Pasadena Lapidary Society

We will be holding our annual Christmas Party instead of the December program meeting. The members of Pasadena Lapidary Society wish you a lovely and memorable Holiday Season.

Pasadena Lapidary Society’s November meeting is being held one week early — on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Have you heard the legend of the river of gold in the Kokoweef Caves of the Mojave Desert? Several versions of the story are out there, involving three Paiute brothers, George, Buck and Oliver Peysert, who discovered a limestone cave with a huge crystal stalactite and an underground river containing gold.

Pasadena Lapidary Society member Carolyn Duncan, who visited the Kokoweef Caves some 30 years ago and brought back specimens of cave onyx, will provide a presentation on this legendary part of the Mojave Desert. She will be displaying some of the specimens at the meeting.

Junior PLS member, Alyson Nishimura, will discuss rocks and minerals of the Yermo, CA area for the November Rock of the Month Talk.

Our meeting will be held in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium of the Pasadena Central Library at 285 E. Walnut Street, Pasadena, CA 91101. Tuesday, November 12, 6:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.

PLS members took the time to design and display their creations at the 2019 CFMS Annual Show and Convention.

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Over 50 dealers are selling their wares: Gems, minerals, slabs, jewelry, fossils, cabochons, and a whole host of other goodies! There are also fun activities for the kids (and adults, too—no judgement here) including rock grab bags, sand scoops, spin-the-wheel, and gold panning. And don’t miss out on the raffle and silent auction for a chance at great prizes. See you at the Pomona Fairplex!

With the snow-capped Sierras in the very distant background, our little meteorite and Golden Bear pose for the Earth to Sky Calculus camera.

The Pasadena Lapidary Society (PLS) just sent a meteorite slice back to space!! PLS members engaged the Earth to Sky Calculus Club to launch a helium balloon carrying a pallasite meteorite slice from a launch site near Bishop, CA, up 95,000 feet into the stratosphere, often called “the edge of space”. A pallasite meteorite is a rare type of stony-iron meteorite containing olivine crystals of peridot in an iron-nickel matrix. The meteorite weighs 9.75 grams and was found originally in the Republic of Belarus. The balloon traveled over the snowy Sierra Nevada of central California on February 23, 2019. After the balloon popped, the meteorite was parachuted back to Earth, landing on the eastern edge of Death Valley National Park, where it was recovered the next day.  The meteorite will be on display at the upcoming California Federation of Mineralogical Societies (CFMS) Gem and Mineral Show, March 8-10, 2019 at Fairplex, Expo Hall 6, in Pomona. An image of the meteorite will be viewable in the days to come by way of spaceweather.com.  It will be back-dropped against the blackness of space and the curvature of the Earth, in a frame announcing the CFMS Show, along with a ‘Golden Bear’ figure (unofficial mascot of the CFMS).

PLS, a non-profit organization, is co-hosting the CFMS show, entitled California’s Natural Treasures. The show features many exciting things to experience: a Kid’s area with fun games about rocks, minerals and fossils; grab bags containing rocks, crystals, and minerals; special exhibits such as the aforementioned meteorite, display cases where members of different rock and gem societies in the CFMS show off their talents and compete for awards; gold-panning for real gold; wonderful, highly-coveted raffle prizes made and donated by PLS members; a silent auction with colorful rock slabs, collectible mineral specimens and other items; live demonstrations of jewelry making and other lapidary skills; dealers with meteorites, gems, minerals, jewelry, fossils, tools, equipment, books, maps, and many other unique items. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for teens 12-17, seniors (60+) and active military; Free for kids under 12, accompanied by paying adult. Hours are 10-5 Friday and Saturday, and 10-4 Sunday.

CFMS Annual Show and Convention: March 8–10

The Pasadena Lapidary Society hosts the 2019 CFMS Show at the Fairplex in Pomona, Building 6. Enter at Gate 17 from McKinley Ave.

• Display cases
• Kids area
• 60 vendors with jewelry, rock samples, rockhounding tools, supplies, books
• How-to demonstrations: carving, wire-wrapping, grinding/polishing, chain-making, and more!
• Raffle – quality prizes
• Special exhibits

For more information: https://pasadenalapidary.org/2019-show/

Please visit this page for important information regarding the CFMS Show next month:

https://pasadenalapidary.org/pls-members-corner-2/

Please click on the following link to view information about the February program meeting:
https://pasadenalapidary.org/pls-members-corner/