FGMS meeting to feature two speakers

FALLBROOK – Visitors to the Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Society meeting Thursday, March 14, will be treated to “a two-fer.” Fallbrook mineral dealers, Kerith and Cal Graeber, will be co-guest speakers, and their program, “The Minerals of Mexico,” will showcase Kerith Graeber’s award-winning collection of over 45 years.

Kerith Graeber’s introduction to minerals came from a Fallbrook school classmate, Bill Larson, who became her mentor and a world-renowned mineral dealer and owner of The Collector and Pala International in Fallbrook. Larson subsequently introduced Kerith Graeber to his mentor, Josephine “Josie” Scripps, who was San Diego County’s premier mineral collector.

Through Scripps’s association with the Museum of Natural History Museum in Balboa Park, Kerith Graeber volunteered there and met Harry Miller, a collector of Mexican minerals. When he died, the museum bought his collection, placing some pieces in their once a month basement sale. Having seen the collection before his death, Kerith Graeber said she was drawn to an amethyst and calcite specimen from Guanajuato, and with that single purchase she was hooked on collecting Mexican minerals. Even when Scripps told her that she could never have a great collection with just Mexican minerals, she was not deterred. Today “The Kerith Graeber Mexican Collection” contains over 1,000 specimens.

Over the years she built a fine personal collection that has won numerous awards, such as “Best of Show” at the San Diego County Fair, and at the Tucson Mineral and Gem Show, Kerith Graeber has received the highest recognition, winning the Lidstrom trophy for the best single specimen in a competitive exhibit and the Desautels trophy for the best display case of crystalized mineral specimens.

Cal Graeber met Kerith Graeber when he went to work for Bill Larson in 1972, after graduating from the Colorado School of Mines. In 1980 he left to form his own business, Cal Graeber Fine Minerals, dealing in fine mineral specimens, appraising collections and providing professional cleaning and trimming services. Kerith Graeber joined her husband’s mineral business in 1983, leaving a position as a Fallbrook Elementary School art school teacher.

Together, they created several specialized collections of San Diego County minerals, of quartz with inclusions and of general worldwide minerals. Cal Graber encouraged Kerith Graeber to pursue her interest in collecting Mexican minerals when they were first married, and over the years he, too, became fascinated with their forms and colors and is now an avid Mexican mineral collector with his wife. Come hear them share their 40-year journey together in the world of minerals.

The public is invited to attend this free presentation. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the FGMS building, 123 W. Alvarado Street, in Fallbrook. Free parking is available in the lot across from the building. An opportunity raffle will be held with earth science prizes, and mineral specimens will be offered for sale at 20 percent discount. Light refreshments will be served. For inquiries, call (760) 728-1130.

Submitted by the Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Society.