2012 Boston mineral Club Meeting Schedule
Here is the schedule of Boston Mineral Club meetings for 2012.  Please check back for updates on speakers and programs.    

Tuesday, March 6th – 7:30 PM

Topic: Reports from Arizona Field Trips and the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show

Presented by: Nathan Martin & other BMC members who attended

The March meeting of the Boston Mineral Club will feature the recent Arizona Doubleheader fieldtrip and the recently-concluded Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. Nate Martin will show a few pictures from the fieldtrips and all those who attended the are encouraged to bring in their favorite specimens from the trip and share their observations of the BMC trips and any other collecting that they did while in Arizona.

The second part of the program will feature photos of the displays of Arizona Minerals that were exhibited at the show and comments by those who attended the show as to what was new and what impressed them the most at this year’s show. We had several members attend the show this year and there will be many different perspectives to share.

Since the theme of this year’s TGMS show was Arizona Minerals all Boston Mineral Club members are encouraged to bring in some of their favorite Arizona specimens to display before the meeting. Specimens recently acquired in Tucson are also welcome.

Tuesday, February 6th – 7:30 PM
A Combined Meeting with the Boston Malacological Club
Topic: Cameos - History and Materials

Presented by: Kristina Joyce, Warren Graff and Richard Cowley
The February meeting of the Boston Mineral Club will be held jointly with the Boston Malacological Club (i.e.: The Shell Club).  Both of our clubs meet at Harvard on the first Tuesday of the month and as collectors of natural history objects we much more in common than the day we happen to meet and identical three-letter initials.  The subject of this combined meeting, “Cameos – History and Materials”, is most appropriate for our two clubs because cameos have historically been carved both from shells and from minerals.  Kristina Joyce will begin the presentation with a short history of the cameo and an introduction to some of the books on the subject.  Following that introduction, Shell Club member, Warren Graff, and Boston Mineral Club member, Richard Cowley, will give presentations on the various shells and minerals that are used to make cameos.  Rick wants to acknowledge that he has obtained much of his content from Kitty Haas who has over 70 years of experience as a jeweler and will hopefully be able to attend the meeting.
Boston Mineral Club members are encouraged to bring in some of their favorite specimens to display and Shell Club members will do the same.  That will help each group to better appreciate the beauty that we find in our individual collecting interests.
The Harvard Mineral Museum will be open as usual from 7 to 8 PM and the meeting will be held in Haller Hall (our usual meeting room).  Refreshments will be available starting at 7:30 PM and there is a rumor that there will be some cameo-themed goodies to tempt your taste buds.  The meeting will formally begin at 8:00 PM with very short business meetings for both clubs before starting the presentations.  The evening will end with our traditional raffle as well as a Shell Club raffle.

About the Presenters:
Kristina Joyce.  Kristina is an artist and teacher working in drawing, painting, and calligraphy out of her home studio/classroom in Concord, MA.  Her father was a Naval surgeon, and she developed an early interest in seashells from the places they were stationed. She became a member of the Boston Malacological Club in the early 1980's and served two years as its president. She has also been a member of the Boston Mineral Club for a decade.  She has a strong interest in gems and jewelry and has a personal collection of cameos.

Warren Graff.  Warren works in Andover as an IT engineer for a high tech firm.  He has been an ardent shell collector since the late 1950's.  His interest started in Puerto Rico where his family was stationed.  He started self collecting, mostly Caribbean marine shells, but expanded to world-wide marine shells in the 1990's when introduced to shell shows and then internet (shell) shopping in the 2000's.  He became a member of the Boston Malacological Club in the early 1970's and has served two terms as its president.

Richard (Rick) Cowley.  Rick started collecting minerals as a child and has never stopped.  He has been an active member of the Boston Mineral Club for approximately 7-8 years and just completed a 4-year stint as our newsletter editor.  He enjoyed a 30-year career as a photographer of high-tech equipment for Varian Associates and then Raytheon.  You can see some of Rick’s mineral photography in the recent book, “American Mineral Treasures”, as he took many of the photos included in the Eden Mills section.
This should be a great meeting.  Unless you are off to Tucson for the TGMS show, make it a point to be there.