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John S. White
Site Admin
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1295
Location: Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, USA
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 Posted: Aug 14, 2009 04:45 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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Gail and Jim
Extraordinary effort, I can't even begin to think of how much time, dedication and just plain hard work went into making this happen. You and the Oboddas have set a standard that will be very difficult for anyone to match or even come close to. And it is great for the hobby, wonderful to see two people so much in love with minerals.
How about a close-up of at least one of the case labels ("mineral descriptions")?
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John S. White
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 09:25 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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We saved the case labels, so will photo one to show you.
And, thanks John...we were near your home area at one point and thought about calling you to see if you could join us for breakfast...on a lark.
I had hoped we might see you in Springfield, ah well...perhaps Denver?
Next year is Bill Larson for the guest exhibitor, and I think I heard Scott Rudolph mention he would be interested in displaying sometime too.
We knew the Oboddas were a tough act to follow, their eye for display is unsurpassed.
So, we just did it our way and only hope that people enjoyed them.
I am still unpacking clothes and supplies, let alone minerals. Having to mow a few pastures when I got home took a bit of my recovery time, but I am always very happy to be outside and working on the property, it truly does give me a sense of accomplishment. I sat back on the mower, watched our goats frolick, play and graze and found myself sighing...slowly letting all the tension out. It has been a very busy past few weeks. My hope is that all the minerals made it home without damage, keeping my fingers crossed!
Always a pleasure to hear from you John. My love to Merle and your pup!
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 09:35 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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| Some of the audience for our talk on how couples can, and DO, happily collect together. |
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| Me with a chat room mineral friend, from Mindat. Rachel. |
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| Rach and her husband, she is a regular on the Mindat chatroom. Super nice couple!!!!! |
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| Cindy and her husband, Victor. She was the "official" show photographer often taking photos of the various activities. |
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| Jim and me with Bob, Sara and Jessica. We are one of many mineral folks that are mentoring Jessica. Her family is very supportive of her choice of hobby. |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 09:41 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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One of the things we enjoyed so much during the show were the tours we had been asked to give prior to arriving.
Jim's sister is involved with the Syracuse gem and mineral group and they chartered a bus to come to the show.
We walked them around from case to case and both Jim and I talked about the minerals.
We gave early ( Pre opening time hours ) to dealers who had no chance to come see the exhibit during the regular hours too. And, we loved giving a tour for our club, the Connecticut Valley Mineral Club.
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| Enjoying a tour of our exhibit with running commentary from both Jim and me. |
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| Syracuse, NY club enjoying a private tour. |
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| Some of the Syracuse gem and mineral society folks listening to Jim talk about a case of our minerals. |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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John S. White
Site Admin
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1295
Location: Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, USA
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 13:33 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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Cindy's husband's name is Victor, a very good friend and a terrific guy!
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I can always count on you John, you know everyone. I have made the correction above. Thanks! Gail
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John S. White
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 17:04 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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Marty and Rose Zinn announced that 3077 attendees came the Friday and that 3158 came on the Saturday, not sure about Sunday but it seemed pretty busy and I would imagine the numbers were greater.
There are two sides to this show, the Wholesale...which is cordoned off and is as large as the main show...and the Main show for retail. The exhibit was in the Retail section.
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| John and John kicking back and chatting during the main show. |
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| Mike Bergmann and Jim Spann |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 17:15 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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Dave Bunk, Carl Francis and Jim Spann decide to test, under the cover of darkness, a mineral we believe is beryl and Dave felt it might actually be an Apatite...so Dave and Jim crawled under the table by Marilyn Dodge's feet and proceeded to pull out black lights etc. There was much teasing going on and I asked Dave what it was, exactly, that he was doing with my husband under there?
Too fun!!! Oh, it did not fluoresce.
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| Carl Francis, Harvard Museum, is talking to Jim about this Erongo Beryl var. Aquamarine we own and how it is very unusual. Dave Bunk swears it was an Apatite so the test began..... |
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| Dave Bunk and My husband, Jim, hiding under this cover with a black light trying to determine if it's apatite or beryl. We were all laughing. |
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| There's Jim crawling out from under the table as we ask him WHY he was in there with Dave Bunk????? ha ha. |
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| Dave Bunk comes out from under the cover and took some serious teasing! |
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| My usual "Look who I'm standing next to!" face. Mario Pauwels. |
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| Bill Severance and Jim looking at a new addition to our collection. |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 20:08 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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As many of you know it is very much about the people too. We go to quite a few shows each year and run into the traveling crowd quite often so we enjoy many dinners, glasses of wine, good laughter and hugs. The community of mineral enthusiasts is such a joy to associate with.
And, yes, there are the minerals too!
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| Our wonderful son, Tom, and Jim kicking back in the RV for a few minutes of down time. |
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| Carl Francis enjoying one of our China cases. |
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| Our 884 mine calcite from China. We were really pleased when Carl Francis said it was a piece he really appreciated. We call it the Mercedes Benz calcite. ( It has that Mercedes symbol look. ) |
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| One of the security gents that really took an interest in minerals and asked a lot of questions. Later I heard him telling others about some of what he learned..and the big wheels keep on turning...Education and communication are the key to the continuation of this hobby/business. |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 20:11 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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...
