Lucerne Dry Lake was OK and there was one good find. An old casino token from a casino closed years ago.
There was also a lot of hobby rocket motor debris. We did go out to the campground in Warner Springs. That’s a
great place to metal detect because it is reported that the campground existed back in the 60’s or even further.
We had only one member sign up and a total of 12 showed up. Sometimes, we cancel events when there are no
more than one or two sign up. I don’t know how to fix this.

It is hard to get members to volunteer to attend events and also take the attendance sheet with them. We did try
to award the holder of the attendance with a “red” ticket. I believe we should put that practice in permanently.
Remind me if I forget.

Back to Warner Springs. There is a lot of varied history in that campground. There are a lot of different caliber
shells there. Must have been used as a target range in the past. Can’t say that there was that much game
hunting out there. Since this is a designated campground, I doubt that this practice can now be done. A good
number of wheat pennies are being found and also some old larger denomination coins too. We just
haphazardly detected the campsites again. Still enough left over to have other events out there.

This weekend we are heading out to the GPAA Gold Show. We are also leaving early to attend the GPAA
Summit Meeting. This is where GPAA is going to explain their changes to their “point system”. Point system,
being their method of rewarding chapters for volunteering and for signing up and renewing their memberships.
We will have a booth with many items to sell. Much more that we have had in the past. We will definitely talk
about this at our next meeting.

Our May outing is out at the Freedom Claim. We have also invited Southwestern Prospectors and Miners
Association to the outing. This should be interesting. This claim has a lot of space to camp, so should not be a
problem. There should be those who will explain how it looked in the past and where we have been finding
those precious minerals. The Freedom “camping area” has been worked over quite a bit since we first acquired
the claim.

The last two Fridays of May are scheduled with two elementary school Gold Rush presentations. Magnolia
Elementary School in Carlsbad and Oak Hill School in Escondido. Other schools have contacted us, but they all
seem to have their California Gold event at the same time. That’s going to be fun to set up. Like I’ve said in the
past, “we work hard to entertain and educate you, all you have to do is volunteer to help us once in a while.”
There are already too many events scheduled for June and we will probably cancel some.

That’s it for now. See you after the Las Vegas Gold Show.

Sourdough Chet

Treasure Seekers of San Diego (TSS) will hold their monthly chapter meeting on Wednesday, May 1st at 6:00 pm at the Joslyn Senior Center in Escondido, CA 92025. Click Here for a map.

Main Points of Discussion

Finds of the Month: Bring in your Finds of the Month. This is what you have ‘found’ during the last month and falls into three categories.

• Gems and Minerals
• Gold
• Metal Detecting

Show off what you have done in the last month and there is a prize for the winner of each category.

Items available for purchase at the meeting:

• TSS Claim Guides – $20.00 per guide with proof of your TSS membership card.
• TSS Dowsing Rods – $25.00 per set.
• TSS Bags of Gold Dirt - $12.00 per bag

Monthly Opportunity Drawings at the meeting:

• Door Prize Drawing (Free ticket for coming)
• 50/50 Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)
• Gold Nugget Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)
• Table Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)

Quarterly Grand Prize Drawing (June 2013 Meeting):

• The Gold Cube – 3 stack model

Treasure Seekers of San Diego (TSS) will hold their monthly chapter meeting on Wednesday, April 3rd at 6:00 pm at the Joslyn Senior Center in Escondido, CA 92025. Click Here for a map.

Main Points of Discussion

Annual Elections to take place.

• Positions currently open for election are Vice President & Secretary

Finds of the Month: Bring in your Finds of the Month. This is what you have ‘found’ during the last month and falls into three categories.

• Gems and Minerals
• Gold
• Metal Detecting

Show off what you have done in the last month and there is a prize for the winner of each category.

Items available for purchase at the meeting:

• TSS Claim Guides – $20.00 per guide with proof of your TSS membership card.
• TSS Dowsing Rods – $25.00 per set.
• TSS Bags of Gold Dirt - $10.00 per bag

Monthly Opportunity Drawings at the meeting:

• Door Prize Drawing (Free ticket for coming)
• 50/50 Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)
• Gold Nugget Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)
• Table Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)

Quarterly Grand Prize Drawing (June 2013 Meeting):

• The Gold Cube – 3 stack model

We had two outings this month. One at the Lucerne Dry Lake Beds and one at the Potholes. There
were signups for both events. At both events, you could look for meteorites and old relics and at the
Potholes you had the opportunity to detect or drywash for gold.

