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Pasadena Lapidary Society’s 62nd Annual Tournament of Gems

Dealers Featured at Our Show:

Abalone King

Larimar, Turquoise, Abalone, Malachite, Agate; Silver; jewelry,

Art by Linda Queally

Linda’s Pearl Jewelry Designs feature both the classic and the unusual, reflecting her relentless pursuit of the magical and timeless beauty of Pearls.

Beads Zone US (Sue Wu)

Semi-precious and gemstone beads; tools for the beader.

Buddha Gems & Minerals

Mine direct minerals and specimens from the Himalayas and Nepal. Rocks and minerals from Nepal including Chlorite Quartz, Aquamarine, Sapphire, and Ruby.

Crystal Rapture (Sabrina Keep)

Quartz variety, Fluorite, Tourmaline and other specimens, fossils. crystal rings and various jewelry.

Ethiopian Opals

LASCO

Rotary tools, carving diamond burs, diamond drills, diamond core drills, polishing grits and other rotary tools for lapidary and jewelry.

Mary M. Rafferty, Gemologist

Custom cut gemstones.

Nevada Mineral & Book Company

Meteorites, mineral books, specimens and educational kits.

Sonia DeLong

Beads, rings, earrings, opals, jewelry, crystals.

Stella Stones and Jewelry

Amber, Opals, Turquoise, specimens and pendants.

Toni Floyd

Finished cabochons, seed beads, bezels, carved products, Chrysoprase, Jasper, Montana Agate.

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PLS August 16th Meeting takes a look at ‘Geology from 30,000 feet above’

The August general meeting will feature a talk by member Paolo Sanchez who will focus on large-scale landscape geology. The presentation should be helpful for understanding Earth science, and to an extent, minerals, from the viewpoint of the window seat of a plane. While flying across the state and the country, Paolo took many pictures of geologic landscapes. He plans to talk about prominent geologic features such as the San Andreas Fault, Cascade Volcanoes, and the Colorado Plateau. We hope to see you there!

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 and make new friends; open to the public, free admission. 

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Members Only Meeting for July 2022

Pasadena Lapidary Society will be holding our July meeting as a members-only event. We’ll be having Rockhound Bingo, a Silent Auction and an ice cream social. Our big gem and mineral show is coming August 20 and 21, so our July meeting is part of pre-planning for the show. Check back over the next few weeks for info about our August 16 Program Meeting.

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Field Trip Saturday, July 9, 2022, 10 a.m.

Flint Knap-In and Paleo Tool Demonstration at Chilao School in Angeles National Forest

The July 2022 Field Trip will feature an educational visit to Chilao School, 40 minutes from La Canada.  (Note that Chilao School and Chilao campground are different locales.)  Chilao School is located next to the US Forest Service Chilao Fire Station.  To get to Chilao School from La Canada, take Angeles Crest Highway 25.1 miles to the Chilao Campground loop.  Turn left into the campground.  Drive .9 miles past the Little Pines and Manzanita loops and turn left at Mt Hillyer Road (3N141).  Proceed down 3N141 for .5 miles to Chilao School.  The one room school is on the right BEFORE you get to the fire station.  Some of the roads may not have names on them, so please look at the map before starting your journey.

Though the field trip is Saturday only, we’ll be camping ¼ mile down the road at Chilao campground on Friday night so we can get an early start on Saturday.  There will be a potluck at the school or campground on Saturday night.   Expect daytime temperatures in the 80’s and nighttime lows in the 50’s.   If you want to camp overnight, you should arrive ASAP on Friday afternoon to claim a campsite.  Better yet, arrange with someone who is going to be up there on Friday morning to reserve you a spot.  Campground use is heavy especially in the summer. The cost is $12 a night.  Water is provided along with a vault toilet.  Note that the Station Fire ravaged Chilao about 13 years ago and new trees are now starting to repopulate the area. 

We’ll be learning how to make spear tips, arrowheads, hatchets, and knives similar to what prehistoric man used thousands of years ago.  This paleo tool get-together is casual; there is no schedule for instruction, hence there is no official meet up time.  You can arrive and go when you please.  I recommend getting there by 10AM.

I’ll bring obsidian slabs to practice on.  You can contact me at rexch8@yahoo.com.

There is no charge, but a small donation to the nonprofit Redbird/Chilao Visions is recommended.  Our hosts are Corina Roberts, founder of Redbird, and Gary Pickett, flint knapping artist.

GPS coordinates for Chilao School:
34.3341764547053, -118.02406758638696

Chilao School Community Programs

Obsidian shards are very sharp.  DO NOT WEAR SHORTS.

Please bring:

Leather gloves

Safety glasses/reading glasses

Dust mask

Leather pad/carpet  to protect your legs

Chair/shade umbrella/popup

Deer antlers (can be found at Petco and on Amazon, among other places)

Copper tools

Abrading stone or a piece of grind stone

Bug repellent

Small drop cloth to catch fragments

Water/drinks

Typical camping gear

DO NOT WEAR SHORTS

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MEMBERS’ CORNER:

PLEASE NOTE: Our JUNE WORKSHOP will be held on SUNDAY, June 12, instead of Saturday, June 11. The July Workshop will return to the second Saturday of the month, as will subsequent workshops.

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Rhodochrosite is Spotlight of In-Person Program Meeting; Tuesday, May 17th, 7:00 p.m.



The story of the Sweet Home Mine from its beginnings as a modest 1870’s silver mine to its rebirth as a world-renowned source of beautiful red rhodochrosite crystals will be featured in this month’s program. We will view Part 1 of a video illustrating the accidental discovery of one of our nation’s most impressive sources of this beautiful gemstone.

This program meeting is at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 17 and will be held IN PERSON. Check out our Meetings page to get directions and further info about the location.

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In-Person Program Meeting April 19, 2022, 6:30 PM

We are having our first in-person program meeting in over a year! PLS member Janie Duncan will provide a presentation on the History of Beads Tuesday night, April 19, and members are looking forward to seeing each other in the flesh for a change, instead of virtually. Check out our Meetings page to get directions and further info about the location. We are VERY excited!

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Gem Pegmatites of Southern California Subject of March 15 Virtual Program Meeting with Walt Lombardo

Zoom Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Walt Lombardo, Owner & Founder of Nevada Mineral & Book Co., located in Orange, Calif.

Southern California is known worldwide for the production of gemstones and mineral specimens from the granite pegmatites in San Diego, Riverside & San Bernardino counties. Some of the more well-known gem minerals are Tourmaline, Garnet, Aquamarine, Morganite, Kunzite, Quartz, Topaz and Lepidolite. Most notable are the Pala and Mesa Grande mining districts, which supplied beautiful tourmalines to the last Dowager Empress of China in the early 1900’s, and continue to produce world-class gems and mineral specimens today. Our program speaker this month is Walt Lombardo, a geologist with over 35 years experience related to mining and mineral exploration. Walt’s talk will include discussion of the regional geology which made these deposits possible, history of mining in Southern California, some of the more important mines, and the gem minerals that they produced.

Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. If you’d like to join us, write marcia.pls.emails [at] gmail [dot] com to request a Zoom link.