Christmas Party Cancellation

The Christmas party is CANCELLED due to poor weather conditions.

We may reschedule for Barb's place and have it instead of our regular meeting.  We'll keep you posted.

Have a Holy and Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!

WELCOME TO THE AGE OF AQUARIUS!

Happy New Age!

The Rock, Fossil, Gem and Mineral Show was a Success!

The Northwest Illinois Rock Club 2012 Show was a great success thanks to the hard work of all of the vendors, the VietNow Veterans brat stand, guest speakers and club members.

(Thanks again to our Veterans who served us yet again on Veteran's Day)










This show wouldn't have been possible if the many people in our communities didn't come together to celebrate all that the Earth has to share with us.

Participating Vendors:                              

Craig Heinze,

Starlite Art and Framing

Brushy Creek Gems & Minerals

Betty J. or Gerald L. Navone

Wrap-N-Rock Gems

Rock Biz

Julie Whitlatch

Jack L. Hoxie/Mystic Moraine

Craig Moore

 

Some of our CLUB MEMBERS

 

We would also like to thank our guest speakers:

Steve Simpson, HCC Geology Instructor

Aaron Laurent, HCC Alumnus and Beloit College student

Scott Williams, Collections Manager, Burpee Museum of Natural History, Rockford, IL

Nate White, HCC alumnus and Augustana College Geology student 

 Fred Mrozak, Astronomer and telescope craftsman  

Thank You for helping make our show a learning vehicle.

 This show is annually held every November, and then the Badger Rock Club of Monroe has theirs in March at the Monroe Highschool, where you can

                                                                                     see many of the same happy faces!

October Meeting

Well gang it's time for our October meeting this thursday Oct. 18, 7:00 PM at the Community Reformed Church 1421 W. Galena Ave. Freeport.

We need to work on getting ready for the show starting with filling kids bags, so if you have stuff for the kids bags please bring it to the meeting. 

  All the sign up sheets will be passed around but we need help with friday afternoon setup, friday evening pot luck, the front table, club table, We will especially need help with the kids area and then sunday evening tear down and clean up.
  There are display cases for anyone wanting to do a display for the show. 

  Hope to see ya thursday.

NWIL Rock Club Annual Rock, Mineral and Fossil Sale

It's that time of year again!  Get ready for the annual Rock, Mineral and Fossil Show at Highland Community College.

There will be lapidary demonstrations, a fun-filled children's fish pond, games, speakers, displays, and much more

PSA for Gem, Jewelry, Fossil and Mineral Show and Sale

“Northwest Illinois Rock Club will hold its annual Holiday Gem, Jewelry, Fossil and Mineral show and sale, November 10th &11th, at Highland Community College Student/Conference Center in Freeport, IL. Vendors from the Midwest will offer an array of fossils, minerals, gem stones, beads, jewelry, and gift items perfect for holiday gifts. Also featured are displays, lapidary demonstrations, a fun-filled children’s area, and geode opening.

Speakers slated for the event include:

                                                 Saturday, Nov 10 (in H127)

10:30 a. m.  Mars Science Laboratory: The Biggest, Best, and Newest Robot Geologists on Mars. What we are learning about the environment of the Red Planet.

Steve Simpson, HCC Geology Instructor

1:30 p.m.    Metamorphism of the Maroon Formation near Cathedral Lake, Colorado

Aaron Laurent, HCC Alumnus and Beloit College student

3:30 p.m.  The Little Museum That Does: Burpee Museum’s New Decade of Paleo-Discoveries

Scott Williams, Collections Manager, Burpee Museum of Natural History, Rockford, IL   
                                                Sunday, Nov. 11 (in H127)

 11:00 a.m. Geochemistry and Petrification Processes of Petrified Wood from Southeast Utah

Nate White, HCC alumnus and Augustana College Geology student  

2:00 p.m.  Astronomical Disasters/Catastrophes: What did we know and when did we know it?

Fred Mrozak, Astronomer and telescope craftsman  

Show hours are from 9 a.m. -5 p.m. Saturday and 10-4 p.m. Sunday in the Student/Conference Center. For more information call Brian Green at 815-745-2228.

