Needles Gem & Mineral Club brief history - I believe I got this from Myrna a couple of years ago.
First meeting was held on November 17, 1952 in the Needles High School Library with Miss. Viola Wright, Librarian, presiding. Mr. Paul Drury of Las Vegas, Nv. did most of the work of getting the club organized.
11 prospective members were present.
It was decided that the name of the new organization would be “Needles Gem & Mineral Club”.
It was also decided that the club would meet twice a month, on the 1st & 3rd Mondays. And that the Officers would serve for 3 months.
F.B. (Mac) McShan was the 1st president and Walter K. Gorman was the Secretary & Treasurer.
Dues were $2.75 a month with .75 cents of that to be applied to a magazine “Mineral Notes & News”.
Mr. & Mrs. Drury of Las Vegas were guests.
After the regular part of the meeting was adjourned, slides furnished by Mr. Drury were shown.
The group meet again on Dec. 01, 1952 at the library at 7:30pm, but due to very bad lights caused by a bad transformer, it was decided to move the meeting to thee home of Mr. & Mrs. Becker. The meeting finally got under way about 8:30pm with Mr. McShan presiding
A motion was made and seconded that a committee be formed to make up our constitution & by-laws. Mr. Becker was appointed chairman and Mr. Howell & Mrs. De Salvo were appointed to the committee.
A field trip to the Turtle Mountains was planned for Dec. 07, 1952 with Mac McShan leading the trip. All were to meet at five-mile station. It was suggested that all bring food so that there would be a balanced lunch.
Membership cards were discussed and Mrs. Davolt suggested she could probably get them for us, she was instructed to get 100 cards.
Next meeting was held on Dec. 15, 1952 at the home of Paul Howell.
By-laws & constitution committee reported little progress due to lack of information.
Mention was made of the upcoming Federation Convention in San Diego and Gorman suggested the group try to get something ready for it.
At the meeting of Jan. 05, 1953 the group was getting rich, they had a balance of $39.03 after expenses.
A field trip was planned for Jan. 18th, meet at Five-Mile Station at 8am to go to a place near Site Six.
At the Jan. 19th, 1953 meeting, the By-laws committee presented the proposed By-laws and Constitution for approval, changes or rejection by the club. The club voted on each Article, one by one, keeping some, changing some and rejecting some. Then the club accepted them as the new By-laws & Constitution.
The Feb. 02,1953 meeting was the election of officers for the entire calendar year 1953. McShan & Becker were nominated and each received 9 out of 18 votes. The tie was settled by putting all the votes in a hat and one paper was to be drawn, the name on the paper would be the next president. The name drawn was McShan.
Mr. Becker became V. President by unanimous vote.
Mrs. Becker was elected Secretary with 13 votes.
Tillie Smith became Treasurer by unanimous vote and was instructed to open a checking account with the $62.89 that the group had collected.
There was a trip on Feb. 22 to the Hauser geode beds.
A formal letter of application for membership in the C.F.M.S. was submitted. The club was invited to designate a proxy to attend the next meeting on March 14, 1953 in Bakersfield, Ca. Mr. H.C. Mahoney was named the proxy to attend.
At the May 11,1953 meeting the club colors of orange & dark blue was adopted. They were to be displayed on field trips.
Mac McShan was named 1st delegate and Mr. Gorman was named second delegate to the C F M S meeting in San Diego July 17,18,19, 1953.
The mineral section of the San Bernardino County Fair invited the club to enter a display at the fair Aug. 26th through 30th.
1954
Field trip to Site 6, Jan. 24, 1954
In March the group was searching for a permanent meeting place rather than going from home to home like they had been doing.
Several places were mentioned. Vista Colo. School could not be used because of lack of custodian; High school offered use of one of the classrooms. The VFW was contacted regarding use of their hall. The City manager was contacted about use of the old water dept building which the Girl Scouts were meeting in. and the Episcopal Church Parish Hall was considered.
Sunday, Mar. 21 was a field trip to a location near Davis Dam.
At the April 12 meeting it was reported that the Episcopal Church was available for a nominal sum. The Girl Scout headquarters were available for $1.00 a month. Next meeting in May to be held at Girl Scout headquarters.
A cut Die for the club Emblem was ordered at a cost of $5.26. Stationary was ordered at a cost of $40.51 for 1000 sheets of letterhead w/ matching 2nd sheets, 500 6 ¾ envelopes & 500 10inch envelopes.
A field trip to Hackberry Springs was held on Oct. 17.
At the Nov. 8th meeting a slide program on Jade, Quartz Etc. objects of art were shown.
At the Dec. 13th meeting it was decided to file a claim on the Blue Agate. Claim papers were filed out stating that the name of the claim would be ”Blue Danube No. 1”.
1955
A club library was set up with 2 books donated by E. Becker.
Field trips in 1955 were to: Claim to work, Lavic Jasper, Site 6, Havaland roses, theTurtles,
Slide programs shown in 1955 were: This world we live in II, Horse Canyon Agate, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah Agates, Navajo Jewelry, Common Rocks & Minerals, The Sulfates & Sulfides.
Janurary1956
It was decided to place a notice stating NO BLASTING at the “Blue Agate” claim and ask that anyone going there report on the number of people so that they could be included in the assessment work papers.
A field trip to Siam Siding was held on Jan. 15th.
In March they added 2 new books to the library-Dictionary of Gems & Gemology” and also “Handbook of Gem Identification”.
A series of slides entitled “The Earth is born” was ordered.
The secretary was instructed to see about the club incorporating.
A trip to Hackberry Springs was planned.
In April a slide program, The Atom” was shown.
The May field trip was to Site 6.
A Slide program “The Miracle of the Sea” was shown.
In June the slide series continued with “The face of the land”.
In August it was reported that The Blue Agate claim was properly recorded.
Discussion was held about the danger of the “Mystic Maze” being destroyed by a pipeline. It was decided to write letters in an effort to save the “Maze”.
Slides on “The Earth” were shown.
In Sept the project of getting the “Maze” set aside as a Historical Monument was taken on.
The slide program was “The age of Mammals”.
In October, Corinne More was accepted as a member.
A field trip to the Salt Works at Amboy was planned, if they could get permission. In case that didn’t work out, they had a back up trip planned to The Old Women Mts.
The slide program was “Creatures of the Sea”.
Either they didn’t record the meeting in Nov. or the writing has disappeared, all that is on the page is the date.
A communication from the Smithsonian Institute about the Mystic Maze was read, no record of what was discussed.
A field trip & pot luck to Site 6 on Dec. 16th.
1957
Jan. 20th field trip was to the Coffin Springs area in the Turtle Mtns.
March 31st was the date set to go to the Blue Agate Claim to complete the assessment work. It was to also be a potluck.
The April 28th field trip to the “Blue” was to finish up the assessment work. Then the members went on an exploration trip around the claim. No record of what they saw.
Field trip to the Spirit Mtns for Qtz. Xls was taken on June 2nd. Leave from the Scout house at 6 am.
A letter was received from the Los Angeles Museum about the Mystic Maze.
At the Oct. meeting a committee was formed to look into getting the Gem club Incorporated and also to check that the By-laws were in order.
A field trip on Oct. 20th to the Arsenic Springs in the Turtles Mtns. was planned.
The special By-laws committee gave their report, suggesting several changes and some additions.
Another trip to Arsenic Springs on Nov. 17th.
Assessment work at the “Blue” was the field trip on Dec. 15th. It was also a potluck.
1958
