Federation Education
The American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS) is a national organization that unites rockhouds across the nation. It is broken into seven regional federations, which incorporate clubs from the 48 contiguous states, as well as Alaska. Four of these regional organizations host annual educational retreats for club members who would like more formal training in one of many facets of our hobby.
Regions that offer organized retreats include the Eastern, Southeast, California and Northwest federations. If your club is a member of a regional federation or is affiliated with the AFMS, you are eligible to attend any one of these educational retreats.
To encourage you to look into participating in a retreat in your region, this article will describe just one retreat: the Eastern federation retreat at Wildacres Retreat, in the North Carolina mountains. This event has been ongoing for decades and is an outstanding example of what a regional federation can do for rockhounds. It is partially underwritten by the Wildacres Foundation. I’ve been fortunate to be Speaker in Residence at Wildacres 10 times since 1989.
I was able to take advantage of some of the educational programs at these retreats, like the cabochon-making class, but my main function was to give a one-hour talk on some educational subject each day of the program.
The Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies (EFMLS) retreat is held in western North Carolina, near Little Switzerland, twice a year—usually in May and September. Members of AFMS-affiliated clubs can attend the lapidary retreats for a small fee. They enjoy a full week of wonderful educational programs, conducted by experts in the field.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2018 من Rock&Gem Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2018 من Rock&Gem Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
THE ACORN
The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB
To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
The Resilient Revival of Anne Brontë & Her Stones
For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"
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Call in the Seals!
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