If you don't hear the music, try clicking on the song title. "White Wedding" by Billy Idol is playing.
and I am at the friendliest Mineral show in Arizona. It sure is a shame that all the Rock shows in Arizona are between November and March, but oh, well...I found my buddies Ken and Darrel right off the bat, and now I am ready to shoot the bull with some rock nuts! Next space to the east is occupied by my collecting buddy Walt Johnson. I am hoping we will be able to get down to the Grand Reef Mine and the Iron Cap Mine in Graham County next month. Walt has a bunch of fossils and stuff today, and is already busy with interested customers, so planning that trip will have to wait! (Click on the little picture to see a whole lot nicer image!)
In the next space, I talked to Ed Shaffer, who had some of George Goddas' swell vanadinites from the Pure Potential in La Paz Co. What a cool Hopper crystal this pic shows...several dealers at this show had these, and you may have seen them in MR Vol 25 No.5, Sept-Oct 96. Ed's company, Software Solutions, works with schools, helping them choose software.
Next I talked to AJ Lombard, Who is a geology instructor at Mesa Community College, where this is all taking place. AJ had some Amethyst from The Four Peaks, and from Thunder Bay, Canada, and also one small specimen of unknown origin (looks like Fat Jack to me...) that I really liked, especially the one dollar price tag ...I'm always looking for a bargain! It has 1" scepter amethysts in matrix.
Well, at this point Businesss is really picking up, so I moved on down the row to the AMMMF tables, where LaVonne is busy selling the stuff we have pulled from the trailer to boost our collection fund. If you need an excuse to throw a great rock show, I think that is a dandy! The Arizona Mineral and Mining Museum Foundation is creating a fund that we hope will generate enough income to provide specimens for display in the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum. We also hope to support the museum in other ways, such as funds and materials for mineral kits provided to teachers, and other special projects. I picked up a nice green Pyromorphite from an unknown location, and a couple of other unknowns that I can have some fun looking up in my books. Foundation members get first pick at the pre-show sale on Friday nite after our meeting. That's one of the perks! We also get to work with our dandy collection down at the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum, on 15th Ave and Washington in Phoenix.
Just beyond the Foundation tables is Ray Grant's space. He has some gorgeous minerals that he picked up in the former Soviet Union last year. What a cool trip that must have been, especially if you could have gone with someone as knowlegeable as Ray. He is a Professor here at Mesa Community College, and past Chairman of our Foundation. In his case is an attractive specimen of radiating quartz crystals on Sphaelerite from the Nikolashy Mine, Dal'Negorsk, Russia, that catches my eye! (I sure wish the photo I took had turned out! Darn!)
Next I talked to Ted Kappel, (South West Specialties,6731 E. Palm Lane, Scottsdale, AZ 85257) who reconditions stereo microscopes. I know he does a terrific job, cause he fixed Darrell's, and boy, is it a thousand per cent improved! Ted has some swell little gemstones cut across the pond for little cash, so I got 4 ruby cabs and one little sparkly sapphire (my mom wants some red earrings!). Ted sure is a cool guy, he told me about collecting in years past with Ray Grant and Bob Jones (you have all read Bob's articles in the magazines!).
The next thing that caught my eye was some nice wire wrapped gems by T.C. McGee of Texas Wirecraft (3033 Cherokee, Wills point, TX 75169). He has been doing this stuff since 1973, and I like his style. In this pic you see his work on natural stones and that beautiful deep purple CZ at the bottom, which was made in China...FLASHY! The opal in the thumbnail is fine, as well.
Next I saw my friend Jay Hayes, the guy who showed Ed and Bill where the Purple Passion was located, near the Great Southern Mine. Jay is selling specimen stands, Halite and Hanksite he collected in California, and has on his table this huge matrix specimen of Vanadinite from the Greyhorse Mine...This thing must weight 35 pounds, at least, and it is about 10" high. Pretty crystals with calcite(?) coating some...nice one, Jay! Jay is a real corker :>. When you go collecting with him, you practically have to hook a rope to the bumper of your truck to drag him away from the mine! He can't help himself! He loves to dig, like a bad dog.
Down the way I talked to Howard Hyman, (21426 S. 146 ST., Chandler, AZ. 85249). Howard and his beautiful Daughter (I hope she is his daughter, or I am guilty of a real faux pas!) had some Azurite from Nevada Lode, Lasalle, Utah, for $20 (very fair for a specimen of this quality). Howard worked the Fat Jack Minewith George Goddas before Gary Spraggins bought it. He has nice Stolzite and Amethyst scepters he collected there, and told some tales about collecting at the Red Cloud in the good old days...wish I had been there!
Finally, I ran across my pals Ed Davis and Bill Gardner. They had set up a cool black light display (made by Bill's Dad) to show off some of the Fluorescent minerals that they have been getting from the Purple Passion recently. That little hole in the ground is full of surprises! They are finding Willemite in little sprays, and massive Calcite with Willemite and other minerals that glow like fireworks! Look at some of these pics in the Purple Passion page. (I don't have room to post them all at once...Keep watching for new ones. This pair of desperados were set up in Tucson in the front breezeway at the Days Inn, with Scottie's Treasures. Did you see this material in person?)
I see my collecting buddies Barb and Sal with a big spread of Minerals set up down the way! Barb has been walking away with all the ribbons at the Arizona State Fair mineral exhibits, lately! Boy, she is so lucky when it comes to finding the really pretty stuff at any show, and she loves a bargain like I do!
Ken Dunham is admiring it too, which reminds me that I haven't been back to see my own minerals all day...well, this is more important! (heheh)
The reason Barb came with me was to see the spider and the centipede in amber in Melanie Tash's space( PO box 2482, Sedona, AZ, 86339). The spider looked like a Black Widow. Melanie and her pal Pat live in Sedona, the lucky ducks, and sell minerals to the people coming to find the Vortex's. Melanie was only asking $60 for that cool ancient spider in amber, what a steal!
This excellent Benitoite was once in the Foundation's collection. I recognized the lable on the back as being one of the old numbers. It was being offered by Dave Douglass, (Douglass Minerals, (602) 742-0294, 10985 N. Poinsettia Dr., Tucson, AZ 85737). I found a swell Tsumeb Cuprite in Dave's half price flat, my best buy of the whole show, I think! It is about 1"x1"x1.5" tall, with one big dodecahedron that is almost 5/8" across on a crystallized Cuprite matrix, a deep red color that almost glows in the Arizona sunlight! Dave is retired, but used to be a proffessor at UCLA. Quite a knowledgeable guy, and very interesting.
That little trip around the Flagg show took me about eight hours, so I guess you got the whirlwind tour! It was quite nice this year, with lovely weather and fine minerals. I believe it was profitable for our dealers, too! Hope you can come see the show some January!