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Chairman's Corner
Here is my first column for the new year, the new century, and the new millennium. It has been a very exciting start already. Our Flagg TailGate show at Mesa Community College was a success. Attendance appeared to be down but sales were up. The dealers I spoke to had the best show they had in years. The 46th Annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show (the greatest mineral show on earth) is now history and it was as good as ever. The show theme was Minerals of Brazil and there were some great displays. Again, I believe attendance was down a bit but most dealers at the show appeared to be happy with sales.
We received a magnificent donation at the Tucson Show. The same collector who donated the morganite/quartz/elbaite/cleavelandite specimen in 1999 has given us a large doubly terminated calcite crystal from the Elmwood mine in Tennessee. I have not measured it but it is supposed to be 26 inches long from tip to tip. I can attest to the fact that it weighs at least 150 pounds, having now loaded and unloaded it twice! It even came with its own display case although we will have to do some modifications to be able to use it in the museum. Sam Nasser was again in the right place at the right time and mentioned to Wayne Sorensen that the Foundation would be very happy to receive such a specimen. Wayne then contacted me at the show and with Paul Harter's help, we managed to get it up here and unloaded at the museum.
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The 2000 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show
As I stood in my booth at this show, a long time Tucson collector and I started reminiscing about shows gone by. As a result, I thought I would write a few words about some of my fondest memories of this show.
This was my 38th straight Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. Although I do not remember when I stopped believing in Santa Claus, I still remember my first Tucson Show. I was given $5.00 to spend (an early birthday present). I managed to come home with several specimens, including a chalcanthite stalactite, and a copy of Arizona Highways that had an article about minerals. Marc and Cliff Watson took Wayne Thompson and I with them to this show. The rest, as is said, is history.
Until 1971, the show was held in the old cow barn at the Pima County fairgrounds. In fact, the Tucson Show hosted the Rocky Mountain Federation Show that last year it was held at the fairgrounds. It was a long Quonset hut that some years the show volunteers would have to shovel cow manure out of the south end to make room for the wholesale dealers.
I still remember the second show we attended, which was in 1964. Wayne and I had split up. I was walking around looking at dealers on the west side of the building. Wayne came running over to announce there was a dealer I needed to meet. (Continued on page 3)
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