Here are the list of venders:

Craig Heinze

Starlite Art and Framing

Brushy Creek Gems & Minerals

Betty J. or Gerald L. Navone

Wrap-N-Rock Gems

Rock Biz

Julie Whitlatch

Jack L. Hoxie/Mystic Moraine

Craig Moore Our clubs own stone crafters: Art Dawson from Art's Art, Cindy Green from Rock-N-Jewelry, Ann White from Terp Studio, and Barb from Branching Out will be among some of the happy rockhounds you'll be seeing at the show.

 

Donations appreciated.

November 10th and 11th

9am-5pm Saturday  10am-4pm Sunday

Student/Conference Center Highland Community College

2998 W. Pearl City Rd Freeport

These vendors are from Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.

                        SEE YOU THERE!

Meeting this Thursday Sept. 20

Well, gang, Fall is coming fast so that means it's time to get together again.  I hope everyone had a productive summer and were able to add some more rocks to your collections.
We will be meeting again as usual Thursday Sept. 20th at 7:00 pm at the Community Reformed Church, 1421 W. Galena Ave. on the west end of Freeport.
Ann White will be giving a demonstration about carving rocks and showing the different tools needed and how to use them and hopefully bring some of her fine carvings for us to admire. We will start the meeting with Ann and have the business meeting following.  I will give an update on how the show is going.  We'll need volunteers for the kids games at the show. We'll be filling kids bags at the October meeting so please start rounding up your material to bring  to the October meeting.   
 Hope to see you all Thursday.
 Brian and Cindy

Large Rock, Gem & Artifact Auction

THORNHILL AUCTION

 ROCKS SELL ON -- Tuesday night October 16, 2012 at 6:00 P.M.

&

Wednesday October 17, 2012 beginning at 9:45 A.M.

 

SALE SITE: Pike County Fairgrounds- #15884 Hwy 54, Bowling Green, MO 63334

DIRECTIONS: Take Hwy 61 to Bowling Green take the Mexico/Louisiana Hwy 54 Exit go East on Hwy 54 1.2 miles to Fairgrounds on left.

From Louisiana, MO take Hwy 54 West approx. 10 miles to Fairgrounds on the right.

 

Sells Tuesday night October 16 at 6:00 p.m.

(Doors open at 4:00 p.m. for pre-viewing)

LARGE ROCK, GEM & ARTIFACT COLLECTION

-          100s & 100s of rocks and geodes of all kinds.

-          100s of pieces of jewelry made from rock

-          Several very unusual rocks, special items

-          Collection of Arrowheads approx. 100+ points

**There are 100’s & 100’s of boxes of rock, the sheds and house is full. A ROCKHOUNDS DREAM! **

Wheaton College Geology Sale Sept. 29th, 2012

Friends,

Many of you remember the sale of rocks, minerals, fossils, maps, and instruments from Wheaton College's collection last year. Now, because of a continuing surplus and many fine duplicates donated to the department, we must do it again!

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2012  from 9am to 5pm:

Wheaton College Geology will again offer a large amount of valuable material to collectors at all levels. One room will be devoted to children's and beginner's goodies. One room will be for sale of higher-quality items, and one room for intermediate items. Marked prices range from less than a dollar to hundreds of dollars. "Deals" can be made to discount for larger numbers of purchases. These prices are not at the lowest, wholesale range, but are far less than most stores and online offerings. CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED. NO OUT OF TOWN CHECKS.

Items included: large, nice MI coppers; many varieties of quartz (top-quality Arkansas); Tampa Bay agatized corals; Madagascar Ocean Jasper slices; loads of calcites from the TriState, Mexico, etc.; Tsumeb malachite; pyrites and marcasite; TriState galenas, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite, IL fluorite, some with witherite; many pegmatite minerals (including columbite); Mexican arsenates; SD barite; US metamorphic minerals from the Rockies and Appalachians; copper ores from AZ, NM and Butte, MT; gold and platinum ores: uvite and hexagonite from New York; Indian zeolites; New Jersey zinc ores and associated skarn minerals; many types of garnets (uvarovite, melanite, grossular, etc.); USGS portfolios; projection petrographic microscopes; fossils, including many invertebrates (trilobites, corals, etc), Tertiary mammals, turtles, and dino bones; and much more, some in large quantities.

If you want more specific information, please contact me. The sale will take place in Wheaton College's new Science Center.

