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THE SCOUTS: Official Girl Scout Roundup hat. Photo courtesy of www.vintagegirlscout.com. ©
THE PEAK: In 1959 John Rostek was photographed “driving his
Mercedes 300SL (Gullwing) around George’s Corner past spectators” in the Pikes
Peak Hill Climb. ©PPLD
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I have a friend living in Kansas who attended the
1959 Girl Scout Senior Roundup held north of Colorado Springs---the old sign
marking the location is still visible partly hidden in the trees on the east
side of I-25. She remembers the Roundup participants
examining rocks or minerals at some sort of a display and listening to some “mineral
talks.” Although not questioning her
interests, I wonder if a 16 year-old had other things on her mind than rocks and
minerals!
This little tidbit about rocks and minerals sort of tweaked
my interest in the Roundup and I wondered if CSMS might have been involved with
the “mineral talks.” How would I ever
find out? Perhaps sorting through the club
minutes or Pick & Pack editions filed
in the Pikes Peak Public Library archives, or maybe even consulting the
Colorado Springs Gazette. But then I
remembered that shortly after moving to the Springs in 2006 a person gave me a
copy of a small booklet written/edited by long-time CSMS member Ray Berry. Printed in 2002, History of the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society seems to be a
somewhat rare item and very few, if any, of the newer members (joined in the
last decade) know about this little jewel.
In fact, I wonder if copies are still available for distribution. It also would be nice if some long-time
member would take the responsibility of bringing the Society history since 2002
up-to-date? At any rate, I decided to
consult the booklet and see if any connection stood out.
There it was, on page 10, a complete story: “In July
1959, the Society undertook a project to provide specimens and mineral displays
at the Girl Scout International Encampment north of Colorado Springs. Mr. Clarence Coil was appointed Chairman of
the project and through his efforts of moulding[sic] a sound organization, the
society received many fine comments on the displays…In 1959 the society
inaugurated an annual award to the outstanding society member. The 1959 award was presented to Mr. Clarence
Coil for his tremendous job with the Girl Scout Jamboree.” So, CSMS was deeply involved. In addition, Coil received the same award in
1961 (for what event I am uncertain)
.
I also find it very fortuitous that the Pikes Peak
Library District has preserved several photographs of the event in their
digital archives. It seems, at least to
me, that Stewart Commercial Photographers was the official or unofficial photographers for
the Roundup and one of their photographers was no other than Clarence Coil. I contacted Bill, the Photo Archivist, in
Special Collections and he gave permission to include several photos in this
report.
To me this was another serendipitous moment—talking
to a friend about the Roundup and ending up with a connection to the Colorado
Springs Mineralogical Society.
Please note: all of the following photographs are in the Digital Archives at Pikes Peak Public Library (PPLD) and are COPYRIGHT, with all rights reserved, by the District. Used with permission (and I thank the Library).
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“Men [unidentified]
deciding which rock from Pikes Peak to take down for the cornerstone.” ©PPLD
Learning about rocks and minerals. Ray Ziegler running the projector and Chris
Christensen standing by to help. Ray was CSMS President in 1956 and 1958 while
Chris served as President in 1980, 1981, 1982.
The projector appears to be one of “older ones” (time is relative) that
used the large-scale format “lantern slides.”
Anyone want to take a guess on the car? ©PPLD A note received August 2nd from Gary Ziegler, Ray's son, noted the station wagon is a 1957 Ford. Gary studied geology under Richard Pearl at Colorado College and has an interesting web site at:
http://www.adventurespecialists.org 
“Max and Dorothy Fillmore stand outside of the
Minerals Exhibit tent. The signs read
Petrified Wood (Sequoia) 85,000 years old and ammonite (Giant Snail) 60,000
years old.” There were a little off on
the geologic ages and ammonites are not snails but who is counting. Max Fillmore served two years as CSMS
President in 1959 and 1960. ©PPLD
“Jack Baker, owner of Pike Petrified Forest,
shows a mineral specimen to a group of Girl Scouts.” I love the shades.
©PPLD 
“Night scene of crowd of girls, most wearing straw
cowboy hats and white blouses, studying display cases filled with rocks and
minerals. Sign in one case reads Mineral
Specimens of the 50 States.” One young
lady must be saying, Wow look at that selenite crystal from Oklahoma! ©PPLD
“Chris
Christensen demonstrates a rock polisher for a group of Girl Scouts.” ©PPLD
“Girl
Scouts pick up amazonite chips outside of mineral exhibit.” ©PPLD
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