World of the Rockhound; 2

I guess that's what really got me started is trying to find where I'm going to rot from where everything is going to run for everyone. The second largest craft hobby in America today is said to be rock hounding with all of its branches of interest some of which I am cutting making jewelry and the collection of gemstones rocks minerals and fossils. This universal hobby has grown to astonishing proportions in the last 25 years and shows signs of even more rapid growth as the need develops for more people to pursue more leisure time activities due to the fact that the working few hours have more days off and to get more a vacation rocks and minerals as specimens are of extreme importance to the rock. Most people do not realize the important role rocks and minerals play in everyday

living. For example you are right used in toothpaste and clothing. This series of programs is designed to give an overall picture of the Rock and. Offer encouragement to the newcomer in this hobby. And present information of general interest to everyone. All of this will be examined as we explore the world of the rock out. Today's programme is entitled he who draws a charm. The narrator is Len folk. Last week we were introduced to the world of the rockhound with a preview of this series. We were introduced to the individuals who draw the charm from rocks the rock hounds themselves. More than three and a half million of them in the United States. Today we present some of these people who draw time from Iraq with their reasons for choosing rock hounding is their hobby to most haven't.

This is a leisure time activity. Many of these people are retired but many others who are employed during the day find it a change of pace and a relaxing after hours activity in accordance with recent figures. Nearly half of all rock rounds are over the age of 50. One fourth of them are under 20. It's a hobby that has an appeal for all ages. Although rock hounding can be a most inexpensive hobby it also can involve a considerable investment as these people collectively invest millions of dollars each year in camping equipment hobby equipment and special clothing to protect themselves in their workshops and on field trips. Some collectors even find it necessary to have their houses enlarged to make room for more rock. It's a hobby which requires very little preparation in the beginning. Those who are non professionals do not necessarily need more than the basic required school knowledge

of chemistry physics or geometry. But as their interest grows they purchased many books use public library facilities and attend night school classes in order to learn more about such things as mineralogy crystallography jam cutting and paleontology. They learn the basic test for certain minerals according to John White during your museum specialist in the division of mineralogy at the Smithsonian Institution. This knowledge is fundamental and should be one of the first steps to becoming a rockhound. 2 Are people going to rock your own court. Unfortunate. Simple rather simple task in this case Court. Is known. To not possess the property of cleavage as when it's broken with a hammer it doesn't break along smooth flat

plains it breaks irregularly so that the fragments are very uneven in shape and very often sharp edged whereas calcite possesses the cleavage property in three directions and so when a piece of calcite is broken the fragments will assume the shape of a ROM. R h o m b. And all the other my other test CTS is quite hard. And cannot be scratched with a needle. Or a penknife. Calcite on the other and may be readily scratched with a needle calcite effervescent as it bubbles rigorously with dilute hydrochloric acid. If you place a drop on. Yeah on cow side. And of course it doesn't react at all to any US and except for Florida which And I would recommend anyone.

Handling with or experience using a national identification of a piece of stone is essential not only to the mineral collector but to the hobbyist who has chosen the lapidary phase of rock hounding for his special interest like Wired amps and was employed as an accountant and who spends his evening time making jewelry. Beginning with the rough stone slab being it and then doing the intricate work required to make a pendant or bracelet to him. Each stone is a challenge. Well it's always a challenge to take a rough don't. Cut it open and. See what kind. Of pattern and then go from there on to. Polishing the stone and mounting you know. Your way and you never know what you're going to come up with. And. A lot of. The most beautiful stones are found right in your backyard so to speak. You don't have to come from India

or South America. Beautiful Door can be made in a backyard like plant flat rock. From the creek beds in the neighborhood. Of course. Think of. The challenge of a stone is not new to Mr. Anderson. It began for him when he was at an early age. But he's a relative newcomer to the round of the Rocky Mountains where I been interested in Iraq from. About a year ago I came out the rock found show here at the museum. And. That store gave me the fever. So to speak and. Almost immediately. Bought some machine and. Began work right away. And. Went on from there. Rock Band fever strikes quickly and it can consume much time. It's

drips and spends a great deal of his leisure time in his workshop grinding and polishing nearly every evening. About two hours a night watch for four nights a week. Eight to ten hours a week. From my. 8 to 10 hours a week of how the time would be a luxury to most young mothers. They say they have no extra time for any kind of a hobby. How can they pursue any leisure time activity when so much of every 24 hours is devoted to driving children to school taking them to lessons and to meetings. Delores Gurley found that without realizing it she was combining transportation duties with rock hounding. Her that she was going to be and you know nothing of that. When you joined the rock.