Jeff Greenberg, PhD, Professor of Geology and Environmental Science

Lapidary Auction in Belvidere IL Saturday Sept. 8th, 2012

Badger Rock Club Copper Country Fieldtrip

Place: Keweenaw Copper Country Upper Peninsula Michigan

Dates: Saturday August 25^th & Sunday 26^th, 2012
Contact Person: Dan Trocke - Cell: 608-215-5307, dtrocke@acscm.com
Meeting Place & Time: Meeting Mike Riesch between 9:30 & 10:00 AM at the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum Michigan Technological University, 1404 E. Sharon Avenue, Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295
Telephone: (906)487-2572.  Hours: open 9-5 Mon to Sat.  Admission fee.
 After everyone gets their fill of the museum we will head out to several or all of the following sites with our guide Mike. Thanks Mike!!!

The sites available to visit and collect:

·         Cliff Mine area.  Collecting Focus - native copper and if you are lucky native silver, copper in prehnite, copper chisel chips
·         Senaka Mine (county owned – can access on weekend)

·         Central Exploration - Mine tailing piles

·         Lake Mine tailing piles (near Mass City) – supposed to be a huge area with shafts, addits, piles

·         S&G recycling to check for scrapped native copper

·         Lastly might get to explore a wooded area with a copper hunting dog and his owner.  The dog can smell copper in the ground and points.

·         Any other sites too good to miss – please pipe up!

Notes: The Copper Country is notable for native copper mines and the rock piles comprise the waste rock from these old copper mines.  At all of the localities it is possible to find native copper either in mass or crystallized form. Massive is much, much more common than crystallized, and virtually everyone will find native copper at a locality notable for native copper. Native silver accompanies native copper and it, too, can be found at all localities, but much less frequently.

There are over 130 different minerals found in the mines of the Copper Country. You can find many of these at every site.  Some sites are more notable for certain minerals than other sites, but that does not mean you cannot find fine specimens of other minerals.  The common minerals are:

PRIMARY  HYDROTHERMAL  MINERALS
analcime
anhydrite
barite
calcite
celadonite
chalcocite
chlorite
copper (native)
datolite
dolomite (ferroan)
epidote
feldspar (microcline, adularia)
gypsum
hematite
laumontite
mohawkite (algodonite, domeykite)
prehnite
pumpellyite (greenstone)
quartz
silver (native)

SECONDARY  (SUPERGENE)  MINERALS
chrysocolla
cuprite
malachite
tenorite

Safety is always first!

All collecting requires safe practices and use of common sense. At all times maintain awareness of yourself and your physical surroundings. Stay off the steep slopes and loose rock. Follow instructions of the trip guides. Be mindful of others collecting in your area.

Safety glasses are required!! Rock chips can fly a long way so you are just as likely to be struck with a chip from another as you are from yourself.

Work gloves, full-length jeans, and supportive footwear are a good idea.

A rock hammer and 5 gallon plastic bucket are essential items. In addition, to the rock hammer a chisel comes in handy too for breaking rocks. The bucket is an easy way to carry your specimens, but an old backpack will work too.

Water for cleaning specimens is a good idea as newly exposed rocks are coated with “muck.” A small spray-bottle of water and/or a container of water will work.

Bring a metal detector for copper collecting or arrange to rent one. With the prepared rock piles the newly exposed rock is very dirty. We strongly recommend you have a metal detector for copper collecting. However, there is no substitute for your eyes and some find equal success without a metal detector. Metal detectors are of NO value when looking for datolite or greenstone.

Carry drinking water with you on EVERY field trip. Plan your water containers before you leave home. Bring more than you think you will need, as rock piles can be quite hot.

Bring a variety of clothing. Field trips proceed as scheduled, rain or shine. In the past, we've had weather with sun and near perfect temps around 75 degrees to sunny with extremely hot temps from 90-105 degrees, to fog and rain with cold temps of 40-50 degrees. Weather is affected by Lake Superior and is less predictable than elsewhere. If it does rain, at least it will wash muck off of the newly exposed rocks.

Black flies and mosquitoes are usually not too bad by August, but a can or bottle of insect repellant in your vehicle is recommended. Bug nets are usually not needed but can be purchased locally.

Sun should be a concern too all as most rock piles have no shade!! Sunglasses, a head covering, and sunblock are recommended.

