Tulsa Rock & Mineral Society

2006 Gem & Mineral Show

Wow! We had a fantastic show this year! Attendance was up to over 1700 this year, a 30% increase over two years ago. I spent at least two weeks thinking about the displays I was going to put in show. A non-comp display of Native American and Jomon artifacts (Thanks to Herb Bastuscheck for supplying the Jomon artifacts!), a competitive display in class G8 (Petrified Wood, Special Features), and Dancer. Several days of frenzied work ensued to get the display case for Dancer to a point where it could be utilized in the show. Glass was ordered from Michigan (Thanks E!), a fellow rockhound, Floyd Speck, supplied the beautiful cherry wood for the framing, and did the trim work. The last two nights before the show we were at it until 1:00am to get the case done. We still have some work to do on it before Roswell next June.

Setup for the show was on Friday the 27^th. We had a great bunch of TRMS members helping out to set up all of the display cases, tables, electrical, and everything else that goes along with a show. Plenty of pre-planning paid off. Show chairman (and RMFMS President) Richard Jaeger did a fantastic job of organizing the show, and you could tell he was pleased with the results as every time he was seen he was wearing a big grin (to go with the RMFMS President’s Hat)! Show co-chair George Paizis kept everybody supplied with bottled water and snacks, a pot-luck lunch was provided for the show help and dealers who were setting up. All around, everything went very smoothly.

Even though I was a designated co-chair for the show, I somehow managed to stay so busy with displays and work, that I didn’t have a large role in the planning and setup. Come Saturday morning before show opening, I was still trying to get Dancer’s display set up properly, as we had been fabricating and finishing it until 1:00am that morning. We got there at 7:00am and barely got it together by the 9:00am opening time!

But all of the hard work was worth the effort when we were buzzing with show-goers by 10:00am, and with Dancer taking a central position, plenty of attention was garnered to its unique preservation and realistic appearance. All of the show volunteers and workers did a fantastic job all weekend. John Ravenscroft had solicited over fifty special exhibits and there were three competitive exhibits, and three fluorescent competitive exhibits.

Mary Watts solicited ten or so non-competitive exhibits. Jim Meier kept the working exhibits flowing, and there was plenty of interest to keep them busy.

George Finley and Jim Meier demonstrate wire wrapping.

Brandon Richards kept the silent auction set up with some great specimens and moved several hundred pounds of material across the tables.

The kids area was kept busy with an attendance of at least 200 children making fossil casts and impressions, and plenty of other activities.

We had nineteen national dealers at the show and all were very pleased with the attendance and did well with their sales. All expressed interest in coming to our next show in 2008, which will also be the RMFMS show.

One of the most popular was the Geode Gallery, where folks could purchase a Coconut geode, or Keokuk, and some others, and have it cracked open right there. This seems to be a big hit at most shows, and their sales were very good!

The hospitality and information booth was never without an interested individual or two. Our grab bags that we assembled were hand sewn by club members, and each had ten different specimens of fossils, minerals, and crystals in them with descriptions, each individually packaged. They were so good that we had dealers wanting to purchase our entire inventory! Of course we declined, but one dealer did manage to talk a volunteer into selling them two hundred of them. We have found out in the past that dealers were buying our grab bags for $1, and then separating the specimens and selling them individually for $.50 to $1 or more. Because of this practice, we will refrain from selling any large quantities to one individual in the future. Some exceptions are for educators and teachers, but we prefer they not be bought for resale purposes.

TRMS member Gene Cockrell was our publishing chairman.

  Member Paulino Allande always has a smile!

Richard Dodrill, TRMS member and founder of the Dodrill Museum of Rocks, Fossils, & Minerals in Cushing , OK recently suffered a heart attack while in Austin working for FEMA. He underwent bypass surgery several weeks ago and is having a slow recovery. We all wish him the very best! His museum features a suite of NC minerals provided by Mike Streeter, and a Jomon collection provided by Herb Bastuscheck!

Member Tim Maddox mans the information booth with a smile!

TRMS member Wayne Mouser and Oklahoma City member Arlene Burkehalter  visit with folks.

TRMS President Julia Allande observes the goings-on.

TRMS member Ken Siler still likes his SLR!

  Gene Cockrel talks about his Morrison FM pet wood from Utah , and his method of contour polishing.

  Floyd Speck with Dancer. He put in a lot of hard work on that display case!

Dancer and I allow one last picture!

  This was my competitive case, Class G8 Petrified Wood “Special Features” The case got 89 points awarded for a First Level ribbon in the Novice category.

Finally, Mary Watts’ Rose Rock Cluster. It’s begging to be used as a fountain waterfall!

I hope you enjoyed the look into the Tulsa Rock & Mineral Society 2006 Gem and Mineral Show! Plan on attending in 2008 when we host the RMFMS Show here in Tulsa !

©2006 Virgil G. Richards

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