Gem club unearths treasures

      A lifelong outdoorsman, Frank Rowley admits to being a treasure hunter of sorts.
      But that's not why the 57-year credit bureau manager loads up the excavation gear more than a dozen times a year and scours the western region looking for rocks, gems, minerals and other items connecting the region's past to its present.
      The Southwest-area resident simply loves the thrill of discovery. "It gets in your blood," he said of finding the earth's hidden treasures.
      The 180 members of Clark County Gem Collectors, Inc., agree. Rowley, president of the nonprofit group, said the discoveries unlock history.
      He said he has found petrified wood dating back 200 million years as well as minerals and gemstones pointing to an arid 80,000-year period followed by an 8,000 year moisture boon, which shaped the Southern Nevada landscape.
      Rowley makes these finds on the group's year-round trips. One month, you will find them digging up gemstones in Pahrump's Trout Canyon; the next, unearthing crystal in Quartzite, Ariz.; later, picnicking at Lake Mead and also participating in a "super" trip to Moscow, Idaho.
      While travel is fun, Rowley said the group mainly seeks to promote appreciation of the environment, its goal since it was founded in 1932. Members of the club serve as tour guides, perform community service, lecture to schoolchildren about the importance of preserving the environment and teach members to be junior jewelers.
      "We try to teach the kids how and why (things happened)," he said. "They really get a kick out of finding fossils. Some of them (fossils) are millions of years old."
      Art Lory became a rockhound in the early 1960s when he bought a four-wheel-drive vehicle and began bouncing around the Southwest sight-seeing, then exploring. He fell in love with crystals.
      "I get a rush when I find a good one," the 77-year-old retired bartender said. "They are not everywhere. But sometimes I find a pocket of them (above ground). Then I get a lot of rushes."
      The Northwest-area resident boasted of what he claims is a 25-ton collection of gemstones - quartz crystals, sapphires, rubies and emeralds - spread throughout his house, backyard and garage.
      Lory specializes in faceting, the process of making small cuts on a smooth, polished gem, which creates brilliant light reflections. On a good day, he can bang a gem with few facets in hours. Others, like the one with 641 facets, take days. "But time is immaterial, especially when you get 77," he chuckled.
      A retired chef, Ed Rupprecht always had an interest in rocks. Of the 2,000 stones he has collected, the bolo tie is his favorite.
      "It was jewelry worn by (19th century) cowboys," the 73-year-old Northern-area resident said. "It was worn around the neck and combined with other stones to form an owl's face."
      Rupprecht's geological treasure hunter spirit sprouted when he began teaching a rock-shaping class at Nellis Air Force Base in the 1950s. He still loves teaching club members the intricate art.
      "Some catch on quick, others don't," he said. "I have a friend who is an old ship captain and he made a pendant for his daughter. She was thrilled. He was more tickled than a dog with two tails."