Bring or plan on purchasing packing materials to get your treasures home intact. Paper, paper towels, toliet paper or dry cleaning (plastic) bags work well. Newspaper is good for larger specimens. Plan on boxes to store your specimens.

Casusal dress is appropriate for everything.

Some great advice from Erich Hessner:
1) Get the Michigan Gazeteer.  There is an abandoned copper mine every few miles for 100+ miles, starting down by Rockland, going all the way up the Keweenaw Peninsula to Copper Harbor.  If you find one pile, you can find them all using a compass and the map book.
2) Land owned by paper/lumber companies is considered recreational land, regardless of who owns the mineral rights, as long as it is not being logged when you are there.  Collecting minerals shy of actual mining is tolerated.  In some cases, the surface mineral rights have been bought by Richard Whiteman, of Red Metal Minerals.  He can get a bit testy if he catches you collecting at one of his sites - Minesota, Bumblebee, Mass, and a few others.  He is a nice guy otherwise, so talk to him first - after all he's a rockhound himself.  He may steer you to something off the beaten path - do not of course let him talk you into any of his overpriced "Turista" stuff.  Contact info at his website.
3) You won't find any agates on the beaches - not even the private one's with permission.  They are hunted hard after every storm by the locals.
4) You won't find much copper without a metal detector.  The cheapest detector works the best - it discriminates.  the ground around the mines is quite mineralized, and also copper sheets and wires (common) really ping the detector no matter how small.
5) Michigan is more relaxed than down here.  Generally it is OK to drive a car a short distance on the All Season roads.  You can tell which gravel roads are all season by the paint pattern designating a snowmobile crossing (across the asphalt), often with signage too.
Logging roads will be unmarked - travel these only with 4 wheel, and if not posted.  Private roads will always have an address marker, and/or be posted.  Use common sense, especially since you will have out of state plates.
6) Please! do not go into any open mines.  Besides the safety concern, and our club rules, if the mining inspector finds out, big trouble!  Our rock club never will be welcomed back up there again if you get caught.  Yes, I've done it, but not as a card carrying member of the club, and with local Yoopers.
7) Use your imagination - the glaciers moved copper everywhere.  There is a lot of "float" copper where you would least expect it.  Also look for areas where new rock has been exposed at the waste rock piles.  Rock is being hauled off for logging roads all the time.  If you can't find some recently disturbed earth, just start digging a hole.  Most of my silver came out of one hole - in afternoon of digging.  The silver likes to hide under calcite.
8) Don't forget to have a pasty when you're up there.
Hotels / Motels in the Keweenaw   http://www.keweenaw.org
 
·         SUPER 8:  (recommended by Mike)
1200 East Lakeshore Drive  Houghton, MI 49931; 1200 East Lakeshore Drive  Houghton, MI 49931; Ph: 906-482-2240.
·         Travelodge in Houghten (Cathy said it was great (cheap)).  Has a warm swimming pool and hot tub.  Plus a pizza place a block away. J
215 Shelden Ave, 49931 Houghton 800-578-7878
·         MAGNUSON FRANKLIN SQUARE INN:
820 Shelden Avenue, Houghton; Ph: 906/487-1700.
·         HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS (Motel): 
1110 Century Way, Houghton, MI; Ph: 906/482-1066 
·         AMERIC INN:
5101 South 6th Street, Calumet, MI 49913; Ph:906/337-6463
·         HOUGHTON SUPER 8 MOTEL:
1200 East Lakeshore Drive; Houghton, MI; Ph: 906/482-2240 
·         JULIE’S MOTOR INN (formerly Budget Host Inn): 
US Hwy 41 SE, Houghton, MI; Ph: 906/482-5351
·         COUNTRY INN AND SUITES:
919 Razorback Drive (near Wal-Mart), Houghton, MI; Ph: 906/487-6700
·         RAMADA INN:
99 Navy Street, Hancock, MI; 906/482-8400
 
Camping in the Keweenaw
Four types of camping are available on and near the Keweenaw Peninsula: Michigan State Parks, municipal, private, & U.S. Forest Service.  Please note: as inviting as it may seem, do not just pull over and pitch your tent. For many years now, most land in the Keweenaw is privately owned. In Michigan, private lands DO NOT NEED TO BE POSTED to prevent uninvited guests. Rather, it is the responsibility of the guest to obtain formal permission allowing access to a property.

