Saturday evening found thirty-plus members at the Sizzler for some “show and tell” and the replenishing of some calories.

Sunday dawned and it was pouring down rain, wind and very cool as a cold front moved into the coast. A couple of us spent some time on the beach Sunday digging at the fossil skeleton site again and then it was back home in the rain. Also, I did dig up a fossil crab, so it was a pretty good weekend. I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did.

Editor’s Message

Hello to March! This month just snuck right up on me, what with the short month of February.

It was great to see the huge turnout for our annual Newport beach field trip. There were quite a few new members participating, as well as the ‘regulars’. I hope we have many, many more field trips this year for all of us to get together and collect in the field. Zachary and I had a wonderful time at the beach, and he was thrilled with his ‘find’.

Our annual show is just around the corner. This month, we’ll kick into high gear to prepare for it. Please see Bob Harrison, the Show Chairman, or Katy Bayless, the Show Volunteer Coordinator, for ways you can pitch in and help with the show. All hands on deck!

Submit your articles and photographs electronically to me at sunshynnn@comcast.net, or contact me at the meetings (or by phone at 503.881.4373).

See you at the meeting,

Janine Owens, WAMS Bulletin Editor
Email: sunshynnn@comcast.net

President’s Message

Greetings to All,

What a turnout we had at our February meeting. We had almost 100 attending! This just shows what a great club WAMS is and the interest that it generates. The refreshments were great too. Thanks to all that brought them.

With all this unseasonably warm, dry weather, I'm really getting anxious for our summer field trips. If you have any ideas of where you would like to go or what you would like to do, please give our new Field Trip Coordinator, Kristi Edwards a call. I'm sure that she would like to hear from you.

Here it is already March and that means April is not that far away which means our River of Gems show is quickly coming up. Bob Harrison, Show Chair, is working to have everything in place but he still has positions to fill and can use all the help that he can get. Please volunteer. Lets make the best show ever, especially since it will be our 50th anniversary show. Friday, as you know, is dedicated to the local school children. We already have over 400 school children signed up. I wonder if we will exceed 1,200 this year?

Hope to see you at the March meeting.

Kit Leshk, President

Upcoming NW Shows

April 15-17 Willamette Agate & Mineral Society
Rickreall, OR

March 5-6 East KingCo Rock Club
Issaquah, WA

March 11-13 RockRollers
Spokane, WA

March 12-13 Rock & Arrowhead Club
Klamath Falls, OR

March 18-20 The International Gem & Jewelry Show
Portland, OR

March 19-20 North Seattle Lapidary and Mineral Club
Seattle, WA

March 26-27 Sweet Home Rock & Mineral Society
Sweet Home, OR

April 2-3 Mount Hood Rock Club
Gresham, OR

April 2-3 Roxy Ann Gem & Mineral, Inc.
Medford, OR

April 9-10 Baker Rock Club & Gem Club
Bellingham, WA

Equipment Sale at Annual Show - submitted by Janine Owens

The WAMS Executive Board announces that our annual show will include a new feature this year. Club members will be invited to sell their personal lapidary equipment during the show. Sale prices must be marked, and ten percent of the sale price will be paid to the club. The equipment sale will take place under the covered area at the north end of the building, near the outside dining area. Stay tuned for further details as they are available. The Executive Board will announce the appointment of the person coordinating the sale.

Inside Rock Sale
Rock, mineral specimens, jewelry display cases, graduated risers, bull wheel, 30" flatlap, 17" flatlap, show canopy. Something for everyone. Mike Gaines, 2910 Hollywood Drive NE, Salem, (503) 378-0001

Woman Robbed at Lost Creek - submitted by Janine Owens
Posted February 18, 2005 on the website for the Newport News Times www.newportnewstimes.com

A Tualatin woman beach combing near Lost Creek State Park Thursday morning was robbed by a man armed with a knife. Police are still searching for the suspect, who reportedly held the knife to the throat of the 52-year-old victim and then took her wallet and 35 mm camera. The man fled on foot, headed south on the beach.

