[Rockhounds] Garza update (with a kind of an ad)

[Alan Goldstein]

Dee tells me that Steve has been tackling the unlabeled specimens again. It's good to see his enthusiasm return, even if for brief intervals. Living in isolation in the country, they've had minimal contact with folks this year.

We are going to have an "open yard" (instead of an open house) at the Garza place near Corydon, Indiana on October 3. It can be safely done with minimal human contact / social distancing protocols. If you are interested in coming, contact me directly - not the group. Ditto if you have any requests.

I continue to "mine" Steve's garage. Plowing through big (heavy) boxes, I've organized minerals from New Britain, Connecticut, Conklin Quarry in Rhode Island, Indiana's Corydon Quarry, and Franklin - Sterling Hill fluorescents. But the fun is in the boxes with random minerals. The latest has a few labels dating to 1939 - 1943. Unfortunately, most are unlabeled, but have some characteristics to allow ID. (For example, a few galena xls. from the Joplin Missouri area, for example.) I have not created lists as I work through stuff quickly and return cleaned, sorted, and labeled about 50 flats to the Garza garage for incorporation into the greater inventory. As temperatures cool, I'll go back to making lists. I've also organized hundreds of stray original dealer/collector labels in hopes of matching some of them to current specimens.

In early October, I'm going to take some vacation time to actually go collecting in places OTHER than Steve's garage!

Regards,
Alan G.