This month, we have the GPAA Gold Show in Las Vegas and an outing in the Warner Springs area. We
have a few members who have wandered through the Warner Springs area and may help guide us
around here. We haven’t participated in a gold show event for some years because it hasn’t profited our
organization much and it certainly doesn’t bring in new members from the Las Vegas area. We have
some new items to sell and we will see if we can bring back some profit to us.

We are coming up with some meeting time changes and a little change in the chairs and tables. We
find that we need more time for the meeting, so we will be starting a half hour earlier. What this means
time wise is that the members setting up will get there at 5:30. We don’t want general membership
floating in and bothering those setting up. Our meeting will start at 6:00 PM. There will also be a
slight change in the table arrangement too. Probably some more chairs also. We are just getting too
big.

We will hold our elections this month. Up for election are the positions of Vice President and
Secretary. These positions must be filled by GPAA members and GPAA will give a two year free
membership to these elected officers.

Other than I am still recouping from a knee injury from metal detecting, everything is good. No
workman’s comp for this event. You just have to be careful while getting up and down while digging
targets. My doctor said it will take a few months to heal. I told him that I would purchase a good brace
and be careful. The places I go don’t have need for a handicap sign, so I’ll just still hike in……….

Be good, be careful and have fun.

Sourdough Chet

Busy month again. As of right now, some of us are meeting with board members of a Vista organization
to close a deal on having some of our events at their events. Some of us also scouted out a potential
new claim within an hour and a half drive. Some of us are also planning on the April GPAA gold show
in Las Vegas.

The hearing was held in court to settle the dredging debacle. There were at least 50 miners showing up
at the hearing. The most important date is now July 24, 2013. That is when attorneys for the miners will
seek summary judgment and an injunction to get dredging back on track. There are four other hearings
in between, leading to this injunction.

David Rice held another successful Painted Gorge trip. Twenty two people from TSS, Imperial Valley
and guests showed up. Various mineral deposits and petrified wood was found. Thank you David and
Charlene for making it a fun outing.

We had another twenty some out on the Freedom claim as well. Didn’t hear how much gold or other
items were found, but I do know that Sharon and Lee always make it a fun and interesting trip.
This month, we are going out to the Lucerne Dry Lake Beds and this is always a great place to explore
and metal detect. This is a one day event and Charlene will lead a tour. It’s important to hook up with
her or lead your own tour.

We have an invite with the Southwestern Prospectors and Miners Association (SPMA) to join them at
the Potholes Claim. This is a great place for nuggets, old relics and fine gold. Maps will be available at
the meeting for only those who plan to go.

Let’s all get ready for the warmer weather where the beaches make for good pickins’ along with the
parks. Have fun with other organizations. Spend some quality time with other TSS members and learn,
but be ready to teach, better techniques to search for gems, minerals, relics and caches.

Sourdough Chet

Treasure Seekers of San Diego (TSS) will hold their monthly chapter meeting on Wednesday, February 6th at 6:30 pm at the Joslyn Senior Center in Escondido, CA 92025. Click Here for a map.

Main Points of Discussion

Speaker to be announced.

Finds of the Month: Bring in your Finds of the Month. This is what you have ‘found’ during the last month and falls into three categories.

• Gems and Minerals
• Gold
• Metal Detecting

Show off what you have done in the last month and there is a prize for the winner of each category.

Items available for purchase at the meeting:

• TSS Claim Guides – $20.00 per guide with proof of your TSS membership card.
• TSS Dowsing Rods – $25.00 per set.
• TSS Bags of Gold Dirt - $10.00 per bag

Monthly Opportunity Drawings at the meeting:

• Door Prize Drawing (Free ticket for coming)
• 50/50 Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)
• Gold Nugget Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)
• Table Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)

Quarterly Grand Prize Drawing:

• Two-Day weekend outing for two at Frontier Gold Prospecting in Arizona.
• This was donated by Frontier Gold Prospecting. (Value = $638.00)
  http://www.frontiergoldprospecting.com/

Last month, we had an outing at our Cargo Muchachos claims, out by Yuma. There were twenty-some signed up for that one. From what Lee and Sharon said, they all had a great time. They were glad to see some of the board members attend the outing.

David Rice led another successful Painted Gorge Trip. Charlene sent a whole mess of photos via email to Robert Cook to share at our meeting. I didn’t hear how many attended the outing.