The assailant did not injure the victim with the knife, however, the woman did twist her ankle during the incident, which took place around 10:15 a.m. Officers from the Oregon State Police and deputies from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office searched the area around Lost Creek State Park but were unable to locate the suspect.

Later that same day, at around 1:20 p.m., a resident near Ona Beach State Park spotted a person matching the description of the suspect. Ona Beach is about two miles south of where the robbery occurred. State troopers responded and searched the area with the assistance of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, but again, the man was not located.

The suspect is described as a white male adult, 6-feet, 1-inch tall, very slender build and weighing approximately 125 pounds, with dark hair in a crew cut. He was clean shaven, had dark square-rimmed eyeglasses, and was last seen wearing a blue windbreaker or hooded sweater. He was reported to have a spider web tattoo on his left hand, and he was armed with a serrated-blade knife.

Anyone with information on the suspect in this crime is asked to call the Oregon State Police Northern Communications Center at 1-800-452-7888, or the OSP Newport Patrol Office at 541-265-5354.

AFMS News
Can be viewed at www.amfed.org

NFMS News
Can be viewed at www.amfed.org/nfms/

Meetings from February 3 General Meeting - submitted by Chuck Hunt

The meeting was called to order by President Kit Leshk at 6:35 p.m. There were 89 members and guests in attendance.

Announcements: Kristi Edwards volunteered to be the Field Trip Coordinator, and Archie Jahnke is the Youth Leader, but we still need a volunteer to be the Program Coordinator.

A letter was read regarding donations of school supplies sent to U.S. Army Task Force 2-162 for the school children of Iraq. If you are interested in making a donation of materials or funds, contact Art Winters 503-364-5233.

Show and Tell: The letter “U” brought out many variations on the letter including uninspired, unknown, Utah, etc. We had lots of fun with this one.

Program: Rock tumbling by Kit Leshk and Rob Leedy. There was very good coverage of that aspect of the hobby, including different types of tumblers, grit and other items. WAMS does have some equipment to loan out to members.

New members were introduced and they are Dale and Juel Russell, Steve Braden, Nadine Romero, Margie and Denny Hampton, and Gordon McDonald was added to Colleen’s membership.

BREAK

At 8:15 p.m. the business meeting was called to order.

Secretary's Report: Motion made and seconded to approve the minutes as printed in the newsletter. Approved.

Treasurer’s Report: Motion made and seconded to approve the treasurer’s report as present to the membership. Approved. Motion made and seconded to pay present bills as presented to the membership. Approved.

Show Report: Bob Harrison says thanks to many of you who are up and helping on the coming April Gem Show. We need more petrified wood to hand out to the school children on Friday of the show. Additionally, need more tumbled rock for the grab bags. We will soon be setting up work parties for the show.

Federation Show Report: Janice VanCura reports that the registration form for the show will be printed in the NWFS newsletter. Contact Chris Wissinger or Ray Plummer about entering a case.

Field Trip Report: Our new leader is Kristi Edwards. Our next field trip will be the weekend of February 5th and 6th. We will meet at Lost Creek State Park, about four miles south of Newport and follow the tide out looking for the elusive “Newport Blue” agates. We will also check Ona Beach about one or two miles further south of Lost Creek. We will meet at the “Sizzler Restaurant” at about 7 p.m. Saturday evening. There will be about 35 people planning on attending.

Federation Report: Dexter Leonard advised there is nothing to report.

Oregon Council: Dan Groah absent.

Publicity Report: Susan Appleby absent.

Newsletter: Janine Owens advised that material for the newsletter needs to be in by the 24th of the month to be included.

Adjudication Report: Ted Silver absent.

Library Report: Library cart was out and books available to check out. Still need some books for our juniors. It was nice to see the cart!