Into. The army. Fossil expert in rock collector Bill Mangan who was in the printing business also first became a rockhound because of his children. The children then outgrew it. But he took over where they left off. Well I've been a rock out about that when I get into the minerals and I like it for it. I've enjoyed Sharon and I have to Him our own. And I started out and I grew out of the habit. Of wanting to collect and want to start a new thing. What I did. I really enjoyed. And I'm continuing it and now one day every year Mr. Mangan takes over at the school which is children formally attended for charity purposes. He sets up his own camping tent at the school carnival. Inside the tent

he has his display of rocks minerals and fossils. A small admission fee is charged with the proceeds going to PTA. I do it as a hobby and I enjoy it very much and that they'd be a if they asked me to show they have. And we charge a day I mean we gave you right away it is you me and all your damn. It if like it's here to help the beat. Yeah. And I have many of them. And they all displayed and most on my name where you can say you can ever want to very plain and very you think. Why do they have not named Howard you know that I can. Mr. Manders why Francis enjoys another phrase of rock hounding. She takes over her husband leaves off by making jewelry from the stones he collects and these are displayed in the tent at the school carnival also. After all if you can't put in the locket whatever you have made of your ring but don't let it ring right man. But

I it and we have but not welcome you know it's just wrong and you know I haven't read all of them thank them and we really enjoy a lot in the here and lot of them but they really mean something different. And. They have used them the life you know. You know it was really a. Rockhound favor maybe passed along from one member of the family to another and another and then again it strikes the family as a whole especially where Field trips are involved. Kathleen Powell who was employed as a secretary. Her husband who is an artist and their four children looked forward to every trip for a fellowship and recreation. I think it gives us a chance to get out with the family we get to go do things together we get to meet families from their different walks of life

where we get to. It encourages fellowship and friendship with people that we would not have any contact with that screw church and we have found that when we go from one trip and then we come back and get ready to go on another one at children. Wavin feel that they've made an opening and I've seen no Prin began so that we feel that that has been rich experience for our children by getting to the brain. But I think it's AFAIK it's very good for the children by get the atmosphere and I think it's. Relaxing for the adults as well. Children make friends with others of their own age and they have a wholesome and pleasant association with adults. It's not at all unusual to see a crowd of youngsters gathered around the back of Dot and Paul Crawford station wagon. The children are waiting for handouts in the form of excess rocks which the Crawfords have acquired and which they enjoy sharing with these children.

We pick up a lot of them. We enjoy sharing it with others particularly children and we also take what can be used for their own needs and we try to share with them as much as possible. That's a good place for it to go and we find that a lot of children are interested too and we get a lot of fun out of children who are interested. We like to order and it reeks of cereal to. Find one interested in something like that. That was Dot Crawford her husband Paul is employed by the Tennessee Valley Authority on field trips a lot of rocks are picked up by children and adults as well. Housewife brightest bash rarely misses one of these opportunities to add to her collection. Everyone that I can. I wouldn't miss one thing all of them. She's a rock hound because she likes attractive rocks. However she's aware of the fact that some study is necessary to make it really interesting. Because I like pretty rocks I give. I have liked them all

my life and I just now have realized that I have to study to learn more about them. And I cannot scrape this all. So it's not dark iron ore that showing up rust on the top of a another mineral. Mineral is hard enough or can scratch it with a man. The reasons for drawing charm from a rock are many the challenge of necessity for accompanying children in their activities. The fulfillment of a certain desire to do something out of a philanthropic nature. Relaxation exercise fresh air companionship a chance to study and learn more. Get close to nature. But most of these qualities could be found in any hobby. What is the never ending fascination and the intrigue possessed by rocks to cleave Satterfield manager of the carpet section in a department store. Every rock is distinct and individual and there's one for every person on earth. There's no two of them exactly alike.

