A Message from the President

If you have not already heard, Rufus Speaks died Sunday, January 18th. All of us who knew Mr. Speaks will greatly miss him. For those who did not have a chance to meet Mr. Speaks, you really missed out. For me, he was both a
close friend and a mentor. On the many trips that I made with Mr. Speaks, I learned a lot. He was always eager to share his knowledge about rocks and I even learned a little about life.

It is hard to believe that over 22 years have passed since I first met Mr. Speaks on the shores of Dale Hollow Lake. I was only 14 and this was my first rock collecting field trip. Mr. Speaks came over and instructed me on how to select a good geode. He even let me borrow his geology hammer because I did not bring a proper hammer to crack the geodes. Over the next two years, I had the opportunity to ride with Mr. Speaks and his wife Kathy on several trips. It was not until a return trip from Jamestown that I learned that Mr. Speaks had trouble with his eyes. We went into a shaded area in the road and Kathy carefully instructed him to turn a little to left then a little to the right. Even though his eyesight was failing, Mr. Speaks still enjoyed going on field trips.

When I turned 16 and I was able to drive, I went on even more trips with Mr. Speaks. Mr. Speaks can be credited for starting the Knoxville Gem and Mineral Society and was the first President of the Southeast Federation. He was the first Show Chairman for our Gem and Mineral Show. He hand selected all of the dealers, most of which are still participating in our annual show.

I am sure that everyone in the KGMS has a story to tell about Mr. Speaks. Let us all keep Mr. Speaks and his family in our prayers.

I hope everyone can make it to the February meeting. We will have a great program on Tennessee pearls and will have a lot of club business to take care of.

Daniel Miller, President

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February Meeting

The February meeting of KGeMS will be held on Thursday, February 19, 2004 at the Brehm Animal Science Building on the University of Tennessee AgricultureCampus. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. If you need directions to the meeting location, please contact any officer or board member listed on the outside page of this newsletter.

For the February program, Jim Overbey of Kimball’s Jewelers will present a program on Tennessee Pearls.  Since our 2004 Show theme will be on pearls, please plan to attend this meeting.

The following people are responsible for furnishing refreshments for the February meeting. Please remember to bring provisions when your name is listed in the newsletter. If you are unable to attend, please contact Suki Arp at 688-6634 such that adequate refreshments may be provided.

Ray Lahti
Mary & Ben Harman
Jim & Louise McCutcheon
Joe & Judy Milner
Daniel Miller
Patsy Monk
Alice Noggle
Frances Owen
Jackie Pavelka