January 2015. The club workshops are underway. Some modifications have been made to the faceting area which we hope to upgrade.
The club has been fortunate to receive several donations of lapidary materials. These included a green gemstone coffee table top, selections of rough cabbing material, tumbled stones, fossils and a selection of grits and polishing powder. Thanks must go to the generous donors of these materials.
If you are putting an entry into the 2015 Gemboree, remember that entry forms must be received at Mooroopna by 31/1/15. Ensure your entry form is in on time!
The continued limited access to the Mortlake quarry is impacting on fossicking there. Many fossickers who are passing through on a day other than Friday are electing not to stop at Mortlake. This is a pity for the hobby and also Mortlake.
The photos below some of the agates collected at Agate creek, by Larry Peterson last winter. These pieces were approximately 15cm long.
2015 CLUB ACTIVITIES
March The extended workshop on the first Saturday is being well attended. Several members made silver findings/rings under the guidance of Anthony. Well done to all concerned.
8/3 Club members manned the BBQ at Bunnings as a fund raiser to help with the club’s running expenses. Thanks must go to all the members who helped in the conduct of the BBQ. Well done Kaye for doing much of the organisation for the event!
Club members manning the BBQ. L to R: Linda, Kathleen, Anthony, Jan.
L to R: Alan, Geoff, Linda
L to R: Gillian, Steve, John,
L to R: Diana, Brian, Rosemary
April 3-
Wednesday was hot, with a strong northerly wind before a cold front came through and we received a bit of a buffeting over night. The weather was sunny and pleasant for most of the show, with the rain not arriving till around 10 a.m on Monday, some 20 minutes after I packed up my camper trailer!
Some highlights of the show included
- Kathleen B who put in a lot of work running the field trips. She also showed she had a bit of ‘tiger’ in her at the fancy dress evening.
- The late afternoon ‘happy hours’ where club members got together to discuss the days purchases and who they had met during the day. One session stretched to late in the evening as we watched the eclipse of the moon under perfect conditions!
- Club members enjoyed the demonstrations on display in the exhibition hall. The ‘glass slumping’, ‘stone carving’ and ‘enamelling’ demonstrations attracted the interest of members.
- The trivia quiz was fun. To the amazement of members the Warrnambool team won the quiz and collected 6 bottles of wine to add to the ones awarded to the fancy dress participants.
- The Gemcad session run by the AFG was rewarding to those members who participated.
- Congratulations must go to all the hard working volunteers who made the Gemboree possible.
- John Honan performed well in the faceting judging and Kathleen Brockett was happy with her results in the faceting. Alan Altmann entered an ‘open lit’ display case and received a 2nd place.
Two views of the tailgating area.
A great area for lunch.
A competition display case.
A competition display case.
First prize winning case.
Alan’s display case.
One of John’s faceted gems.
Another of John’s faceted gems.
One of Kathleen’s faceted gems.
Some enamelling entries.
Some carving entries.
View of main hall.
View of main hall.
View of main hall.
Examples at enamelling demonstration.
View of some of the club members camping sites (R to L: Anthony, Robert, Alan, Jeff & Linda, Steven & Michelle).
Kathleen B. (Right) showing the ‘true tiger in her’ at the Trivia night!
MAY Our new members are making good use of the club workshop. Both cab work and silver work are being tackled by several members at present. Margaret has produced her first four cabachons (see photo below) which will form part of her display case at the club’s show in 2016.
Margaret’s first four cabachons. A good effort!
May 20. Geelong club members joined Alan Wood and Alan Altmann of the Warrnambool club for a fossicking session at Mt Shadwell in Mortlake. After a cool start the day turned into sunny and calm conditions ideal for fossicking. The 10 fossickers spread out over the quarry finding some peridot (scarce today) and anthorclase. Some illmenite specimens on scoria and various shaped bombs were also collected. The geelong members came fully prepared for a well deserved lunch after several hours fossicking.
The above 4 photos show some of the fossickers searching the quarry for peridot and other ‘treasures’.
June. Despite the cold weather having arrived we have had good attendance at the clubrooms up to now. Club members are rearranging the display cases to create a new area for faceting so we can offer a silversmithing and glass fusing area for members. The fixed display/storage unit in the ‘old faceting area’ has been removed and demolished, as it had deteriorated due to water damage over a few decades. Repairs to some other timber sections (also water damaged) are taking place at the same time.
August. After a cold July it is good to see the weather improving and more club members attending the club workshop!
Vale Darren Lucas. Club members were shocked to here of the death of club member Darren Lucas. Darren had been a member for many years, obtaining several qualifications in Gemmology, including diamond valuing. Darren developed a business in gems and minerals and was a keen lapidary. Darren covered the full gamet from tumbling and cabbing to faceting and silver work! Darren died suddenly at home and will be greatly missed by the members of the Warrnambool Gem Club.
Darren’s farewell/service was held at the Warrnambool Surf Club as Darren was a keen surfer. His ashes were scattered in ‘Lady Bay’ (in front of the surf club) where he had spent many hours surfing.