Everyone is different and if you have it all and you know then you can cut it in polish it and get it different no words each one comes out different it has a different picture and you can get different pictures that we tried but you couldn't you look for certain I guess a certain picture interrupt I know I've always looked for certain that you didn't and I knew one man event is an issue and actually you know right in the center of Iraq but it was these three and that you know all three and they were all perfect and I guess that's what really got me started is trying to find my me so I got a rock from where they said that it's one for everyone. I think if it. Rock on there or somewhere. But I want to mention. It cut the right wing I cut it one way. And you got nothing. When he turned it round when he said why he didn't know when he turned it across and kind of not going to get it for you mention.

Mr. Satterfield has been looking for quite some time now but he hasn't drawn his own three initials yet. I'm fancy me and I never planned any two together. And saying Oh let me. But not everyone on a field trip is looking for his own individual rock with his initials on it and not everyone shares this fascination with rocks. Some say it just just hasn't hit them yet. But even the people who are not so enthusiastic go along on the trips. Sometimes they furnish transportation. Sometimes they take pictures and frequently even for them a day spent on a field trip is not a complete loss. There's always the unexpected happening such as waiting in a stream and suddenly coming upon a snake and the opportunity for a picture. Do that right. Yeah.

I'm going. To have a trial date. You know I want you I want for you that I mean you know. OK. Robert was right the way the snake was small nonpoisonous him quite harmless snakes don't often interfere with the rock hounds. According to Cleve Satterfield. I think one time we uncovered one little bad snake but I mean that's been years ago. Thank goodness. And very seldom of everything really. Thank you nothing last night and I would have thought. I never had any trouble with the thing. Makes you think you're going to do WE are they and I think snakes rocks and children wearing Frank Buck hats. We're all part of some of the California safaris which Mr. Satterfield took part in before he moved to Tennessee.

When we come so far and I think a lot of them but you know I think that you know. Field trips. On some of the island field trip that ever. They got it so far the kids especially they love to call it going on a safari and they get there. But Rogers I mean Frank didn't go out in the desert and go up on the bicycle. Well they've a lot of them out there that have farms or big areas you know that you can pay. Don had $2 to go in and stay two three hours or all day and someone charge you by the pound when you come out some way to plant but what if you bring that you bring up in the thing you find and you can find all kinds of even diamonds and things like that if I get what I want. Well you see from babes in arms just large enough to walk right around and they're picking up rugs just like mother and dad and grandmother and grandfather and then you have the people that are in their 80s that are doing the same thing. So I don't think there's any

age limit to it and I think they all enjoy it and I went to court side one time and I believe they tried this seven and a half that he had but they'd furnish thing and all the digging equipment everything to his way back up in the he of oh we got some of the most beautiful specimens you've ever seen in your life. A field trip is said to be the most popular way for the rock collector to acquire specimens purchasing is next in popularity and try to sell is that regardless of how the specimens are obtained they are worthless unless they are recorded and catalogued. Four hundred and thirty five different minerals are represented in the collection of Larry Christodoulou a high school senior who is preparing for a career in geology. To him learning and remembering the names of the minerals is mainly a matter of memory work. One way to learn about our master. Came. From messing with him. There you know just generally about what you're doing.

It drives. Most of this is just remember work. There's a difference between that and you're going to do something. In many regards and. This is a hobby and a building and a Christian. I love to do it. It really doesn't take that much. Brain work because for you if you keep working rhythm you're going to learn more and more. And just gets in serious rock hounding does involve hard work and study and much time. But it seems to be time enjoyably spent. There is one characteristic that all rock hands having come and they are extremely enthusiastic and when they're tracking down a rare treasure Nothing discourages them or holds him back. Not even a swarm of wasps which Larry and his father encountered. Well. It really was about two years ago. We went over North Carolina. It's pretty. Rare. During that Internet hammer went up to one. I ever met him.

