The Gem & Mineral Club of Scarborough

Gem & Mineral Club of Scarborough

About Us

Our Meetings

Newsletter

Craft night at a club meeting.

Who are we and what do we do?

The Gem and Mineral Club of Scarborough; (GMCS) is a hobby club founded in 1963 and incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in 1997. Our aims, objectives and purpose are to:

Encourage and promote all aspects of the hobby of collecting and studying rocks, minerals and fossils and of pursuing all types of lapidary work.
Provide a forum for the free exchange of information and ideas regarding the hobby.
Conserve natural resources.

Read our constitution that outlines the rules and guidelines our club runs by.

For more information about the GMCS, contact Russ Bruce (pres.) 416-284-9797 or rbruce@can.rogers.com. We invite you to attend one of our monthly meetings or other events and see us at our best.

If you wish to know even more about us, we can send you a copy of our most recent monthly news bulletin, the Strata Data by e-mail in PDF format.

Club Meetings

Meetings are held at 8:00 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month, except July, August and November, at the Knox United Church Hall, 2569 Midland Ave., Scarborough, ON. (Located on the northeast corner of Midland and Sheppard Ave.)

We usually have a very brief business meeting followed by a snack break. After that, we have a guest speaker or presentaion. Guest speakers are announced in our news bulletin, the Strata Data, some two weeks prior to the meeting. You can also download abstracts of upcoming speakers HERE. During the meeting, there are contests and a silent auction running. Meetings are usually adjourned by 10:00 p.m.

Special meetings are held throughout the year; e.g.

Dinner with a special guest speaker at Sisters Restaurant each November
Live Auction Night each spring

Our Club Newsletter

Members receive the Strata Data bulletin ten times each year. It is published and sent to members via Canada Post or e-mail in Adobe PDF format. Each issue has information on upcoming activities, interesting articles on hobby related items, and usually some items to be found nowhere else.

We are a member of SCRIBE, a Canadian-US group of mineral club editors devoted to improving the quality of club newsletters. It helps to learn from others and exchange ideas.

Mineral & Fossil Collecting Field Trips

Our club sponsors field trips each year to indoor and outdoor sites within the greater Toronto area. We are also a member of the Central Canadian Federation of Mineralogical Societies (CCFMS) and, through them, our members can participate in field trip events throughout the year. Check them out in the Resources section.

Field tripping near Tory Hill, Ontario

Our Annual Show and Swap

The show is held on the second weekend after Labour Day in September at the Don Montgomery Community Centre (formerly known as the Mid-Scarborough Community Centre), 2467 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario, near the Eastern Terminus of the Subway. Our show, the largest in the Toronto area, features dealers, displays, demonstrations of hobby related crafts, hourly door prizes, a kid’s quarry area, auctions, swap area and a lunch room. For more information and lots of exciting pictures of show activities, go to Our Show Page

Want to Join us and become a Member?

Membership per year in the GMCS is $15.00 for single members and $20.00 for families and includes the subscription to Strata Data. It also includes some insurance thru the CCFMS Insurance Coverage. When purchased at the September show or after is good until the end of the following year.

Preferably, payment of dues are made directly to the Membership director at regular meetings so that membership cards can be issued on the spot. Alternately, memberships can be paid by mail with the application form included in our brochure and a cheque made payable to our club. Download our Membership Application form.

Other Activities we Participate In

Our club has a number of special workshops. Currently these include wire working and micromounting. Depending on interest within the club, other topics would be considered .

We also try to help out with explaining our hobby to others such as industry and schools.

Explaining minerals at the St Marys Cement open house in Bowmanville.

How to Contacts Us

For more information about the GMCS, email us at scarbgemclub@lycos.com or snail mail to

10 Chichester Place, Apt B1, Scarborough, ON, M1T 1G5

Resources for Mineral Hobbyists and Collectors

Tools:

You'll need the free Adobe Acrobat reader to view PDF files.

Collecting is one of the most enjoyable activities for many Rockhounds. Before you go collecting you should be aware of a few things:

Code of Ethics for Rockhounds - How to project a positive image of our hobby

Collecting sites information:

Field Trips with the CCFMS - Info about some of our favorite collecting sites

Other hobby information:

Toronto Bead Society - Another way to enjoy the hobby.

Upcoming Events and News:

CCFMS Current Events Page - CCFMS Related and Regional Events Listing

The GMCS is an affiliated member of the Central Canadian Federation of Mineralogical Societies. Visit their site as there are many interesting and informative things to read. Also, many valuable links to other sites.

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