Please note that some club activities are suspended until further notice. This means specifically
- The workshop and classes are closed for now
Rock and Mineral lovers
Please note that some club activities are suspended until further notice. This means specifically
Rendezvous 2022 was held in Coombs at the fairground from June 2nd through June 6th, 2022. It was well-attended with both tent and RV campers. Despite changeable weather and rain, the field trips were full and the workshops and demonstrations also filled up. For a taste of what was on offer see the photo albums below (there was more on offer, but these are the events I have photos for).
Field Trips on offer:
At the guide centre we were provided with helmets and headlamps. Our guide, Ryan, took us on a 20 minute walk uphill to the cave entrance. The walk is dotted with interpretive signs of the landscape. The entrance to Big Bend Cave is gated and locked. The floor of the cave is in its natural state as a river bed and requires some nimbleness to navigate.
Click on an image to see it larger, use your arrow keys to move between images
The trip to Mt Arrowsmith afforded the chance to see Dallasite in its original form as part of basalt pillow lava as well as red, green, blue(ish) and purple jaspers. Thanks go to Jim Jeffs (Parksville club) for leading the trip, providing insightful explanations and organizing the gates to be unlocked for access.
Click on an image to see it larger, use your arrow keys to move between images
Formation of basalt pillows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KCFOy26jFg
The Argonaut mine is an idle open pit iron mine. Active from 1951 until 1957 it minerals used in the steel manufacturing industry. Minerals to be found are magnetite, garnet skarn, epidote skarn, calcite, marble, pyrite, limestone, diorite and actinolite. The trip was led by Jim McKinnon (Parksville club) who provided good interpretation of what was available and how to find it.
Introduction by Jim McKinnon
Click on an image to see it larger, use your arrow keys to move between images
Gary Veitch from the Duncan club demonstrated how he carves rock bowls. He uses a Makita Wet Stone polisher that he has modified to keep the powdered rock out of the workings. Gary shapes and sands the outside before starting on the inside. It takes a couple of days to produce a finished bowl from a rock.
Videos of the process (playlist with 5 short videos)
Russ Ball from the Courtney club explained how he uses an air scribe to clean out the matrix surrounding fossils to better expose the structure.
Allison Gallant and Cari Taylor (Victoria Club) stepped in at short notice to give a great workshop on making a Tree of Life pendant.
Here are some of the showcases set up in the Arrowsmith Hall
Island Area Rocks and Minerals: there is a lot of information in each picture, so I’ve left the picture size large – click on a picture to see it bigger, or download it to enlarge it even more.
Rocks of the USA by Grant and Angela Bailey. there is a lot of information in each picture, so I’ve left the picture size large – click on a picture to see it bigger, or download it to enlarge it even more.
Unusual fossils from the Vancouver Island Cretaceous: there is a lot of information in each picture, so I’ve left the picture size large – click on a picture to see it bigger, or download it to enlarge it even more.
Vancouver Island Rocks
Our auctioneer in action
The next event will be our General Members’ meeting on September 5th, 2022, and will start at 7pm. The meeting will be at the usual place, the Burnside Lawn Bowling Club, 274 Hampton Rd, Victoria, BC V8Z 1H1.
Field trip to Meade Creek and Shaw Creek north of Cowichan lake. We have two locations for this months field trip, that are relatively close to each other.
One: Meade Creek; Rhodonite, Potential gold, Laurel Stone
Two: Shaw Creek; Rhodonite (More then at Meade), Jasper (bright red and black kind), Potential Gold, Laurel Stone.
Same as Meade, just more of it and better….
Suggested things to bring:
Meeting location: Juan de Fuca center parking lot at 9:00 am, see red circle on attached map.
Our Monday General Members’ meeting and Strawberry social was held on June 6th. The club provided strawberries and cream or ice cream, and cupcakes as a treat.
In addition, Karen Lochhead gave a talk about Australian Opals.
Elected Positions | |||
![]() | President Yvan Gagnon president@vlms.ca | ![]() | Past President Allana Shillito allana.shillito@vlms.ca |
![]() | Treasurer David Jackson treasurer@vlms.ca | ![]() | Vice President Leni Gagnon vicepresident@vlms.ca |
![]() | Membership Becci Simmons membership@vlms.ca | ![]() | Secretary Position Vacant secretary@vlms.ca |
![]() | Member at Large Sarah Hamilton sarah.hamilton@vlms.ca | ![]() | Member at Large Arlene Modderman arlene.modderman@vlms.ca |
![]() | Member at Large Craig McMorland craig.mcmorland@vlms.ca | ![]() | Member at Large Mary Marshall mary.marshall@vlms.ca |
Appointed Positions | |||
![]() | Laphound News Editor Julia Henshall laphoundnews@vlms.ca | ![]() | Librarian Kathryn Hawkins librarian@vlms.ca |
![]() | Field Trips Sean Maier fieldtrips@vlms.ca | ![]() | Program Coordinator Arlene Modderman arlene.modderman@vlms.ca |
![]() | Program Coordinator Karol Jorgensen karol.jorgensen@vlms.ca | ![]() | Show Chair Sarah Hamilton showchair@vlms.ca |
![]() | Social Committee Barb McKenzie barb.mckenzie@vlms.ca | ![]() | Workshop Position Vacant lapidaryworkshop@vlms.ca |
![]() | Senior Island Zone Representative David Jackson treasurer@vlms.ca | ![]() | Junior Island Zone Representative Karol Jorgensen |
![]() | Intermediate Island Zone Representative Allana Shillito allana.shillito@vlms.ca | ![]() | Webmaster Becci Simmons web@vlms.ca |
Hello everyone,
Our Rock and Gem show is coming up in just a week (Fri, March 17th – Sun, March 20th).The Rock and Gem show is a really fun event to attend, and is also the financial foundation for many of the other fun things we do during the year.
We need member-volunteers to make the show a success. Below is a link to the volunteer sheet for you to look at. If you can spare a couple of hours (or more) to sign up for a slot, please let me know what day and time by replying to this email and I will put your name in the sheet (showchair@vlms.ca).