Stamps: Peg Townsend advised, “keep those stamps coming in”. Cut the envelopes 1” around the stamps if possible. Our club sends them to the federation and the stamps are sold for cancer research.

Sunshine Report: Jodee Leshk advised that sympathy cards were sent to Don and Mary Miller, also to Ted and Gerry Silver.

Senior Center Classes: Contact Ted Silver for lapidary information, Charmaine Mortimer for silversmithing and Jodee Leshk for jewelry.

Old Business:

New Field Trip Coordinator: Kristi Edwards

NEED to fill Programs committee position.

DUES! Those who have not paid their dues will be dropped from the membership and mailing list.

New Business:

We need an audit committee to review the treasurer's records for accuracy of records, bank accounts, etc. The findings will be reported at the March meeting. This is the responsibility of the Members at Large.

Membership vote to accept new members: Dale and Juel Russell, Steve Braden, Nadine Romero, Margie and Denny Hampton, and Colleen McDonald added Gordon to her membership.

Walt Friday suggested that we have some traveling microphones for show and tell and when members are speaking from the back of the room. We have one new member that advised that his specialty is that area and he can work up a proposal for traveling mikes.

February Board meeting will be at the Senior Center on Tuesday, the 22nd of February at 6:30 p.m.

March Program will be on maps and locations by Ray and Nancy Plummer. Possible April program on meteorites.

March refreshments: Volunteers were Karen Porter, Colleen McDonald, and Chuck Hunt, and anyone else that would desire to bring treats.

March Show and Tell: the letter “V”.

Meeting adjourned at 8: 48 to be followed by drawings for the door prizes

Minutes from the February 22 Executive Board Meeting
- submitted by Chuck Hunt

The meeting was called to order by Aaron Currier at 6:35 p.m. Members present were Aaron Currier, Kit Leshk, Ray Plummer, Tom Beaty, Bob Harrison, Don Miller, Janine Owens, Dexter Leonard, Theresa Byrne and Chuck Hunt. Members absent were Chris Wissinger and Dan Groah. Guest Zach Abbas.

Old Business:

WAMS Annual Show:

Cases - Bob Harrison will assist Don Miller in retrieving one of the old club cases so that he can measure the light fixture for the new cases.

Spaghetti dinner - The question was raised whether or not to keep the same cater/person to provide the spaghetti, bread, etc. that we have had in the past. Yes. This year it is requested those members who are going to be there for the dinner to bring the following:

A-L desserts, M-Z salads. The club will provide the plates.

Security - We will coordinate with the security service to add an extra hour to our pending contract. That will mean that security will be provided from 5 p.m. Thursday evening until 6 p.m. Sunday evening, for a total of 81 hours.

Petrified wood - Gene Gangle will donate 2000 pieces of petrified wood for Friday’s schools visit at the show. Kit will coordinate a time to pick up the material.

Work Parties - It will soon be time to get some members together to paint road signs, work on the wheel of fortune, make or fill grab bags, etc.

New Brochure for the 2005 Show – Entitled “Petrified Wood”, it will contain some of the same information that the first one had except changing some points to emphasize petrified wood. Motion made and seconded to pay for the printing of the new brochure. Approved unanimously.

Equipment sale at the show - It was decided that members will be allowed to sell lapidary equipment in the picnic area at the fairgrounds with 10% of the cost to go to WAMS. All items must have a tag with the price on it and whether they desire check or cash.

Advertising for the show - It will remain the same as last year.

The mailing list that has been developed through the drawings for the door prizes has now grown from 70 to approximately 200 and they will receive a reminder postcard of the date of the gem show.

Possible changes to the Standing Rules of WAMS were discussed.

Membership List - Ray Plummer advised that he has cleaned out the list of those who had not paid their dues by the January meeting which brings our total to 191.

