceptas permitted under paragraph (b) or (c) of thisparagraph; or9

CFMS Newsletter December 2019The Bare Necessities if Your Society Doesn’t Have aCom puter GeekELECTRONICCOMMUNICATIONSBy Jennifer HaleyI use Word, but you may have other programs you liketo use.S tr e a m lin

Carolyn Howe, Oxnard Gem & Mineral Society The Oxnard Gem & Mineral Society would like to nominate Carolyn Howe for 2019 Rockhound of the Year. Carolyn Howe has been a fixture in our Shop for 18 years. After she retired, Carolyn has kept busy by volunteering. She became co-instructor of our L ap i dry C ls