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Pasadena Lapidary Society Members Win Big at Annual CFMS Show

Sue Dekany with her CFMS awards


Pasadena Lapidary Society members Sue Dekany and Sandie & Tony Fender walked away with key awards at the annual CFMS (California Federation of Mineralogical Societies) Show and Convention held this year in Lancaster on May 10-11.

Sue Dekany, PLS Secretary, had been working toward entering a competitive case in late 2024.  Then came the Eaton Fire, and Sue’s accumulated work was trashed.  Out of the ashes, however, Sue thought the remnants would make an interesting educational display.  Boy, was she right!  Over Mother’s Day weekend she set up her Novice-Educational-General Concept-General Audience display showing her rocks that had been cooked in the Eaton Fire, submitted the case competitively in the Novice category of the CFMS show and the result: a Double Win with ‘Best of Show’ and the ‘President’s Award’.  (Sue’s exhibit will be on display again September 20-21 at our annual show in Arcadia.)  Sue’s observations from her rock collection debris: many rocks were massively oxidized (pyrite, some jaspers, onyx and serpentine), every bit of metal lost its protective polish, obsidian fractured in a spiral, but otherwise looked normal, quartz crystals and fluorite turned white and brittle, and amazingly an apatite cabochon survived, looking the same as before the fire.

Sandie and Tony Fender share the CFMS Golden Bear award

PLS members Sandie and Tony Fender were presented with the illustrious Golden Bear Award, given only to recipients in recognition of outstanding service to the CFMS.  Tony and Sandie are both retired educators and lifelong rockhounds.  Over the years they have dedicated much of their time and efforts to holding various positions in the CFMS and are members of several gem and mineral clubs in Southern California.  They’re also avid square dancers! The Pasadena Lapidary Society is beaming with pride over these wins. 

The California Federation of Mineralogical Societies represents over 100 gem and rockhound clubs statewide, as well as a few clubs in Nevada and Arizona.  Visit cfmsinc.org for further information.

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July 15, 2025 MEMBERS ONLY Meeting

Tuesday, 7:00 p.m.

The July 2025 Pasadena Lapidary Society meeting will be closed to non-members this month as we celebrate the Summer, another year’s anniversary, and confer over our annual Gem and Mineral show coming in September.

The August meeting will be business as usual and open to visitors. Stay tuned for program information for the August 19th meeting.

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June 17 Program Meeting Focuses on Crystal Photography

Tuesday, June 17th, 2025 at 7:00 p.m

For our June program meeting, PLS member Christian Schulze will show attendees the basics of how he captures image content through video and photography. Basic studio setup, equipment, mineral prep, photography tips and digital labeling will all be addressed.

Two comparison photos show a good photo capture at left, compared to one that needs improvement on the right with the knowledge that Christian is planning on sharing with us.

Christian Schulze is also owner of Hotspells Rocks & Minerals in the Elysian Valley area of Los Angeles.

Come join us! Doors open at 6:30, admission is free; open to the public. Enjoy refreshments while checking out the display table; bring a rock specimen you’d like identified. Buy a raffle ticket for a few bucks and try your luck at winning a cool rock specimen, slab, or otherwise. We hope to see you there!

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Geode Presentation and Discussion on Clear Creek Management Area, Topics of May Program Meeting

Tuesday, May 20th, 7:00 p.m.

PLS member Armando Pedroza skillfully cutting a geode.

Pasadena Lapidary Society member Armando Pedroza has been cutting geodes for over 15 years at gem shows and club presentations. In our upcoming May general meeting he will be presenting and demonstrating his geode program. Geodes will be available for purchasing and he will be cutting them for those who wish to see the magic inside. Geode prices range from $10 to $90. The geode program will be outside on the patio.

PLS member Christian Schulze exploring potential finds at Clear Creek.

PLS member Paolo Sanchez will present a program on the Clear Creek Management area in San Benito County, California. It has been a popular spot for geologists, mineralogists and rockhounds alike for over a century. Part of a large geological feature known as the New Idria Serpentine Intrusion, this area is home to various rare and interesting minerals such as demantoid and melanite varieties of andradite garnet, plasma agate, jadeite, uvarovite, zeolites, as well as asbestos and mercury minerals. It is also where twenty new minerals were first discovered, including the California state gemstone, benitoite. With such a bounty of mineralogical wealth, what makes the New Idria Serpentine Intrusion so special? This talk will delve into the underlying geologic history of the area as well as the interesting minerals that make New Idria a unique place in the mineral world.

This program meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of The Santa Anita Church, 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007. Come to learn and make new friends; open to the public, free admission. 

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Tuesday, April 15, 2025 Program Meeting, 7 p.m.

Focuses on “An Unconventional Guide to Putting Together a Noncompetitive Exhibit Case” With Mary Pat Weber

This month’s program will be presented by retired geologist Mary Pat Weber, who has been collecting minerals and displaying them at area shows for the past 20 years. Mary Pat’s approach to building exhibit cases is that it should be fun, easy and interesting to the public.

Putting together a noncompetitive case for a local show that highlights your interests in the hobby does not have to be time consuming or expensive. Unburdened by the demands of competitive case rules and strict judging standards that emphasize what is wrong with an entry rather than its overall appeal to the public, Mary Pat is free to be creative and try new things. She prides herself on trying to put together a unique case for each show to give the public something different to look at.