New Business:

Name tags - For the show it was suggested that we all have the same type of name tag, large and visible, that would say something like “River of Gems Volunteer”, so that no matter if we are wearing a t-shirt or not visitors and guests will be able to find one of us. The information will be passed to Katy Bayless.

Roving Microphones - At the suggestion of Walt Friday, the board will continue to explore the idea of at least two wireless microphones that would possibly be compatible with the P.A. system of the Senior Center.

There is a definite need to replace our broken badge-making machine with a new one.

WAMS Identification Stickers - It was suggested that we print up some stickers so that when we are on field trips, meetings, etc., that we will be able to identify other members. A case in point was the fact by the time 9 a.m. rolled around at Lost Creek there were a lot of members on the beach while others were up in the parking lot waiting for them to show up. If we had a small sticker on our window other members would know that members are already there on the beach, at the dig, or what ever.

Meeting adjourned 8:30 p.m.

News Release: Oregon State Fossil Designation Sought
- submitted by Susan Appleby

February 10, 2005

For additional information, contact:
Guy DiTorrice (Oregon Coast Agate Club)
541-961-1762
guy@orcoast.com

Salem, OR - Oregon State Representative Alan Brown of Newport has introduced House Joint Resolution #3, which designates the Metasequoia (Dawn Redwood) as Oregon's State Fossil. The fossil -- over 120-million years old - is found throughout Central Oregon and often collected by visitors from ancient beds located in Fossil, Oregon. (Legislation is available on the web at: http://landru.leg.state.or.us/05reg/measures/hjr1.dir/hjr0003.intro.html.)

Of the many fossil plants in Oregon, the best known are from the Miocene epoch, between 25 to five million years ago. During this time, Metasequoia was THE characteristic tree, making up most of the flora in prehistoric Central Oregon, according to Oregon's State Paleontologist, Dr. William Orr, and author of PLANT & ANIMAL FOSSILS OF OREGON and OREGON FOSSILS.

The designation of Metasequoia as Oregon's State Fossil provides a unique specimen as very few states consider plants for their official fossil. This designation also recognizes Oregon's timber-rich heritage, with this ancient plant indeed being a real "living fossil".

There are no hard costs associated with the designation. Official State literature, which presently includes other official state designations, would include Metasequoia as "Oregon's State Fossil" when materials are reprinted and routinely updated (e.g. Oregon Blue Book, official State highway map, Oregon's websites). The State may choose to issue a news release upon approval of the designation, while supporters of the designation will provide the information to interested groups, publications, websites and news media.

The Metasequoia also provides an excellent symbol or logo for the Oregon Paleo Lands Institute and it's many fossil-related projects planned for Central Oregon. To that end, the Oregon Paleo Lands Institute Board of Directors has endorsed the Metasequoia for designation as "Oregon's State Fossil."

Less than a dozen states do not have a designated state fossil, with Oregon being the only western state without one. Other western states and their official fossils:

Alaska: Mammuthus primigenius -- woolly mammoth
California: Smilodon californicus - saber-toothed cat
Colorado: Stegosaurus syenops -- dinosaur
Idaho: Equus simplicidens -- horse
Montana: Maiasaura -- dinosaur
Nevada: Shonisaurus popularis - ichthyosaur
North Dakota: Teredo -- petrified wood
South Dakota: Triceratops -- dinosaur
Utah: Allosaurus -- dinosaur
Washington: Mammuthus columbi - woolly mammoth
Wyoming: Knightia - fish

Interested individuals supporting House Joint Resolution #3 to designate the Metasequoia as Oregon's State Fossil are asked to send letters of support to their state legislator at 900 Court St NE Salem, OR 97301.

Additional information about the state fossil designation is available on the Web at www.oregonfossilguy.com

Adjudication in April - submitted by Ted Silver

April is adjudication month!

In preparation for the upcoming NFMS show we're going to try to follow the guidelines published in AFMS publications, so bring in some pieces to be admired and adjudicated. This is your chance to show off and brag a bit, so don't be bashful.