Grand Traverse Area Rock and Mineral Club, Traverse City, Michigan
CLUB INFORMATION
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OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD AT 7:00 P.M. ON TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2010. Two medium length programs on Arkansas rock and mineral
hunting will be presented. The first will be about quartz crystal hunting near Hot Springs and the second on Crater of Diamonds State
Park in Murfreesboro.
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HERE ARE SOME FAVORITE COLLECTING SITES IN THIS AREA
Christmas Cove - Northport - A great spot for Petoskey stones along with rocks brought by the
glaciers from Canada.
Peterson Park - North of Northport - Another good bet for Petoskey stones including some large ones.
Leland - Both north and south of the marina. If going south, walk to Whaleback Point for a larger
concentration of stones of all types. North of the marina there are alternating areas of sand and stone littered beaches.
Petoskey stones, various fossils and Leland Blue are some of the treasures found here.
Many beaches from Elk Rapids to Petoskey are good places for Petoskey stones and fossils including: Barnes Park
in Eastport, Norwood and Atwood.
In Petoskey, there are many spots around Little Traverse Bay including the State Park and several City Parks. One place
worth checking is behind the Glen's Market at the North end of Petoskey. Take the street just south of
the shopping plaza to the small parking lot by the paved walking trail. The rocky shore just down the small hill has
yielded many Petoskey stones.
These are some of the most famous spots but keep your eyes open all around the area. Rocky road cuts through glacial
till, construction sites, road sides, inland lakes and parking lots are other areas with less hunting pressure that can
surprise, with Petoskeys and fossils, the rare, occasional agate and other rocks from Canada and the U.P. left by glaciers.
The many gravel and borrow pits can be lucky spots but make sure you get the owner's permission for these and any other
sites on private property.
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GTARMC NAME BADGES AVAILABLE
If you need a GTARMC name badge, see John Matz. For a $5.00 deposit, you can get a name badge so everybody will know your
name. If you ever decide to leave the club, just turn in your badge and get your $5.00 back.
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USE OF CLUB EQUIPMENT ROOM
During the hours that the Grand Traverse Heritage Center is open, club members can use the equipment room for creating
cabochons. During most of the year, the Center is open from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Two members that have taken the cabochon
class must be present for safety purposes. You must sign in at the front desk, get a key and must quit work by 4:30 pm to allow
clean-up time before the Heritage Center closes. During the summer hours, the Center is also open on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m. Arrangements sometimes can be made during off hours to get a key from a club "keeper of the key", provided the Heritage
Center does not have an activity planned in the adjacent room. There is a $2.00 fee per use to offset some of the equipment
maintenance costs.
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CLUB OFFICERS 2010
Russ Barron, President
Lauren Vaughn, Vice President
Dave Perry, Secretary
Karen Thomas, Treasurer
OTHER VOLUNTEERS
Carol Towar, Newsletter
Dutch Zonderman, Education
Tom Fordyce, Club Show
Lauren Vaughn, Website
Charlie Baumann, Reporter
Alice Hauser, Photographer
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Be sure to check the calendar
and the GTARMC newsletter for more information!
