In September, 2014 I received an email from Mardy Zimmermann (Southwest Fluorescent Finders), asking if I would be willing to display some of my specimens in the FMS case at Tucson for 2015. I told her I would, if I could volunteer the help of my good friend Kerry Cooper. After talking with Kerry, the decision was made that specimens for this display would be chosen from both of our collections. Once I got a firm commitment from Kerry, I contacted Mardy and told her that I would commit to doing the case for 2015. Al Liebetrau, who was FMS President at the time, was contacted as well.
Sometime soon after I made the commitment, I contacted Al with a discussion about the FMS possibly building a new display case, one much more suited to displaying fluorescent minerals. Al was very open to this idea, and a small committee was formed to start the process. The first problem was funding. I suggested early on that we ask the FMS membership for donations, and I offered the first donation of $100.00. Al thought that between member donations and some funding by the FMS itself, that we could get it done.
Luckily a short time after the committee was formed, Jan Wittenberg (former FMS President) was visiting Phoenix for a wood turning convention. Jan is not only a fluorescent mineral collector, but a great wood worker and tradesman as well. Jan visited my house, looked at my completed display case, and we went off to dinner to discuss plans for the case.
After multiple emails between Jan, Al, Dick Bostwick and me, we managed to get the ball rolling on the new case. Don Newsome also provided some advice as well. Once we had a cost quote put together, Al was able to convince the TGMS to split the cost with the FMS, and no individual donations were required.
Jan built the case in plenty of time to deliver to Tucson for the 2015 show. The total height of the case is 84 inches tall. The display area itself is 30 inches tall, 68 inches wide and 29 inches deep. The stair step shelving that we required for this display consisted of 4 shelves (4 inches deep, 6 inches tall). Jan got to the show early in the week, and removed the drapery from the old case, and installed it to the new one.
On February 11, 2015 Jan, Kerry and I got to the convention center to set up the new display. Kerry and I decided that the “theme” of our display this year was going to be shortwave minerals only, with no specimens from the Franklin Mine or Sterling Hill Mine. The idea being to expose the general public to specimens and localities they may not have seen before. A total of 38 specimens were included in the display. This number included three split pairs, which Kerry is fond of collecting.
The display case turned out to be quite nice, and took a quantum leap forward from the old one. Kerry and I received many compliments on the display. I am looking forward to assisting with this case again in the future. My thanks go out to Jan for doing a superb job on building the case. Also, many thanks to Kerry for assisting me with the display, and to all those that offered advice, guidance etc. in making this case happen.