Sam and the
Jadeland story of how I became Jaded.
Sitting
around one summer evening with a good friend Nancy, over a glass of wine, the
direction of our conversation turns to jade. It is now jade o’clock she tells
me. I have something to show you….Out of her purse comes a stone, that little
do I know, will change the direction of my life. Nancy produces a natural jade
nugget, botryoidal in nature and light blueish in color. Of course I ask what
is this? It is botryoidal jade from Northern California, she proclaims. But it
isn’t green, I reply. Not all jade is green she tells me. I study the nugget
carefully in the perfect lighting of Jade O’clock. So begins my jade education,
escapades, collection, fascination, and eventually business dealing with
California Jade and specializing in the botryoidal masterpieces. Jade o’clock
is the time when the sun is about half an hour before setting over the Pacific,
the time is unmistakable when looking at jades. They look the very best at Jade
O’clock. Nancy is loved in the California jade community and she introduced me
to Lotus. Lotus is a fabulous jade artist. She carves whimsical figures,
selects and drills natural bubbly jade nuggets for jewelry and has hunted the
elusive stone for decades. I purchased my first jade boulder from Lotus and put
it in my front yard. I learned there were places I could go and find some
pieces myself. It was lots of fun but not as easy as I thought it would be. So, I made several
trips back to see Lotus, and continued to pick up another piece from her, now
and then, until I thought I had enough to do a rock show and try to make some
profit. Valley Springs Pow Wow was probably the biggest Rock show in the state.
It was set in a cow pasture that is transformed into a Rock collectors dream for
a few days every year. What better place to show my jades? My son Andy and I
set up camp and a small table filled with our California Jades. The first day
is only dealers and they buy sell and barter like crazy. I get several offers
for barter but want to wait for the public to get cash. Well not much cash
comes that first show. So, right away I see that most of the dealers have a
large selection maintained by frequently bartering their personal finds with
other dealers for the stones the other guys found. Next show the selection of
dealers is different and you don’t compete with the original miner and he isn’t
competing with you. The trading was great at Valley Springs and so was the education.
I learned quite a bit about selling jade and stones in general. The last day Andy
and I traded away about 1/4 of our botryoidals to several different dealers in
order to obtain a greater variety in inventory for the future. Now we had
agate, fossils, some various crystals, carvings, and a really nice Mariposite
that looked like a mountain range. All
of this complimented our still very nice selection of jades. The next shows
were more profitable and I continued to offer trades as well as invest my sales
monies in items that I knew would sell. The show circuit was fun and I got to
meet some wonderful dealers and customers. It was now that the botryoidal jade
pioneer Russ Satter (also known as Thea Surasu) appeared on my scene. He was a dynamic character and said he
liked my style, blatant honesty, and work ethic. He began to supply me with
some of the finest botryoidal jades I’d ever seen. Many people at shows said my
jade inventory was really fantastic. As my sons got older and didn’t want to
spend every weekend schlepping rocks with Dad, the show circuit became very
difficult. With lots of help, I opened our store, the Rock Stop, in a metal
warehouse on Hwy 128. I knew Russ had cancer and the next time I saw him he was
getting sicker. I had him move into my house and I cooked him great organic
meals, he played his guitar, taught me everything he could about jade. Russ
knew he was dying. I promised Russ I would mentor his son Thor. Russ made it
possible for me, a silent partner, and another never silent partner, to take
title to his jade bearing property that we now call “Jadeland”. Thor owns the
mining claims surrounding “Jadeland” so our relationship has always been
synergistic. Thor moved to my place for a couple of years and we learned a lot
together. He is now graduated from college in Oregon with a degree in Geology. We are very proud of him. So completes the
story of how I became JADED!
