FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
What’s New At
The Library
• 2400 Resort St.
FICTION
• “Country Strong,”
Linda Lael Miller
• “A Long Petal of the
Sea,” Isabel Allende
• “Blue Justice” series,
Lynette Eason
• “The Scent of Mur-
der,” Kylie Logan
• “Blood in the Water,”
Jack Flynn
“There’s years of work
here.”
— Anna Stafford,
Baker Rockhounds
ROCKS
Continued from Page 1A
When Stafford met with
Maggie Schirack, the mu-
seum’s director, about the
Rockhounds meeting there,
they also discussed having
group members volunteer to
revamp the rock collections.
A year or so later, the Rock-
hounds have devoted more
than 500 hours to the project.
And they’re not even close
to being fi nished, Stafford
said.
“There’s years of work
here,” she said. “The relation-
ship between the Rockhounds
and the museum is absolutely
benefi cial on both sides.”
Since April 2019 the Rock-
hounds have congregated
regularly at the Heritage
Museum to inventory the en-
tire Cavin-Warfel Collection
— all 18 tons that the sisters,
whose father was a Durkee
placer miner, donated in 1984
when both women were in
their 90s.
A considerable amount of
this material was stored in
boxes in an anteroom and has
never been displayed, Staf-
ford said.
“The boxes were piled four
feet high,” she said.
Some of the specimens
aren’t display-quality, she
said, but the fi rst task was to
determine the extent of what
was available.
More recently the Rock-
hounds have focused on en-
suring that the specimens on
display are correctly labeled.
They’ve also cleaned the
items to make them sparkle
and glimmer.
On the morning of Jan. 16
about a dozen Baker Rock-
hounds were at the Museum,
some photographing items
and others recording informa-
tion in a computer database.
That step will avoid future
labeling errors, Stafford said.
She considers this work
vital not only to making the
Cavin-Warfel Collection more
compelling, and informative,
for visitors, but also to pre-
serve the two sisters’ work.
“It’s a matter of respect,”
Stafford said.
Stafford said that when
items in the Cavin-Warfel
NONFICTION
• “It’s Ok That You’re
Not Ok,” Megan Devine
• “Tough Love,” Pau-
line Neff
• “The Illustrated
Herbiary,” Maia Toll
• “Ruthless Tide,” Al
Roker
• “Auschwitz,” Lau-
rence Rees
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
Patty and Bill Hanley of Baker City joined the Baker Rockhounds about one year ago. Last week they helped to cata-
log the displayed items in the museum's rock room by numbers and photographs.
DVDS
• “Crosscurrent”
(Drama/Foreign)
• “In Darkness”
(Drama)
• “The Lighthouse”
(Drama)
• “Rambo: Last Blood”
(Action)
• “Rigged: the Voter
Suppression Playbook”
(Documentary)
Diaper drive
continuing
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
Fossils are a big part of the museum's rock room col-
lection. Volunteers on that job include Myra Skidgel of
Sumpter, left, and Kathy Davidson of Baker City. A third
member of the group was Sue Westrup of Sumpter.
Collection were moved tem-
porarily several years ago so
lights could be installed in the
display cabinets, roughly half
of the specimens ended up
mislabeled.
Stafford said she enlisted
geologists to help the Rock-
hounds correct those mis-
takes.
“We’re bringing in outside
experts to ensure what we’re
doing is appropriate and cor-
rect,” she said.
Stafford and Jarri McCla-
rin, who with her husband,
Dick, have been active in the
Baker Rockhounds from its
inception, said that starting
next month they plan to start
refreshing the display, includ-
ing adding items from the
Cavin-Warfel Collection that
have never been shown to the
public at the Museum.
Some specimens have
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
Unusual discoveries, such as barite on top of quartz,
look like this only after careful cleaning by experienced
rockhounds, according to Memorey Saunders of the
Baker Rockhounds.
numbers attached, but thus
far the volunteers haven’t
found a key that identifi es the
items’ origin.
Working with the Cavin-
Warfel Collection is an ideal
job for the Baker Rockhounds
during the winter, when snow
covers many of their favorite
places to look for new fi nds to
add to their own collections.
But once the weather
warms the group will be
spending more time outside
than in, McClarin said.
And one of the Rockhounds’
goals is to encourage local res-
idents to share their passion
for searching out treasures
that, in many cases, have
been sitting, undiscovered, for
millions of years.
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
Camel teeth are millions
of years old. They are be-
ing arranged to be docu-
mented by numbers and
photographs along with
other fossilized plants and
bones.
“It’s such a great family
activity,” McClarin said. “Most
every kid I’ve ever met loves
rocks.”
The Rockhounds have
events besides their monthly
meetings.
This Saturday from 10 a.m.
to noon they invite people to
come to the Museum to paint
rocks and to create pet rocks.
Everyone is welcome, and all
supplies will be provided for
free. There will be a donation
jar.
Information about meet-
ings, fi eld trips and other
events is available on the
Baker Rockhounds Facebook
page.
In the meantime, although
the volunteers aren’t neces-
sarily making any great
new discoveries inside the
Museum, Stafford said they
enjoy every minute with
these bits of Earth’s immense
history.
“Just getting to play with
rocks all the time is a fantas-
tic way for we rockhounds to
learn.”
The Rachel Pregnan-
cy Center is continuing
its Diaper Drive over
the next week.
The drive was begun
on Jan. 19 (Sanctity of
Human Life Sunday).
Nearly 30 Baker County
churches are collecting
diapers, Sizes 1-6, to
benefi t families who are
served by the Rachel
Center, said Vera Grove,
Center director. Diapers
for newborns are not
needed at this time, she
said.
Other community
members may contrib-
ute to the drive by drop-
ping off diapers at the
Center at 2192 Court
Ave. during regular
business hours.
The Center is open
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(closed during the
lunch hour) Wednesday
through Friday.
In February, the days
of operation will change
to Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday with
hours remaining at 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed
during the lunch hour).
More information is
available by calling 541-
523-5357.
The fi rst National
Sanctity of Human Life
Day was recognized on
Jan. 22, 1984, by proc-
lamation of President
Ronald Reagan. (Jan.
22, 1973, was the day
the U.S. Supreme Court
legalized abortion-on-
demand in all 50 states.)
Churches around the
United States continue
to commemorate the
Sanctity of Human Life
Day annually on the
third Sunday in Janu-
ary.
Happy 90th Birthday
J.O. Maxwell
Love from your children,
Kathie & Howard & families!