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Our annual rock auction was a huge success. I wanted to thank everyone and their generosity at Friday's club auction. It was a great turnout, with over 35 people present. Perhaps next year, we will rent out another space at the Tett, as the room was a bit crowded. club newsSunday open shop will be closed April 30 as an intermediate class is underway from10-4pm
We still have lots of open spots in Heather Kushum's sessions Saturday May 13 in the Activity room at the Tett. These are open to everyone, with no experience necessary and a great activity for Mother's day weekend. Cost is by donation. The sessions are 10-12 - learn chain maille, 1-2 and 2-3 learn wire wrapped rings. Just email me back to register your spot. If you want to receive free instruction on proper use of the flex shaft, Janet Ross is providing one hour sessions Friday May 26, June 2 and June 9 from 3-4pm. As well she has created an awesome resource on our website www.mineralclub.ca. Just go to the resources tab and select "How to Use the Flex shaft" Gem Storm is fast approaching. Please block out your calendars - June 17-18 for this awesome weekend. Shortly I will be emailing everyone, looking for members who want to sell their handmade creations. We only ask that you volunteer your time at the show. Details to follow. We as well need lots of volunteers to help make the show a success. This year is exciting as it will be twice as large with many new dealers. Many of our members will have a table and will be selling their creations. To advertise the show, look for a banner on the side of the Cataraqui Arena, Mid May to Mid June. As well we will have 30 second ads on CKWS the week before Gem Storm during news hour. 93.5 will be doing a live feed from the show,Saturday 1-4 pm. This is in addition to our normal radio and newspaper ads. Did you know that we are offering $1 off coupons on our website for Gem Storm. Spread the word to your friends and family. One of our members, Dwayne has donated a huge bad of carbon steel shot for tumbling silver. Unfortunately it will rust if not handled properly. It is free for you to take home, the next time you are in the shop. Just ask the instructor and bring a plastic container to hold it. If there is rust on the shot, I would suggest using CLR to clean it first. After tumbling and during storage to prevent rust, I would suggest keeping it covered with about 1 inch of water mixed with Dawn or ivory soap. Use lots of soap and shake to mix well. Another thought would be just to keep it in the CLR solution during storage. . No guarantees and if you find a solution that works, please share the information. Our janitor, Wayne, who has been cleaning the shop once a week for years now, would like to retire. I need to find a volunteer who would like to take over the reins so to speak. Wayne comes in once a week to vacuum and mop the floor and to take the garbage down to the garbage room. If you would like to take on this position, please email me back. Last but not least, we are looking for a volunteer who would like to train to be the Chairman for Gem Storm for next year. If you are interested, please email or call me at 613-384-4439. This is a very rewarding position but one that requires commitment and a significant amount of dedicated time.
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KLMC – 2016 in review Our events and highlights for 2016 * Our club members in collaboration with the Weavers and Potters took part in the Art Expo event for Mother’s Day weekend * Based on discussions from the Potter’s guild, we decided to have our first “Metal Rocks Sale” in November, the same weekend as Potter’s sale. We had over 500 visitors to our event in the activity room. We had 18 members participate to sell their creations. Discussions will continue in 2017 to hopefully make this an annual event. It is such an excellent opportunity for members to meet with the public, sell their creations and receive encouragement to continue using their creative talent. * We participated in Summer Camp, which because of limited enrollment was only a ½ day commitment over the 2 weeks. It continues to prove an excellent way for junior club members to earn volunteer hours and gain experience in interacting with others * We participated in Culture days, by having an open studio with members demonstrating what is done at the club * Our annual show and sale had its last year at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour. We are changing to a new venue – Cataraqui Arena and a new time – Father’s Day weekend in June. With this new venue, we will be able to have more members have booths at the show. * We began using Facebook to advertise our events. This is a learning curve that made us realize what opportunities there are to reach the public about our club and its events. As a result, we realized that our website and club logo were very outdated. A group of members met and created our new modern logo. Another member volunteered to create a new website, which should be live early January. * Our junior club needed to be revamped, as our instructor was unable to continue for medical reasons. To reduce the time commitment required, we used the talents of 4 members to teach various courses for the junior members. They will now learn mineral and fossil identification and a variety of Jewellery techniques throughout the year * Our Beginner Silversmithing Course continues to prove very popular. The classes are generally full within a few days of posting the available course dates. We couldn’t offer this course without our volunteer instructors. Being at the Tett Centre and hosting our annual shows and sales has really increased the public’s awareness of our club. These courses run from January through early June, then September through early December. Once members have taken the beginner course, they are then able to sign up for a wide variety of experienced courses. These change each year but in 2016 we offered enameling, polymer clay, wire weaving, spinning rings, wax casting and Precious Metal Clay, Etching, Rivets, Fold forming, Resin and an intermediate course. * We added more open shop time in 2016 which turned out to be very successful. We added Sunday afternoons, Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday mornings. * Our field trips continued throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall. With the CCFMS organization that we belong to members are allowed to participate in other club’s field trips. This is proving to be very beneficial for all clubs concerned. There is a greater turn out for collecting and a greater variety. of trips to choose for the members. Upcoming for 2017 * Our club will have a new website which is more interactive. We will be discontinuing our newsletter as most members have email and receive information and news as it occurs. The website will also have this information. For those few members with no internet access, we will send out a simplified newsletter for event and field trip notification. * We will be working in conjunction with the Tett to offer a Senior tasting course which teaches lapidary skills, summer camp, culture days etc. * We will be planning for our annual show, now being held in June. This is a new venue with a larger capacity for vendors and new advertising challenges. * We will continue with all current activities ie silversmithing, lapidary, field trips, junior programs, Friday evening meetings. * We will be planning for a members only November show, Metal Rocks, at the Tett, in conjunction with the Potter’s show.
At our upcoming AGM meeting to be held in March, we will need to elect 4 executive positions. Our current members in those positions have agreed to remain but if any member would like to be elected for a position on the executive, please submit your nomination for election to the club's secretary, Wendy Dawes by February 28, 2017. Gem Storm planning for 2017 is underway. This year we will be expanding our number of dealers as our new venue at the Cataraqui Arena has double the floor space.
If you would like a table, please contact Les or Eileen Moss at emoss@cogeco.ca
Thank you Santa for making time in your busy schedule to hand out gifts. The beaded snowflakes that the Juniors made were a huge hit! Metal Rocks, our first annual November show was held the same weekend as the Potter;s show. We had it in the Activity room on the first floor of the Tett. Eighteen members had tables for the 2-day show. We had over 500 visitors to the show. What a great way to showcase our club and what talented members we have. We hope to make this an annual event, especially since Gem Storm will be moving to Father's Day weekend in June. As to our executives for the year, Sheila Hutchinson, our editor, has stepped down. Thank you so much Sheila for the excellent newsletters you have created over the years. I have advertised this position but have had no volunteers. It was time for a change. Over the years, a newsletter was essential for communication but in today's era of instant communication through texting, email and Facebook messages, this is no longer true. Approximately 99% of our members have email and as courses and events are planned, the information is sent out through email and Facebook messages. So my question was why are we still continuing with a newsletter?
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AuthorEileen Moss Archives
February 2019
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