About the lone pine gem and mineral society
Lone Pine Gem and Mineral Society (LPGMS) was founded in April of 1997 and is affiliated with the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies. As a club we meet on the first Monday of every month at the Lions Club building (behind McDonald's and next to the VFW) at 6:30 PM. We have a great attendance and our meetings are fun and lively with lots of show and tell, specimen identification (also know as "Ask The Experts"), great door prizes, fun raffle prizes donated by club members, and usually a program. We also discuss the month's field trip and planning future field trips. The Lone Pine Gem and Mineral Society normally has a field trip each month, typically on the 3rd Sunday. Most of the field trips are in the local area though occasionally there are overnight collecting trips. The winters find us at lower levels while we escape to higher country in the heat of the desert summer.
What to do with those finds? The LPGMS has its own lapidary shop for the use of the members. Each month on second Monday the LPGMS lapidary shop is opens at 6:30 pm . That night we have skilled members willing to help members with their projects on our equipment, which includes of a 6", 8", 14" and 24" rock saws, a 6" flat lap, a ring saw and a couple of Genie Polishers. We also will be doing programs on soap stone carving, wire wrapping, beading and silversmithing. We also have access to a fused glass and lamp work bead shop which, while privately owned by one of our members, is available with reservation. You can even receive training - the first lesson, is free! See local specimens at Lone Pine Rock and Gift shop, where we have a club specimen show case.
Each summer we have a potluck BBQ and another potluck dinner for Christmas. At all our club functions we have a raffle, auction, or a silent auction. At the Christmas potluck dinner we have an inexpensive, rock-related gift exchange with a twist. Please visit our "Events" page to get dates and find out more information about any of our yearly get-togethers.