The club has always had innovative and creative members. Among our ranks we have many world class artisans including Larry Richey and Walter Johnson, both of whom are National Lapidary and Rockhound Hall of Fame members. Another past member, Conrad Cone, donated a beautiful buffalo intarsia skull which is on exhibit at the Buffalo Museum in Jamestown, ND. Today his son Skip Cone carries on the great tradition of silversmithing and intarsia. There are too many talented people to list them all here but the best way is to join the club and get to know them all. They all exhibit their unique, beautiful and creative works each year - a true visual delight. One thing that makes us unique is the continued support of a lapidary workshop for all members to use for a modest fee. Back in the 1990's we had several Boards that fully supported to maintenance of a workshop since it is a fundamental building block for lapidary arts. Our Boards have always been strong and our motto is to "do what is best for the club". There are no politics - just follow the motto. Today we hold two weekly lapidary workshops - one of the few clubs that even has its own workshop. Herb Beckman and Jimmy Petersen do a stellar job hosting these working sessions. Typically there are people making cabochons, jewelry, beading, wirewrapping, silversmithing, etc... If these terms are unfamiliar the best way to find out more is to attend a meeting or visit our workshop. To see some of Larry Richey's work click here. To see Conrad Cone's buffalo skull click here. The club ranks among the few that have hosted a joint CFMS and AFMS Show. It took three years to plan this show. This is THE SHOW that put the club on the map. Back in 1971 the City of Anaheim was in the process of putting the finishing touches on the Anaheim Convention Center near Disneyland. The club was able to muster support from other area clubs and also members at the national level to host the first venue, "Fantasy of Gems", at the Anaheim Convention Center from June 29th thru July 2nd of 1972. It was a spectacular event raising a huge sum of money for the CFMS, AFMS and the club. This has helped support our charitable work ever since. We actively support education by teaching at the Long Beach VA Hospital and donating equipment and materials, we do community outreach and have presentations at local schoools, we have an active presence at Heritage Days teaching children how to make jewelry, we sponsor two children for a lapidary summer camp activity each year, and more. Click here. to see some of the original news clippings in PDF format. A review of all the old club records conducted back in 2004/2005 by Walter Mroch, Show Chairman 2005 and other officers throughout the years, revealed some interesting things. Our logo had changed several times throughout the years. Join us in the next few pictures to see how things changed.....
Here are some of our past ads published in the local newspapers....
For anyone interested in putting on a Great Show June Culp Zeitner has some recommendations. Click here to view here tips. One thing we know. It takes a team effort to pull it off. We always manage to have a great team effort, but we can always use more help and new innovative ideas from new members. Our monthly meetings, workshops and other activities provide the membership with plenty of opportunites to get involved and to learn new things. We have many talented people in the club and we always like to attract more. Some new activities we have are the new Rockswap at our July 2008 meeting. Bring rocks, minerals, faceted stones, books to trade and exchange rockhounding adventures with your fellow rockhounds. We also have Silent Auctions with good minerals donated by the Gem and Mineral Exploration Company at the July 2008 meeting. We invite you to join the Searchers and become an active member! Walter Mroch, 1st Vice President 2007/2008
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