  Michigan State Parks
·         BARAGA STATE PARK (US-41):
30 minutes southeast of Houghton. 906-353-6558.
·         TWIN LAKES STATE PARK (M-26):
40 minutes southwest of Houghton. 906-288-3321.
·         F.J. MCLAIN STATE PARK (M-203):
30 minutes west of Houghton. 906-482-0278.
·         FORT WILKINS STATE PARK (US-41):
~1 hour north of Houghton in Copper Harbor. 906-289-4215.
 
Municipal / County Campgrounds
·         Gratiot River County Park - Gratiot River County Park off of Five Mile Point Road, Ahmeek, MI 49901, owned by Keweenaw County, encompasses 222 acres and 8.489 feet of Lake Superior shoreline, plus 1/2 mile of the Gratiot River. The park is open daily with no fee. Fires are permitted on contained areas and rustic camping is permitted in designated sites with quiet hours from 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour after sunrise. Please pack out what you pack in. Hunting and fishing are permitted.  Is 20 miles (40 mins drive) Northeast of Houghton, and is pretty and free J
·         HANCOCK CITY CAMPGROUNDS (M-203):
West Hancock on Portage Canal.  Campground Office: 906-482-7413.

·         HOUGHTON CITY RV PARK - RV Only:
West Houghton, 1100 W. Lakeshore Drive. 906-482-8745 or 906-482-1700.

·         LAKE LINDEN VILLAGE RECREATIONAL AREA (M-26):
Lake Linden on Torch Lake, 20 minutes east of Houghton.
Lake Linden Village Clerk for information: 906-296-9911.
 
Private Campgrounds
·         FANNY HOOE RESORT AND CAMPGROUND:
~1 hour north of Houghton, 505 2nd Street, Copper Harbor.
906-289-4451.
·         SUNSET BAY RV RESORT AND CAMPGROUND:
Five Mile Point Road, Ahmeek, ~45 minutes north of Houghton.
2701 Sunset Bay Beach Road, Allouez Township
941/923-2378 (October-May); 906-337-2494 (after June 1st) www.sunset-bay.com.

 

Badger Rock Club Utica Pyrite Fieldtrip

  Place: Utica Clay Pit near Utica Illinois
Date: Saturday, August 11^th, 2012
Contact Person: Dan Trocke - Home: 608-935-0597, Cell: 608-215-5307, dtrocke@acscm.com
 
Meeting Place & Time: Meet at 10:00 AM at the Love's Travel Stop gas station, 3020 East 8th Road, North Utica, IL Ph:(815) 667-4572.  There is a McDonalds here as well.  We’ll try to leave here by 10:20 AM().  Note: Love’s Travel Plaza meeting place is about 73 miles (hour and 24 minutes) south of Rockford Illinois so try to give yourself plenty of time.
 
Arrive at Utica Clay Pit: arrive at the quarry as a group at 10:30 AM and park out of the way near the main building.  We’ll leave the clay pit around 3 PM and arrive home by 6PM.
 
What to bring: If when we get there the quarry is active and trucks are running, we cannot access or collect in the quarry unless we come prepared with Hard hats, High visibility vest (mesh will be coolest), safety glasses and good sturdy shoes or boots.  Personal safety equipment can be purchased at Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Harbor Freight, Conney Safety, etc..  Bring a Sack Lunch, (as we will be eating lunch in Quarry), sunscreen and plenty of water and liquids!  Small garden tools, small rake and shovel gem scoop, masons or geology pick for tools.  A fanny pack, plastic grocery bags, 5 gallon buckets and egg cartons work great to hold your finds.
 
What we will hopefully find: Large quantities of little pyrite clusters, up to 2", fossil Lepidodendron roots up to 8" long, small petrified & pyritized wood pieces, and good chert.  Odd silicious geodes have been collected here in the past.   The real prize to be had, however, is the beautiful pyrite clusters perched on Lepidodendron root. Also interesting is the pastel colored cherts, with pyrite glitter on top. Kids are allowed in the quarry, and
 
Notes: This huge open pit mine has produced "fire clay," coal and crushed rock since the early 1900s.   At the north (left) end of the pit, the Pennsylvanian clay rests unconformably on the Ordovician St. Peter sandstone. On the south (right) end, the clay is on top of the Platteville dolomite.   The clay has been interpreted as a floodplain or delta deposit.  This site had been closed to all collectors for many years.  Let’s make sure to follow the rules, bring the safety gear listed above.   There are moderate dangers of foul, acidic, standing water, and hard, tight piles to collect on, possibly twisting ankles.   Keep away from the water and off dangerous inclines.  Please do not contact this quarry or revisit this quarry except as part of the Badger Rock club fieldtrip this Saturday.  We enter quarry as a group and leave the quarry as a group – no single stragglers.  Sorry, no bathroom facilities in quarry.  This has been an excellent producing quarry. This trip is opened to all Badger Lapidary and Geological Society Members.

