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dear noel,
i have been going to wildacres for the eastern federation sessions
since 1990. i highly recommend it. the only requirement is
membership in an eastern federation club or one of the other
federations. (joining a club is easy and inexpensive. if you are in
florida, i can help you find the closest eastern club, but there may
also be a southeast club near you.) the faceting instructors, reivan
zeleznik in the june session and steve weinberger in the sept.
session are both excellent teachers and every student produces a
beautiful faceted stone. in addition we have a number of other
activities such as a guest speaker who gives five talks during the
week, a free day to visit local rock shops and other attractions, a
tailgate session, a benefit auction, a "sharing time" to learn about
other aspects of the hobby and the last night is fun night. In june,
our guest speaker is Bob Jones, editor of rock and gem magazine. In
september Steve Chamberlain, noted NY state mineral collector and
co-chairman of the Rochester Mineralogical Symposium, will be the
guest speaker. for more details, check the website and feel free to
contact me off list. in june, i will again be teaching PMC and
mineral id.
http://www.amfed.org/efmls/wildacres.htm
i know a lot less about william holland and the southeast sessions
at wildacres and william holland, and I am sorry but I am not
familiar with any of the faceting instructors. william holland i
believe is generally open to the public, but here is their website:
http://www.lapidaryschool.org/
The southeast federation of mineralogical societies requires
membership in a mineral club in southeast or one of the other
federations in the american federation. the websites for their
sessions aRe:
http://www.amfed.org/sfms/william-holland-retreat.htmlhttp://www.amfed.org/sfms/wildacres-retreat.html
one of the main differences between eastern and southeast federation
sessions is that in eastern, we have a lot of different activities
and the guest speaker. from what i understand, the southeast
sessions focus much more narrowly on learning the craft and they
spend more time in class. food is family style at wildacres and is
generally pretty good. rooms are doubles with a private bath. I
think william holland is somewhat more rustic, but i have no
personal experience with it. i think you will find that the average
age of participants in both places will lean to the grey hairs. when
we joined at 40 and 48, we were referred to as "the youngsters"!
good bunch of people though and lots of experience. good luck and
enjoy!
cathy gaber
bg AT his.com
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