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| Our nephew, Glendon, is an incredible young artist and brought along some of his work to show us. We encourage all our youngsters to learn about art. This is a really well done self portrait. |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 20:19 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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Please forgive me if I repeat photos...as I have stated below I took many and sometimes the lighting, or the camera, makes a difference.
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| China, slightly different lighting than the previous shots I have posted. |
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| I know I am repeating some cases, but the various photos have different lighting and I wanted to post them again. China. |
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| This lovely penetrating twin Fluorite always makes me catch my breath. |
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| A better view of our first cabinet in the line...China. |
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| This is the PIE MAN! Lee Champigny of the Connecticut Valley Mineral Club. We hadn't time to pick up our rental car while there and this man handed me the keys to his car so we could go to dinner with our family. Big hugs to Lee!!! |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 20:25 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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More minerals from the Spann collection.
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| Keith Williams, who is our home cabinet maker, checking out some fine minerals...some of which we also bought from him. |
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| One of my favourite cases on display. These are a few of the pieces from the Texas Collector supplement of the Mineralogical Record that came out in January, 2009. |
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| My wonderful "Propeller" aquamarine in the front. Pakistan. |
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| Afghan bubble gum coloured tourmaline. Fred Wilda did an amazing original painting of this piece I will show shortly. |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 20:30 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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Some familiar faces.
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| Maryanne Fender, a fellow MAD member. She and her husband are dealers from Dallas, but also good friends. |
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| I caught John as he turned and got this great shot! John Fender is a member of our MAD group and a dealer at the show. They live not far from us in Dallas. |
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| There's that big old Oak Stone to the back left. I hope to go to Arbor Low to see the ruins and learn about these fabulous barytes. |
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| Oddysey of a mineral , John Barlow's story on page 14,15 and 16 of his book. Hiddenites on display with a signed card from William E. Hidden....quite a treasure! |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 20:36 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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More friends...
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| Chris Hughes of Wright's rock shop. |
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| Always fun to visit with the "boys" at Wright's rock shop. |
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| Jim, Diana and Dan Weinrich. We hardly got to visit with these two, some of our favourite friends. |
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| The Arkenstone of Dallas. We are fortunate to have Rob and his crew nearby. |
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| Jim and a fellow he was enjoying some banter with. I took the photo but cannot recall the man's name. Anyone know this very fine gentleman? |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 20:41 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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Mineral Art, the original way to keep a visual record of minerals.
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| Our "bubble gum" tourmaline, Afghan I mentioned earlier. Original painting by Fred Wilda. |
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| Our Red Beryl and our Guerrero Amethyst Quartz paintings. |
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| I love this photo I took of Fred Wilda. And he did three originals for us that we saw for the first time at the show, WOW. |
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| Helen, Fred and their family. These are the lovliest people!!!!! |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 20:48 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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...
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| Jeff Morrison came by to introduce himself and I got this photo next to the New England case. Jeff hails from Maine. |
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| Terry with Wendy Melanson |
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| Stuart Wilensky and John Trinchillo |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 14, 2009 20:55 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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...
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| Mark Mauthner, Carl Francis and Jim Spann |
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| Jim, his Dad, our son Tom and Jim's Mom. |
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| Irv Brown and Tom Spann, they are partnered in a new mineral dealership. |
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| Jim Mann and Jim Spann...( say that fast ten times! ) We bought an exquisite purple miniature apatite that was just dug in the last two weeks. We met Jim at Rochester. |
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| Later on I got to work this booth as Terry went to lunch and I made two sales! woo hoo! |
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| One of our nephews with JIm's sister. They drove in from Syracuse to see us and our collection. |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 15, 2009 13:49 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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...
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| We ate on the grounds of the Big E which is a remarkable exposition area with many wonderful buildings, etc. Here are some of the flowers that abound. |
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| We had lunch with Carl Francis and on the way back he was enjoying the cool breezes and holding out his arms, but I thought this photo looked like he was parting the cars with his mighty hands! |
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| Not sure who the fellow on the left is, but this is Nathan King, Van King and Wayne Corwin aka known as Diggums on Mindat chat. |
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_________________
Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 15, 2009 13:53 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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Speaking of lunch with Carl, we enjoyed escaping to go eat at a wonderful restaurant there. On they way to, and from, I got some great photos while we walked about.
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| Some of the Amish that were milling about and enjoying some outdoor classroom time. |
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| A unique old style garden. |
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_________________
Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 15, 2009 13:59 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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The restaurant was in the grounds of the Big E as it is called, this is also where the Better living center is which hosts the show. An amazing huge facility! There were horse shows going on as well.
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| One of the many buildings in the compound. |
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| Carl is just a delightful man to visit with. |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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| Posted: Aug 15, 2009 14:04 Post subject: Re: Preparing to display at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show 2009 |
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...Many buildings are noted as from each New England state, here is the "Vermont" building, beautiful.
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| A typical New England church steeple. |
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| Sigh, I miss birch trees and their glorious bark. I grew up in Massachusetts and truly loved them as a kid. |
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| We were tourists alright! |
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Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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