The Victoria Lapidary and Mineral Society is a non-profit society under the Societies Act. As such, we are run by a board of directors who are elected once a year at our January Annual General Meeting. There are 9 elected postions plus the Past President, and a further 8 positions who are appointed by the board. Our new board this year is:
We are still looking for volunteers for the following positions, please contact president@vlms.ca if you would be willing to donate your time and join a convivial and supportive team to help keep our club going.
As is traditional, instead of a members’ meeting we held a Christmas Party in December. There is no speaker and no club business meeting. Instead we had a pot luck and sit and chat. Here follows the social committee report:
The VLMS annual Christmas party was held at the Lawn Bowling Club on Monday, December 5 th , 2022.
The Club was decorated with fir boughs and colored metallic bows, and the seating was in a horse-shoe arrangement so that everyone could see each other and chat comfortably.
Members were asked to sign up with the item or dish that they had chosen to bring, and although only 19 members signed up originally, the ranks swelled for a total of 38 people in the end.
There was a well rounded variation of items, like turkey, ham, sausages, scalloped potatoes, German style sauerkraut and red cabbage, raw veggies and dip, Greek salad, a large Caesar salad, 3-cheese appetizer with crackers, cranberry salad, guacamole and tortilla chips, and multiple wonderful desserts.
Thank you all, who brought the delicious food!
There was an optional gift exchange. Next year we hope to have more of a program, with prizes to be won.
Pictures were taken of everyone and they will be submitted for the next Laphound News.
Everyone cleaned up with an amazing efficiency, and the whole event finished at 8:30pm.
Some snapshots of the event – click on the pictures to see them larger:
It was planned to be a two-destination trip; first to Ella Beach in Sooke for an hour and a half rockhounding and pebble picking, then moving on to the Sooke Potholes for gold panning…
Sean: “Due to the rather heavy amount of rain, we elected not to attempt to pan in what is now a raging river. So we went to the secondary site, Ella Beach.
There was a rather large storm a few nights prior that ripped up the seabed, dumping normally deep bedded sea life on the tides.”
Arlene: “It was a slightly damp morning (tongue in cheek) (“atmospheric river” – ed.), and due to the Sooke River swelling its banks Sean decided to call off the gold panning part of the trip
Ella Beach however, was a delight. Everyone was decked out in rain gear and other than an initial bit of a downpour when we first arrived, it cleared up and was quite an enjoyable morning. After a couple of hours it started showing signs of getting wet again and we packed it up
There were a few treasures found including a “very first flowerstone” find, an actual small clear agate, as well as some interesting washed up sea creatures and shells, a beautiful huge abalone shell, and assorted interesting rocks.
Sean: “We spent a few hours combing the beaches finding interesting rocks. One actual agate (surprised), a lithium purple rock yet to be ID’d; as well as sea urchins, scallops, one abalone shell and other stuff not normally washed up on beaches.”
Arlene: “Sean was amazing at his rock identification as usual and was kept busy answering questions as we sauntered slowly down the beach, eyes to the ground as only a true rock lover travels.
We had a fellow traveller with us for a good hour – a big seal lion who kept pace with us and talked to us all the way up, eventually, like an hour later, joining his crowd out in the water near the end of the beach. There was so much kelp, dead wood and crud at the tideline in the water that it was hard to differentiate his companions who were out there somewhere and also very vocal.”
We’d particularly like to thank Brian Macmillan for getting the Genies going again, Rachel and Orin Sawry for running the Thursday workshops and Yvan for all the background work with the Silver Threads centre and running the Saturday workshops.
This would be a good time to mention that we are looking for a volunteer from the membership to take on the position of Workshop Manager now that it’s up and running again – please email president@vlms.ca for more information.
Here are some pictures of the workshop getting going again – click on the pictures to see them larger.
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:
Horne Lake Caves
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.
Our guide
Walking along the original river bed
Squeezing up through a narrow passage towards the exit
Click on an image to see it larger, use your arrow keys to move between images
Mt Arrowsmith
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.
Mt Arrowsmith Access
Click on an image to see it larger, use your arrow keys to move between images
The Argonaut mine is an idle open pit iron mine. Active from 1951 until 1957 its minerals were used in the steel manufacturing industry. Minerals to be found are magnetite, garnetskarn, 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
Argonaut Mine introduction
Click on an image to see it larger, use your arrow keys to move between images
Carving rock bowls – demonstration
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)
Exposing and cleaning fossils – demonstration
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.
Workshop: Tree of Life Pendant
Allison Gallant and Cari Taylor (Victoria Club) stepped in at short notice to give a great workshop on making a Tree of Life pendant.
Showcases in the Arrowsmith Hall
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.
