Searles Lake Gem and Mineral Society
GEM-O-RAMA
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- 2008 show for dates and times
2009 Show Update - 17 October
2008
1. NEW 17 October 2008 - The
2008 show is history and preparations have already started for
next year's show. The weather in
2008 was problematic, especially the three days before the show.
The problem was wind. It was so
strong on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday that it blew away
most of the lines in the parking
lots. We were out Friday evening by moonlight relininng the lots.
It was also quite cool with high
temperatures under 70oF. Selling ice water and cold soda on the
field trips was largely an
exercise in dark humor.
This year we anticipated greater
attendance because of the "Dirty Jobs" show. So we asked asked
our parking attendants to park the
cars in the field trip very close together not more than 2-3 feet of
spacing. It was a good thing
we did because we had 25% more cars than last year, yet we
were able to fit everyone into the
parking lots without a problem. We really appreaciate
everyone who helped make this
possible. I am sure we will have to park equally close next year as
well.
The mud field trip this year was
the best ever. There was more mud than ever before - 35 truck
loads, each weighing about 20
tons. It was also spread well with just one truck load in each pile
This made the crystals more accessable and
made moving around the area much easier. The brine
troughs were also spread around
the area to make them more accessable.
The blow hole field trip was also
very good, except for the demonstration. The demonstration had to
be cancelled because of a serious
accident to the drill rig less than a half hour before the scheduled
departure for the field trip. The
drill rig actually tipped over on its side as it was backing over the
hole
The technicians planned to use for
the demonstration. The ground gave way under the left rear wheel
and over it went. While it looked
bad, the company had it upright again in just two days.
The pink halite field trip was
disappointing to many collectors. As happened last year the weather
again worked against having good
collecting on this field trip. Trona has been so dry the past two
years that nearly all of the brine
pools in
the northern half of the pink halite
area were dry. And
with dry brine pools, no pink
halite can crystallize. We tried to warn people of this
and suggest
that they collect in the southern
half of the area, and those that followed this
suggestion were
successful. I wandered all around
the pink halite area and I was able to take pictures of over 50
very nice pink halite
specimens. If you had trouble finding a nice specimen
this year, listen to
what we tell you
next year and perhaps you will have success as well. We want you to
find nice
specimens.
If you
have a suggestion on how to make the show even better, please email
it to the email address
below. Even
small or simple ideas are welcome since these may make the show
better for everyone.
Until next year, may your dreams be
filled
with visions of crystals and you filled with the
metaphysical powers of Hanksite, Halite, Borax,
Sulfohalite, Thenardite and Trona.
Sincerely,
Jim Fairchild, your Gem-O-Rama reporter
in Trona, California
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Searles Lake Gem and Mineral Society
P. O. Box 966
Trona, CA 93592-0966
Phone (760) 372-5356
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