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Our names are Jay & Dianne and we live in N.E. Ohio. Between us, we have 5 children, 3 dogs, 1 hampster and some big fish. The family page is Here. I (Jay) was first bitten by the rock bug when my wife brought home a small box of rocks and findings after cleaning out her Uncle's house for him. That was in 1997. I then purchased a Lortone tumbler to grind and polish them. That same tumbler is still running to this day in my bedroom? (I work midnights and it creates my "white" noise.) There have been many other pieces of equipment purchased since then, but none used more. in the summer of "98" I went to a local auction to kill some time and ended up carting out four truck loads of rock and equipment, mostly lapidary. But in one corner was a couple of large containers of a heavy ore like rock. I almost threw them away (as if that were to ever happen?). Then I discovered they were from Franklin N.J. That opened up a whole new avenue for me, Collecting Fluorescents Minerals. Shortly there after I joined the Fluorescent Mineral Society, member #1147. A good place to view lamps and purchase minerals is Fluorescents.com. Bill Gardner has a few mine claims in Arizona and builds lamps in his spare time. He claims more output than ever of Superbrite? He also has multicolor mineral specimens available from his Purple Passion and Hogan claims. Right around that time we connected to the internet and that opened up another whole new world of mineral collecting to me. After a few purchases I realized that my budget couldn't support my new interests and I started researching places to collect, close to home. At the Ohio Geological Survey Site I discovered a lot of info, especially, books and periodicals that helped identify possible collecting sites. One of the best, in my opinion, is "Ohio Minerals" by Prof. Carlson from Kent State University. i also then realized that most collecting places in Ohio were either private property, or Quarries. I then joined the Stark County Gem & Mineral Club Hoping to help gain access to Quarries that normally shun rockhounds. I also have maps and addresses to collecting sites for Ohio Flint. |