24/8 Club members (Alan A., Alan W., Jenny W., John H., Rod S. and Anthony M.) spent the morning packing up Darren’s rock and mineral collection. The club has purchased a number of pieces of machinery and cabbing and faceting rough belonging to Darren for use by the club. Some of the best mineral specimens will be put on display at the club rooms with information about Darren’s involvement in lapidary over the years. Surplus material will be sold on behalf of the family at the upcoming Gem Show in January.
29/8 Club members Jeff & Linda G. are back from there fossicking in N.S.W., Qld and the N.T. They showed club members at the workshop some of their finds; including Peridot from Chudleigh Park, Topaz from O’Briens Ck, Agates from Agate Ck, Garnets, Zircons and Petalite from the Hart’s ranges.They had a great time and aim to head off fossicking again next year! It is a very addictive passtime.
September Club member Kathleen B. is back after a fossicking trip in W.A. where she had success detecting for gold nuggets, one of which is shown below (1 ½ oz). Kathleen had a great time and is most enthusiastic about the process of detecting for gold.
18/9 Club members Alan A., John H., And Steve M., spent four hours constructing and installing two new benches in the new glass fusing area. One of the benches has a stainless steel bench top courtesy of Mclaren Sheetmetal.
Kathleen’s nugget!
John Honan working on the bench base.
Steve working on a bench top!
October: The club was fortunate to obtain grants for the club’s ongoing upgrades of our facilities. The Warrnambool City Council has generously provided $1500 towards our silversmithing facility while the Moyne Shire has provided $1045 towards our glass working facilities. The Warrnambool City Council is also undertaking significant repair works on the roof of our clubrooms which should keep the rooms in good condition for many years to come.
10/10 Club members had a good time purchasing a selection of slabs of material suitable for cabbing. This material had become available as the result of a ‘collection’ coming up for sale.
16/10 Steve Morgan arranged the donation of two ‘as new’ kitchen bench tops to the club. Steve and Alan Altmann spent the afternoon installing these in the new glass fusing area of the workshop. Alan A., Kay K. & Jeff G. painted the room.
29/10 -
Club members purchasing slabs & minerals at the club rooms.
November: 9/11/15 Club members Steve M., Jeff G. and Alan A. spent the day installing new benches for our revised faceting area. This is part of the renovations necessary to enable the silversmithing and glass fusing areas to be set up.
Above: new silversmithing area nearly complete with stainless steel bench plus timber bench installed.
Left: new glass fusing area showing two new benches installed.
Above: Jeff & Linda at show.
Right: Diana & John at show
New faceting benches with 3 faceting machines in place.
Rearranged display units adjacent to the new faceting area.
Left: Darren at Gemboree, Right: Darren fossicking at Moonlight Heads
Left: Darren with some whale bones he found, Right: some of Darren’s ‘egg collection’.
Left: Darren was a keen surfer.
Right: a dinosaur bone cabochon Darren cut Shortly before his death.
DARREN JAMES LUCAS July 1970 -
Darren was born in Warrnambool on 22/7/70. He was the second of four children to Doreen and Herb Lucas. Darren went to West Warrnambool State School then Brauer Secondary College. After trying several jobs he went to work with his father in a quarry where his interest in stones and gems began. He bought many books and studied online and quickly became obsessed with the whole gemmology world. When he wasn’t surfing he was out looking for rocks. He moved to Castlemaine where he continued fossicking and set up a rock shop, ‘Rens Gems’. Darren headed up to Emerald in Queensland where he purchased a V.J. faceting machine and other lapidary gear which he set up in his garage. He travelled extensively around Australia and made many friends overseas with whom he traded gems and minerals. He studied and completed his Diploma in Gemmology and his certificates in diamond grading and diamond valuation. The last stone Darren cut was a dinosaur bone cabochon of which he was very proud.
November 15 Several club members travelled to the Geelong show. A good day was had by all. The show had a good ‘vibe’ to it with a lot of visitors in the hall. Club members made quite a few purchases from traders to stock up on gear and gem material.
Mark & Sharon at their show stall.
Diana browsing some high quality gem material.
Display cases at the Geelong show.
18/11 Congratulations to Robert Harvey and Anthony Marsh who have been elected President and Vice-
John Honan was awarded a life membership, of the Warrnambool Gem Club, in recognition of “his extensive efforts in club workshop maintenance/development, plus the tutoring of club facetors’.
Left: A display of glass work at the Geelong show.
Right: John Honan, new life member.
6/12/15 Club members had the ‘end of year breakup’ at the ‘Little Thai Restaurant’ in Koroit. During the afternoon Janice Fisher was awarded Life Membership of the Warrnambool Gem Club in recognition of her service to the club over many years. Later members spent a pleasant time at the home of Steve and Michelle Morgan.
Left to right. Club President Robert (in fine Scottish dress! Note: that is not Rob’s real hair!!), new life member Janice Fisher, Janice’s husband Keith