Presentation

Mr. Dennis Myers recently reached out to our club, asking if someone was available to talk to his grandsons, Noah and Collin, about Quartz. I had a free afternoon on Friday, July 12th, so I arranged to meet with them at our clubhouse in Elm Mott. Noah and Collin are two delightful young men (Ages 8 & 9) who showed both a knowledge and an interest in rocks, minerals, and geology. I put together a brief "Show & Tell" type program with specimens from my collection. We discussed the macro crystalline forms of quartz, such as Rock Crystal, Smoky, Rose, Milky, Amethyst, and Citrine. I also had samples of the cryptocrystalline (crystals not visible to the unaided eye) form of quartz known as Chalcedony. These included samples of clear Chalcedony in the botryoidal habit, Chrysoprase, Jasper, Agate, and Flint. The boys brought some of their finds for me to try to identify. They have a good start on a fine collection, with several specimens from Colorado. Finally, I introduced them to Allie, my "Pet Alligator" (See Attached Photo). This is a natural sculpture of quartz in sandstone. After a brief tour of our lapidary workshop, we found Pebble Pups and Waco Gem and Mineral Club Tees to fit everyone.

One of the stated purposes of the Waco Gem and Mineral Club is:

To increase and disseminate knowledge about rocks, minerals, fossils, Native American and other archaeological artifacts, and other geological materials.

I wish to thank Mr. Myers, Noah and Collin for allowing me to fulfill a part of our purpose as a club. I hope they had as much fun as I did.