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WARRNAMBOOL GEM CLUB GEM SHOWS

January 2008 Gem Show!

Our 40th Birthday show was held from the 25th to the 27th, at the Archie Graham Centre once again. We were grateful to have our regular traders such as Des Liston and Craig's Crystals, as well as several additional new traders at the show.

The show was a success in terms of the numbers of visitors, interest generated in the club, the standard of club members displays. The income generated from the show will help the club meet it's share of the costs involved in the redevelopment of the club's workshop, which we hope will occur in the next few years.

A special feature of the show this year was the display of material the club recently received from the MAARMUSEUM IN THE EIFEL REGION IN THE WEST OF GERMANY

In 2007, Dr Martin Koziol, of the Maarmuseum, found the Warrnambool Gem Club website, while searching for information on Maar Volcanoes. Dr Koziol contacted the Warrnambool Gem Club because the part of Germany where he lives has many maar volcanoes which are similar to those found near Warrnambool.

Our club forwarded mineral & fossil specimens (plus a reference book) from the Western District of Victoria to the museum, which in return has sent the club a fine collection of mineral and fossil specimens from Germany, along with several mineral and fossil references, some of which are shown in the photos below.
Note: Maar volcanoes result from explosions occurring when hot magma (molten rock) meets groundwater near the earth’s surface, producing high pressure steam and an explosion of rock fragments & magma into the air. These generally form a wide shallow crater with layers of tuff or ash around the edge. Some 40 examples of maar volcanoes exist in the southwest of Victoria, including Lake Bullenmerri (near Camperdown), Tower Hill (near Warrnambool), Lakes Keilambete and Purrumbeet and Mt. Rouse.


Some of the material from the Maarmuseum	Reference material from the Maarmuseum

A specimen of aragonite and limonite from the Maarmuseum	An aragonite specimen from the Maarmuseum

A Barite and siderite specimen from the Maarmuseum	Some of the German fossils from the Maarmuseum

A second feature of the show which was a first this year was a painting competition which had the theme of rocks/minerals/mining. This competition, which came about as a result of much hard work by club member Ted Morton, was well supported by local artists who produced some fantastic works for the show.


Allan White viewing some of the art based on 'rocks'	Alan Wood and club president, Jenny Wood. Alan was demonstrating wire-wrapping to show visitors

General View of show	General View of show

General View of show	General View of show

'Craigs Crystals' stall	Des Listons' stall

Larry Peterson with his stall of agates, zircons, beryl and other gems	Allan White operating the lucky dip
	LEFT Alan Wood and Allan White holding a photo Alan painted of Allan! In the background are paintings with a 'rock' theme which formed part of the Gem Show this year.

The show once again had a great display of showcases representing the work of club members and several of these cases are shown below. The 'Champion Showcase' prize for the 2008 show was won by Alan Wood with his 'Periants' display.


Alan Wood's winning 'Periant' display case	'Rock Band' display case

Display case	Chris's Gold Mining relics display case

Mortlake 'Olivine' display case	Lorna's 'Ocean' display case

Alan's faceted gems display case	Chris & Janice's fossils display case

Allan White's Crystal systems display case	Display case

Larry's 'Agate Creek' agates display case	Alan Wood''s Mortlake Peridot display case

Display case	Alan's agates display case

Our club appreciated the support shown by other clubs, with visitors to the show coming from Melbourne, Geelong, Mount Gambier, Colac, Ballarat and other clubs. Our most senior club member, Bill Rodgers, visited the show and had a good time catching up with his many friends.
The show was opened by the Warrnambool Mayor Cr. David Atkinson, who continues to show good support for community groups. Our club was also fortunate to receive considerable support via a generous sponsorship from Collins Book Sellers in Warrnambool.

January 2006 Gem Show

The club holds an exhibition every 2nd year, at the Archie Graham centre in Warrnambool, Victoria. The 2006 show featured our regular dealers and traders selling a wide range of minerals, fossils, equipment & jewelery. However, the main focus of our show was the extensive displays of the work/collections of members. We make a big effort to show the public the standard of work that club members can produce and the club show cases were comprehensive and well presented.
Club members conducted demonstrations of opal cutting and faceting. A ‘wire-wrapping’ demonstration was very popular with visitors to the show. Members of the public were given the opportunity to create their own individual pendants from Australian gem materials and participate in lucky dips and raffles.


Warrnambool gem show	A display of fossils by Chris & Janice

Lorna's showcase	Alan's carvings

Alan giving a faceting demonstration	Alan's faceted gems

Alan White mans the lucky dip	Ted making jewellery

Chris and Doris examine some display cases	Brian demonstrates opal cutting to Kay

3 industrious kitchen workers plus Keith	General view of the show