We have all been to mineral shows where you see the same cases over and over every year.
Mary Pat will show us the materials and methods she uses to make her displays often from materials you probably already have. In the final analysis it is not the number of points or ribbons earned that make a good case but rather the number of nose prints of children left on the glass.

This program meeting is at 7:00 p.m. at Fellowship Hall of The Santa Anita Church, 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007. Come to learn, make new friends; open to the public, free admission. 

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California State Dinosaur Subject of January 21st Program Meeting; 7:00 p.m.

Meet ‘Auggie’ aka Augustynolophus Morrisi

This duck-billed hadrosaur lived around areas of California some 66 million years ago in the Cretaceous period. Karol McQueary will be the speaker at our meeting to tell us the funny
story of how we got a California State Dinosaur. Karol McQueary is a retired teacher, principal, volunteer dinosaur bone preparator, and past president of the Southern California Paleontological Society. Although she has collected minerals for most of her life, her interest in fossils began when she retired from the Los Angeles Unified School District. She joined a fossil club and started volunteering at the Natural History Museum in their
Dino Lab, as well as in their Dino Hall. Karol still loves teaching, though, and looks for opportunities to share her love of science whenever she can. When the opportunity came up to help California get its own state dinosaur, Karol enlisted the aid of the kids in the Paleo Society as well as the students at her former school. Their efforts on behalf of our new state dinosaur, Augustynolophus morrisi, are the topic of her talk.

Additionally there will be a five minute talk about Common Sense Safety Around Lapidary Equipment and During Fieldtrips, provided by PLS member Sue Pang. At her job, she is a trained volunteer, Safety representative and will share some of her knowledge with us.

This program meeting takes place on Tuesday, January 21 at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of The Santa Anita Church, 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007. 

Come join us! Admission is free; open to the public. Enjoy refreshments while checking out the display table; bring a rock specimen you’d like identified. See you there!

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Author Renée Newman to Speak on Diversity of Gems

Tuesday, Nov. 19th at 7:00 p.m.

Renée will provide a PowerPoint presentation that will include gems from California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, and Idaho. It will focus on the most notable ones such as tourmaline, jade, benitoite, sunstone, opal, turquoise, chrysocolla, fire agate and Four Peaks amethyst, and the places where they are mined.

Members of the Pasadena Lapidary Society are fortunate to live near areas with a diversity of gems. For example, the distance from Pasadena to the Oceanview mine in San Diego County is only 105 miles. There you can dig for tourmalines, kunzites, morganites, and aquamarines, and take a jeep tour of Chief Mountain where you can see the currently active mines. Historically that area was important. From 1898 until 1911, it was the world’s largest producer of tourmaline and it is still producing high quality material. Renée’s presentation will also briefly discuss other mining areas in the Western states.

Renée Newman is the author of books that show readers how to visually evaluate the quality of gems. She has written multiple books on gems and jewelry. The books will be available for sale at the meeting for a discounted price. Bring cash or check. For more information about Renée and her books go to www.reneenewman.com. You can connect with her on Instagram @reneenewmangg and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ renee.newman.5648/

This program meeting takes place at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of The Santa Anita Church, 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007, on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.

Come join us! Doors open at 6:30, admission is free; open to the public. Enjoy refreshments while checking out the display table; bring a rock specimen you’d like identified. Buy a raffle ticket for a few bucks and try your luck at winning a cool rock specimen, slab, or otherwise. We hope to see you there!

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PLS Members’ Field Trip ‘Show and Tell’ Experiences Subject of Tuesday, October 15th Program Meeting, 7:00 pm

Location: Fireside Room at the Santa Anita Church

The Pasadena Lapidary Society October General Meeting will be held in the Fireside Room because our regular room is going to be used for election training. As PLS President David Lacy phrased: “the meeting will be very cozy”. It would be difficult to set up a slide show in the Fireside Room or outside depending on the weather, so we will not have an invited speaker in October. Instead, we will feature three of our club members — Sue Dekany, Curtis Kan and Daniel Nishimura — who will give ‘show and tell’ talks about recent
field trips to the Clear Creek, CA area, the Dead Camel Mountains, NV and McDermitt in OR/NV. Daniel’s upcoming speech is going to be about his adventure collecting Wonderstone in the Yellow Mountains near Fallon, NV.

This program meeting takes place on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room of The Santa Anita Church, 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007.

Come join us! Doors open at 6:30, admission is free; open to the public. Enjoy refreshments while checking out the display table; bring a rock specimen you’d like identified. We hope to see you there!

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Walt Wright Speaks on Petrified Wood for September Program Meeting

September 17, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.


Walt Wright is an expert botanist, ecologist, geologist, and paleobotanist from Brea, California. He has worked as a Naturalist for the U.S. Forest Service, and in education and research at the University of California, Riverside. He has written articles and given numerous classes, seminars, and lectures on how petrified wood is formed and identified. He has been collecting petrified wood since he was 10 years old, when his mother gave him a piece. To date, he has over 10,000 pieces in his collection.

This program meeting takes place on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of The Santa Anita Church, 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007.

Come join us! Doors open at 6:30, admission is free; open to the public. Enjoy refreshments while checking out the display table; bring a rock specimen you’d like identified. We hope to see you there!