Rockhounds gather petrified wood near Rayburn
Active local club has full summer scheduled with field trips, annual show, new clubhouse set to open

Newsboy photos/ Charles Kerr ROCKHOUNDS haul specimens of petrified wood out of a creek near Lake Sam Rayburn on a recent field trip. Lufkin teachers Jeanne Boyett (left) and Rich Geist (right) show a member of the Austin Paleo Society the wood grain and rings in a "log" that looks like it might have been cut yesterday.

Local rockhounds took advantage of a cool May weekend to haul chunks petrified wood out of a creekbed near Rayburn Country. The Pine Country Gem and Mineral Society of Jasper hosted the field trip, which drew associate club members from as far as Austin.

The Central Texas Paleontological Society of Austin brought ammonites (fossilized marine life), topaz and oyster fossils to donate for the local club's silent auction and show in August.

They came seeking petrified wood, including the state fossil petrified palm, which is found in here in creeks that cut deeply through layers of sand and clay. No dinosaurs nibbled these treetops. Most of the strata found in East Texas is only 40 to 50 million years old, much more recent than dinosaurs.

This part of the country was marshy, coastal lakes. Trees washed into the swamp during floods, became supersaturated and sank, were covered by sediments, and eventually minerals replaced wood fibers, making fossils. Understanding the process explains why there are no fossil owls or rock racoons in this forest frozen in stone.

Rockhounds don't pick up just every pretty rock, and each member of the team had certain goals in the hunt that day.

Ann and Paul James of Woodville were seeking the deep, rich colors and burled patterns to slice into slabs and make into cabochons (polished ovals for jewelry). Other collectors wanted walnutsized pieces to put in a tumble-polisher.

Teacher Rich Geist from Lufkin was more interested in the massive specimens that show knots and wood grain as distinctly as a fresh sawn log.

Geist also showed how to tap a chunk with a rockhammer to neatly split it along the grain. Many samples reveal a sprinkling of druzy quartz, a thin layer of smoky, sparkly crystals that forms in hollows as the wood mineralizes.

Dennis Saylor is a flint-knapper who produces arrowheads and spear points at historical re-enactments. He found a fist-sized chunk of petrified wood that some native American once used to flake tools long ago.

By noon, everyone had all they cared to haul up the hill, and the Austin trucks were sitting considerably lower.

This month the Pine Country Gem and Mineral Society will meet for the first time in their new clubhouse. The Joe and Violet Tonahill family donated an old store on Zavalla Street across from the courthouse annex. Club members have been cleaning, painting and repairing for more than nine months.

"We still have much to do," president Jonetta Nash said. "We won't have the carpet down, and I hope - but I'm not sure - we'll have air conditioning. One way or another we are going to meet and enjoy our new space."

The front room will be for meetings, the geology library and glass display cabinets. The club plans make the back into a classroom and shop. They will install equipment to cut slabs and polish stones. John Nash teaches a silversmithing class where club members learn to set stones into rings or pendants.

Coming up in club plans are a trip June 15-17 to the diamond fields in Mount Ida and Murphrysboro in Arkansas. Club members plan to collect specimens at the Arrowhead Mine and at Crater of Diamonds State Park.

The club will hold their annual Gem and Mineral show Aug. 25-26 in the VFW hall in Jasper. It draws people from all over the country. Club members also offer a variety of displays and demonstrations.

The club meets every third Wednesday at 7 p.m. June 21 they will meet for the first time in the club house on Zavalla Street, a block north of Houston Street in Jasper across from the courthouse annex.