Our January meeting was very small. Henry confirmed the complex for our show in September on the 27, 28 & 29 2002 and for pavilion on August 16 & 17 2002 for the Steak Fry. Let Henry know who needs a space so he can let the city know.

I am writing my message from Quartzsite this month. The weather has been nice and warm. It’s been great seeing all the members, and seeing other people from Tooele. I would like to thank Leona for putting up with Henry & I. We went to Mexico with Leona & family, we had a great time.

Start thinking about prizes for the show, it will be here before we know it. See all at the February meeting.

Remember to follow the path of love and friendship.

Donna M. Chavez

President

Tooele Senior Citizens Center

January 8 2002 7:30 PM.

The meeting was called to order by president Donna Chavez every one was welcomed. The minutes of the last two meetings was read and approved, the treasurer was absent so we didn't have his report.

Mickey and Sherri Miller sent a thank you card for the flowers the club sent to them when Mickey's father passed away. We also received a thank you card from the Mckellar family for the flowers the club sent to them.

The Club Stake Fry will be August 16 & 17 the rent this year will be $70.00. The Gem Show this year will be September 27, 28 & 29.

We discussed the club vests there is at least four people who want a vest. Donna will see about getting some made.

Henry won the door prize. Don and Ruth Smith will bring the treats next month. The meeting was adjourned.

Minutes submitted by

Larry Wilson Secretary

I just found out Matt is standing in for me while I am out of town. I would like to let him know I really appreciate it.

I was playing with some ideas for the meetings. The April meeting is usually the welcome back for the Snowbirds, so I won’t have anything big going on then. I can show off the features on the club website on my laptop. That just leaves May & September

I don’t know if it is my place, but I would like to get some classes going in the club. I have been teaching lost wax casting in the Quartzsite club down here. They do a fast burnout that makes it possible to do a ring in 4 hours. In a couple of hours more you should be able finish those rings. If anyone is interested I can start a lost wax casting class when I get back in April. I know we have knowledgeable members in the club, if you can share some of your time please let me know.

Dennis Chapman

Vice President

Tom Thomas should read as Tom Munson. Sorry Tom!!!

I have the club website looking the way I want, if you haven’t checked it out you might want to take a look www.utahrockhounds.com/tooelegem. I have added a search page, club & members’ awards, and discussion area. Remember you can get my full list upcoming gem & mineral shows, list of books in the library, club calendar of meetings & events, links to other sites & much more.

The old counter at the old website was over 800 visits since Nov. of 2000, the new one I put on the Club’s main page is at 63 on Jan. 18 for 2 months. I’m now trying to get the word out on the new location.

Here is something I found interesting. This is a list of locations that have visited utahrockhounds and/or the club website over the past 2 months:

• Unresolved/Unknown

• Network

• US Commercial

• US Educational

• US Government

• US Military

• United States

• Non-Profit Organization

• Switzerland

• Saudi Arabia

• Sweden

• Germany

• Ireland

• Taiwan

• United Kingdom

• Canada

• Spain

• Japan

• Australia

Contact me if you would like to view the statistics webpage.

A new winter season has arrived here in our favorite home away from home, Quartzsite, AZ. And now a brand new year, 2002 is welcoming everyone back, especially all of you members & friends of the Tooele Gem & Mineral club. It’s not the same here without you. Most of you come between the 1^st of November and soon after Thanksgiving. You stick around until it began to look a lot like Christmas. Then you just can’t stand it any longer, so you take off for home, kids, grandkids & snow.

So now the holidays are over and we are getting ready to welcome the many venders with their various wares, and the hoards of visitors from all over the world. They come in their huge motor homes, trailers homes, tents or just walking in with backpacks & sleeping bags on their backs. Mercy, what a mob. It would be interesting to know how much money changes hands in the short one to two months time that they are here. Well, anyway, we are having fun and getting fat with all the cake and ice cream we consume at the many birthday parties and the various potluck dinners we attend. There is seldom a week goes by that there isn’t something going on somewhere. Just for instance look at this schedule. After Jay & Erla got back from spending Christmas with family in Utah, she put on her annual New Years Eve program. This year she entertained us with a song & dance review, showing off her most interesting assortments of hats and animals she has collected over the years. WOW!!! What a show. We tried to book her early for next New Years Eve, but she said she will be performing at the "Met" in New York. Oh well, maybe something will come up and we can get her. After her show we had a wiener roast and all the trimmings around the fire.

Sunday PM, the singles from church had a break the fast spaghetti dinner, where I overate and went home overly stuffed, but it was so good I didn’t stop when I should have.

Today, Monday, we celebrated Vernon & Melva’s birthday with cake & ice cream. Again I ate sweets when I shouldn’t. So now I need to work on saying, "No Thank You". This coming Saturday is a church activity and I’ve signed up to bring some potato salad. They announced at the campfire tonight that next Tuesday we will have a liver & onions dinner cooked in the dutch oven and we will bring something for a potluck. So you can see there will be no hunger in this part of the South Desert.

Wednesdays are our fieldtrip days, so this next one is to the Parker Dam area where we will pick up shells along the sand bars of the Colorado River. Sounds like a fun and easy trip. That means get up early, eat a hearty breakfast, pack a lunch and meet the others on the north side of town by the fire station with our CBs on so we can chit chat, tell tall tails and Mickey can keep everyone in line and obeying the rules of the road, such as no wandering across the center yellow line, etc. We have great outings each week and come home about 3:00 PM tired but happy. Then we are ready to sit around the campfire after a nap & supper, where we solve all of the world’s problems, watch for falling stars or satellites and just enjoy great camaraderie.

Ya’ll come

Lida Chapman

editors note: The show has hit Quartzsite & it's going to be nuts until the middle of Feb. The desert around Quartzsite looks like a giant trailer park. They say we become the 2nd or 3rd largest city in AZ. during this time. I've been lucky as far as the traffic goes, no 1 hour to drive a mile (knock on wood). I guess it time to learn the back roads again.

Here is the regular way to get to the Post Office from Tyson Wells. Turn left at the 4 way stop, go over the over pass, turn left at the next 4 way stop, go down 3 buildings & your there.

During the show:

• Go west 1 mile

• Get on the freeway, go 2 miles east, getting off on the next exit

• Turn left and follow the road to Plymouth Ave

• Turn north and go approx. 2 miles, following it to the Fire Station

• Turn south on State Rd. 95 and go approx. 1 ½ miles

• When you get to the Hardware store, turn right

• Go to the Phone Company, then turn left.

• Go to the end of the road.

• Then it’s just a quick left & right and your there.