75th Anniversary Celebration cake (Photo – Liz Weston)
For its July 2024 meeting, the Pasadena Lapidary Society (PLS) invited local press to join its members for an ice cream social and presentation of Pasadena’s Commendation recognizing the Club for its 75th Anniversary.
By Liz Weston
A Commendation from the City of Pasadena was presented at the July 2024 anniversary meeting. Several past presidents of the Pasadena Lapidary Society were introduced. A Silent Auction was held offering a variety of member-created jewelry and mineral/rock specimens, and a slide show gave attendees a glimpse into the Club’s past and present activities: annual shows, field trips, workshops, and community outreach for STEM/STEAM students.
The Pasadena Lapidary Society was formed in the mid-1940s by “Chuckwalla Slim” (Edwin Howard Vose II), C.D. Gibson, Clarence Chittenden and Vic Armstrong. Starting from tailgates and meets in local parks, the ranks of the Society grew quickly, and they began holding their meetings at the Odd Fellows Hall in Pasadena. They incorporated as a California non-profit corporation in 1949.
The club began planning field trips for its members in the 1950’s; Clarence and wife Jessie Chittenden compiled a series of rock collecting maps which were published and widely used among Southern California rock collectors. PLS was involved in the fight to keep Dinosaur National Monument open to collectors back in 1954, and continues being active today, in efforts to keep collecting areas open for present and future rockhounds in the Mojave Trails National Monument, where some of Southern California collectors’ most beloved sites are located. A member of the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies (CFMS), Pasadena Lapidary Society was one of the first clubs to join in 1947 and the Federation now has around 100 member clubs from California, Arizona and Nevada.
PLS will be holding its 64th Annual Gem and Mineral Show August 24-25, 2024 at the Arcadia Masonic Center. The club invites everyone to visit pasadenalapidary.org for further information.
The monthly program meetings are held the third Tuesday of each month (except December) in the Fellowship Hall of the Santa Anita Church at 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007, from 7:00 – 8:45 pm. The program meetings are open to the public.
Liz Weston manages Pasadena Lapidary Society’s website and social media, and is a lifelong rockhound.
A Commendation from the City of Pasadena
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