Once a month, over two dozen people gather in a room surrounded by geodes, crystals and other stones for a meeting of the Long Beach Mineral and Gem Society at the Long Beach Senior Center.
“The thing I like about the club is that people have a lot of different interests,” vice president Carol Kron said. “Some people collect mineral specimens, some people, like myself, make jewelry, some people collect just one particular type of thing—so there’s a whole wide range of people in the club.”
Workshop foreman Bruce Kelley’s love for geology began in childhood and reemerged when he moved to the unique landscape of California.
“I started out as a rock hound when I was a little kid, collecting fossils and things. I lost interest in it for a while but then got back into it when I moved to California. There’s places around here [where] I could collect things,” Kelley said.
Kelley has been a member of the Long Beach Mineral and Gem Society for 20 years and now leads its lapidary workshops on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m, where he teaches newcomers and members how to cut stones, operate machinery, identify minerals and more.
According to President Karin Alvarez, the Long Beach Mineral and Gem Society has two main facets: weekly workshops on engraving, cutting and polishing stones (a practice known as lapidary) and a monthly meeting.
The group invites a different speaker to each of its monthly educational meetings, who discuss topics ranging from gemstones, meteorites, fossil collecting, mining locations and more.
“It’s a real mix of different interests because the field of geology has so much to offer,” Alvarez said.
For its meeting on April 13, the Long Beach Mineral and Gem Society invited Richard Edley, who Alvarez described as a “real gem,” to speak to its members and display a collection of his findings. Richard Edley and his son Bruce Edley were the first miners to discover the existence of emeralds in California.
The Edley family has also committed themselves to preserving 95% of the land they mine on as natural habitat, and Richard Edley spoke to the Long Beach Mineral and Gem Society about the value of preserving the land used by miners.
“You will be amazed by how absolutely beautiful that land is,” Edley told the group, speaking of his claim near Barstow, California. “It’s full of Joshua trees, it’s full of flowers, butterflies, bees, different types of species of hummingbirds. It’s just absolutely magnificent. […] People need to be made aware of that so that they know [to] be aware of that ecosystem out there. It’s just not worthless land. It does provide a reason for being.”
Those who attend the Long Beach Mineral and Gem Society’s workshops and meetings are also invited to peruse the Slab Shop, a cabinet in the meeting room designed by Kron to look like a miniature mine with a 20-mule team pulling carts full of different stones for sale.
The Long Beach Mineral and Gem Society participates in field trips with similar groups from other cities to different geological sites, such as White Point in San Pedro and Del Cerro Park Overlook in Palos Verdes.
The society also holds educational events at local schools to teach students about geology and holds an annual showcase.
“We are always looking for new members,” Alvarez said. “[…] It’s nice to have a larger group available to do these kinds of things.”
The Long Beach Mineral and Gem Society holds lapidary workshops on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. To keep up with the Long Beach Mineral and Gem Society, visit their Facebook page. Membership costs $25 for individuals and $35 for couples.