It had been closed down for several years. And. Would picked up a specimen and start writing. And we were picked up the specimen where. Muscovite found along the dyke together and what happened specimens for most. Of the specimen of the half of woods. But. I'm. Not a father goes into this. Office and. Following. All of a sudden about forty was lost for this. And we have to run while there are any of us to crawl back and get on. But. You have to ask yourself what is best worth it. So we asked the. Doctor. Of mineralogy and he said that. It's in the sectional specimen. They don't usually occur that way. And he said it probably was worth it. He gets. Eight cans and I got. About four. That was Larry Christodoulou who is president of the Middle Tennessee rockhound. His father Nicholas Christodoulou is one of the founders of this club which is now two years old

and has a hundred members. This is only one of more than 12 hundred clubs throughout the nation. In many ways it is typical of any one of these twelve hundred. Each club of course has its own distinction because of geographical location personnel and purpose. Some clubs are affiliated with national federations and others are not. Well the National Association. Includes such federations as the California Federation the Northwestern Federation the Rocky Mountain Federation Texas Federation and eastern Federation. There are also federations for professional people such as American mineralogical society. And the Geological Society of America. So for. Most of your professional organization and don't allow amateurs to belong when they do become professionals and are eligible to. Petition any professional group for

affiliation with them a lot of your amateur groups so do have professionals that don't render a lot of assistance to the local clubs and to the regional federations. In our own case here in our own club. We have several. Professional geologists that belong to and have done an awful lot of work in helping us to put this club together. Our club was organized two years ago at the moment we have 100 members of this club. They range in ages from 6 to 60 and they range from amateurs to professionals we have a dean of engineering and Vanderbilt University that's a member of their board of directors we have a doctor of mineralogy an event to be a geology school. It's also a member of our board of directors. We have about six professional geologists who reside in this area that are members of our club. And they have provided professional assistance to us. We

have business people in all walks of life we have several doctors several lawyers. We have several schoolteachers. We have two or three people that are in a printing profession. We have. A staff member from the Dupont. Plant here in Nashville we have representatives from the Ford glass plant here that are also members of our club. And it's a diversified group of people. I would like to think that our club was unique in one respect in that we are affiliated with one of the finest museums in the United States more specifically the Children's Museum here at Nashville. For the most part clubs and I have knowledge of a bar affiliated with various organizations such as your Eastern Federation or your Western Federation. We even discussed this point in our own club wanted to affiliate with one of the national groups and for the present time our club has gone on record to

not affiliated with a national group but rather to help build up our club from the museum standpoint and if an individual members want to belong to a federation group they can do so on their own. Like many other clubs the Middle Tennessee rock bands have their own membership Codd. Yes we have a membership card which we like to think is quite unique. We're located in a very. Desirable fossil collecting area there's been a lot of beautiful trial about it's been found here in the middle Tennessee area. And we're fortunate enough to have a staff artist from the Baptist Sunday school board game of Thou who did a graphic art work on our card and a card turned out so beautiful that we have adopted a design as our club emblem and. Well on all the signs advertising the show were even at the point of having a banner a flag made a symbolic over Club emblem but the members of rock clubs from other

parts United States who have had occasion to see our membership card of absolutely mint floored with the beautiful work that Kim did in designing this garden. We have the outline of the state of Tennessee superimposed over it traveled by And in the center of the outline of the state of Tennessee we have the middle Tennessee Rocky Mountains and at the bottom we have sponsored by the children of bees in here a nation. The artwork on the club membership card in the club stationery and the handbag down on the club banner has all been done by volunteer happenings. This is all volunteer work we like to feel that our club is unique in this respect too that we're not in the business to make money with this group. We like to feel that we're in the business to further the education. Young minds that is young children in elementary school grade although they are adults they get a lot out of this. I think that they get some

education out of the book because we are an educated know group. We're not concentrating on making any money now they are some rock clubs who do good on various projects for the purpose of making money and they buy equipment with their money and pay for. Trips to some of your regional rock shows and stuff like that. But we haven't gotten into that yet so. At the moment we're strictly an educational group. Fact is Mr. Nicholas Christodoulou one of the founders of the Middle Tennessee rock hounds of Nashville Tennessee club activities are different in each part of the country and those who are members are the no rock bands. But for every member of some organized group there is at least one enthusiast who does not belong to any organization. All of these individuals find enjoyment and fulfillment in some form of rock hounding regardless of their ages where they live what their occupations are what their reasons are for pursuing this

hobby or whether or not they belong to any club. These are the people who draw time from Iraq. This has been another in a series of programs exploring the world of the rock out. The narrator was Len for this series is produced by the service of the public library of Nashville and Davidson County in Nashville Tennessee. Next week Mrs. folk will discuss the fascinating aspects of this hobby and a program entitled What hammer saw and collecting bag. This is Charles Mitchell. This is the national educational radio network.