 

Area Rock Club Field Trip

BLGS Field Trip - Shullsburg Museum, Mine Tour & Collecting Field Trip  
Saturday July 14^th, 2012
 
Trip Leader:               Dan Trocke   dtrocke@acscm.com      Cell: 608-215-5307

Where to Meet:          Meet at 11AM at the Badger Mine & Museum at 279 W. Estey Street, Shullsburg WI.  Ph: (608) 965-4860.   Museum and Mine Tour Rates:  Adult $5.00; Child under 10 $3.00; Senior Citizens $4.00.

Directions:           From State Highway 11:  Enter Shullsburg's historic Water Street and turn left by the Gazebo, onto Galena Street.  Follow Galena Street along Badger Park before taking a left on Estey Street, where parking for the museum is available.
From Illinois, on County Road O:  enter Shullsburg from the South and turn right on Galena Street.   A quick right onto Estey brings you to the museum and Badger Park.
Museum & Mine:           Take a guided tour of the Badger Mine & Museum.  Newly renovated in 2006, the museum contains artifacts from Shullsburg's 179 year history, and shows how life was in Wisconsin's early mining communities.  Exhibits focus on some of Shullsburg's most important industries, including mining and cheese making, but also on day-to-day life through the decades.  See the recreated shops and exhibits of the early mining town.  Gaze at the early mining tools, ore specimens and learn the methods used to extract lead with the pick, gad and black powder.   The museum's newest acquisition, a fully functional replica of the Eagle Pitcher Mine, which operated near Shullsburg, offers a glimpse at how more modern mines functioned, until their closure in the 1970s.  After soaking in Shullsburg's history, descend 51 steps with your tour guide into a hand-dug nineteenth century lead mine. Although the tour route provides ample open space, you can marvel at the small side tunnels and wonder how men could work within such confined spaces.   I’m looking forward to escaping the heat in a nice cool and cavernous mine if only for a little while.  
Collecting Trip:               Our second stop after the Museum will be to a nearby mine tailings pile where we hope to find and collect specimens of Calcite, Marcasite, Sphalerite.     
What to Bring:           Safety glasses if you are doing any chipping or hammering.  Bring hard rock equipment - hammers, chisels, sledge, pry bars, wedges or any other tool you like for chipping and braking limestone. I don't think a shovel will be of much use but it may not hurt to through one in, you just never know.  Don’t forget sunscreen, bugspray, snacks and plenty to drink.

NW IL Rock Club Picnic

June 30th 2012 was a beautiful day for a picnic.

The Northwest IL Rock Club was invited to Tom and Dar's place for the annual club picnic, we all would like to thank them once again for their hospitality.

Many of our rock club members had some amazing rocks, crystals, cabachons

and handcrafted items to buy, look at, and appreciate.

 

 You can find many of these things

and more  for sale at Art's Art,

and Rock-n-Jewelry by clicking on

the buttons on the right hand side of

this page.

Also you can purchase quite a bit

at our annual show at Highland

Community College in Nov.

(More info on this at a later date.)

There were folks from all ages at our picnic this

year, from the very young,

to the very young at heart!

You can be any age to be a

serious rock hound and

collector!

    

The meal was eaten inside an

air-conditioned porch, though there were

a few hardcore that chose to eat outside in the shade.

Everybody brought a dish to pass and there was plenty to go around.

Afterwards buckets of geodes were brought out and we got cracking!

It was a good time for all, and though it was oppressively hot, it didn't seem to bother anyone

overly much.

   There was plenty of room for the kids to run, and a great little tree swing to take turns on.

 We all had a very nice time.

Hope to see you at the next club meeting.

It will be Sept. 20th, 2012.