GMS Junior Field Trip

GMS Junior Field Trip
Quartz Crystals in Georgia
Saturday, November 5, 2016

Juniors had a big day collecting quartz crystals. There were plenty of adults on hand to do the hard work. Juniors waited for shovels of dirt to turn over so they could look for crystals. Some juniors used screens to break and shake away the red clay, then extract the crystals.

Charles brought the club's big plastic tray and Juergen Poppelreuter brought big jugs of water. When it was time to wash screens of crystals, Charles and Juergen filled the tray with water, then juniors washed away. It worked very well, so we saw some really pretty crystals come out.

Juergen also brought a fantastic tool called a broad fork. It made quick work of moving large clods of dirt for everyone to look through. Diana Poppelreuter brought egg cartons for the juniors to put their crystals in (plus fresh baked oatmeal raisin cookies -- yay!)

Charles brought a cabbing unit and polished crystals so they would stand up nicely. I think everyone got several nice crystals and we all had a great time. Plus, there were plenty of extra crystals for grab bags!

Thanks to Mary Gurney, Junior Section Chair, everyone signed a thank you card that the property owner was thrilled to receive. Many thanks to Diana and Juergen for being so helpful. They really made the trip even better than we expected. And of course, we cannot thank the property owners enough for inviting juniors to collect quartz crystals. They were incredibly gracious and everyone is looking forward to the next trip there!

Lori Carter
On behalf of Charles Carter, GMS Field Trip Chair
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