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Steve Decker wins the 2004
A.L. Flagg Distinguished Service Award
By Ray Grant
The 2004 A.L. Flagg Distinguished Service Award was given to Steve Decker at the Minerals of Arizona Symposium in April.
Steve has been the newsletter editor for the Foundation since the fall of 1997. He has consistently produced better and better newsletters. The newsletter is very important to this organization as we have many members and they are spread over Arizona and even in other states. We also send the newsletter to over 100 nonmembers who are interested in minerals and/or the Museum.
Steve has established a geology club at Arrowhead School. The club is made up of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders who attend after school twice a month. The Arrowhead Geology Club is very active and has received high praise from the school.
Lately Steve has started a monthly kid's column in Rock and Gem Magazine. As a part of each month's column there is a quiz and kids can send in their answers to try to win a prize. The Foundation has agreed to supply prizes to the winners and we get a little national publicity because of Steve's activities.
Steve has many other interests such as writing, not related to minerals, and music, so the next time you see him, find out some the great things he is doing.
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Curator's Corner
By Sue Celestian
(Deep breath) The busy show season is over! It is a fun time of the year, albeit tiring. "Gather at the River" (an exhibit highlighting the lapidary possibilities on a river bottom) made the rounds at Rockfest, Phoenix Gem and Mineral Show, Apache Junction Gem and Mineral Show, and Verde Valley Gem and Mineral Show. "Au…What's that About?" graced our case at the Tucson show. One more show before summer - The White Mountain Gem & Mineral Show, at which the Museum is exhibiting for the first time. I think it'll make a nice weekend respite from the Valley's heat.
Hopefully, the summer "break" will allow me time to catch up on cataloging new acquisitions. If so, there will be quite a few new lovelies in the New Acquisitions case to see by summer's end.
February's Prospector's Day was a roaring success, with 502 attendees! And all because of our WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS - you know, that group of folks who have donated over 9000 hours of their valuable time to the Museum.
When next you find yourself in the Museum, look for the new exhibits. We recently were loaned some outstanding fulgurites - sandy/rocky glass, root-like structures formed when lightning strikes the Earth. You will be amazed - and will be certain to take cover during the next monsoon storm, OR you will be out following every lightning bolt to the ground! Sam Nasser is installing an exhibit highlighting mercury mining in Arizona, Maricopa County in particular. On the wall in the southwest gallery are the children's entries from Rockfest. In addition, the Silver case has been cleaned, relabeled and upgraded at long last; and a wonderful plate of crinoid calices on loan from Dick Zimmerman is on exhibit.
Dick Zimmerman and Jim Sippel have finished building the beautiful micromount display case. Visitors will be able to push a button to rotate the minerals into the microscope's view. It only awaits the mounting of the micros onto the turntable. I am so excited about being able to fully utilize the wonderful microscope, camera and monitor that the AMMMF donated several years ago. And I'm still looking for many Arizona type minerals!
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