We also worked a GPAA gold show. Three of us worked at the show for the GPAA. We made some “points” by working and also helped tear down. The points will help us purchase some prospecting gear. The number of vendors and those who came to purchase equipment seemed very small there in Pomona. There seemed to be more isle space than booth space. Not too many chapters showed. We are definitely planning on having a booth at the April 27-28 Gold Show in Las Vegas, so plan on it. We have a number of items to sell and we will also have the gold panning as well.

We are working on some outings where we will set up a booth. We figure we will have at least three gold panning/metal detecting events this year. We can add to the events if you know some venues we should venture into. We will let everyone know what and where, soon.

Ray is attending the Rendezvous in Arizona the first week in February. This is the event where GPAA Chapters have met to discuss better ways to organize and run their chapters. In the past, Ray, Jerry, Robert and I have given others a whole lot of information on bettering their chapters. This year, the whole program has changed. The new organization is called WWATS, World Wide Association of Treasure Seekers. It not only takes in the GPAA Chapters, but other outdoor clubs or associations. We’ll see what news Ray brings back.

An important court hearing is scheduled for this month. On Feb. 13, 8:30 AM at the Rancho Cucamonga, CA Court House, 8303 Haven Ave., Dept. R8, a new judge will hear the six coordinated cases on suction dredge mining. It would be great to have many members at this hearing. I entertained this wild idea that we could rent a 15 passenger van, have this many people meet at a designated park and ride, leave at 6:00 AM and represent the TSS at the court hearing. Is that wild or what do you think?

This month, we are scheduled for an outing at the Freedom claim. We scheduled these outings last year and we can never tell if the weather is going to cooperate or not. This is the upper desert and is known to be wet and cold in the winter. We’ll see. We do the best we know how to do. If you have any good ideas, please share them with the Board Members or our ‘Suggestion‘ box. It will only make our outings that much better.

That’s it for now. Stay safe and healthy and get ready for some great speakers at our meetings.

Sourdough Chet

Here it is, the last month of the year. We’re getting ready for 2013. We have already got our event schedule done with some new outings for next year. We planned on two joint outings with the Southwestern Prospectors and Miners Association. We’ll see how joint outings go.

We continue to support other organizations in their fights, which are our fights, to keep our public lands open for us, the public citizens, to enjoy. We have finally got some recognition for our help and support for another organization who is bumping heads with an environmental group wanting to annex the Dale Mining District into the Joshua Tree National Park. On Facebook, the GPAA has a site called Articles and Information. Subject was “Miners fight park service annexation.” Within that article the Treasure Seekers are mentioned in supporting the First Class Miners in their fight against the possible annexation. If you remember, we gave the talks and teamed up with the Temecula Chapter and the SPMA group. Combined, we had over 300 signatures on the petitions.

Hey! We had a great outing at Warner Springs campground. I even got there early. Jerry and Robert made me get up early and get there around 8:30 – that’s A.M. too. The weather was a bit cool and sprinkly. The Thompson couple took some of us on a hike and we saw some great rock formations. Some tourmaline was also found. While detecting in the campground, some wheat pennies and other old coins were found. I also found part of a silver necklace with a turquoise stone in the center. It’s worth doing another outing there.

No outing for December but the Christmas party is always the best event at the end of the year. TSS will furnish the ham and turkey; you just bring a side dish and a present for the gift exchange. Gift being around $15.00 to $20.00. You know we always have fun at the party. After that, we’ll wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, then start this fun all over again in 2013.

Sourdough Chet

Treasure Seekers of San Diego (TSS) will hold their monthly chapter meeting on Wednesday, December 5th at 6:30 pm at the Joslyn Senior Center in Escondido, CA 92025. Click Here for a map.

Main Points of Discussion

Chester will do a demo on using a Spiral Wheel.

Finds of the Month: Bring in your Finds of the Month. This is what you have ‘found’ during the last month and falls into three categories.

• Gems and Minerals
• Gold
• Metal Detecting

Show off what you have done in the last month and there is a prize for the winner of each category.

Items available for purchase at the meeting:

• TSS Claim Guides – $20.00 per guide with proof of your TSS membership card.
• TSS Dowsing Rods – $20.00 per set.
• TSS Bags of Gold Dirt - $10.00 per bag

Monthly Opportunity Drawings at the meeting:

• Door Prize Drawing (Free ticket for coming)
• 50/50 Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)
• Gold Nugget Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)
• Table Drawing ($1.00 per ticket)

Quarterly Grand Prize Drawing: To Be Awarded this Month!!

• A beautiful Quarter Ounce Gold Nugget