DeeDeeite, DeeDee Magri & Me

Today I was in attendance at Day One of the 45th annual Orcutt Mineral Society club show (a.k.a. the "Nipomo rockshow") held nowadays in Nipomo, CA, at the new high school there. The high point of my day was my introduction to and visit with DeeDee Magri, esteemed member of the Orcutt Mineral Society and namesake of the locally-famous agate varietal christened DeeDeeite.

DeeDee found the material quite by accident while exploring the general area near the small quarry near the east end of the beach at Avila Beach, CA, generally near where DeeDee lived at the time. She subsequently shared her discovery which is now enjoyed by the Central Coast rockhounding community. No local mineral collection is complete without a decent specimen of DeeDeeite.

DeeDee now lives in the Bay Area but still finds time to regularly reconnect with her OMS family such as during this annual show. DeeDee wrote an informative piece entitled "Avila Rhyolite (aka DeeDeeite)" in the June 2005 edition of the OMS Newsletter Ore-cutts.

Updates: This morning I discovered that DeeDee got her exploits in Two Women Discover Unique Rock On Avila Beach in the Lompoc Record. Lastly, I thank DeeDee for the beautiful piece of DeeDeeite she gave me at the Nipomo Show this past weekend.

DeeDee holding the below piece of DeeDeeite she found.

DeeDeeite with botryoidal chalcedony and agate.

Another view of the same piece of DeeDeeite.

Polished free form of DeeDeeite.

Close-up of above free form.

DeeDeeite display case at this weekend's Orcutt Mineral Society show in Nipomo, CA.

Three spheres of DeeDeeite showing some of the variety found within this material. Note the middle sphere contains marcasite and in general looks rather much like Nipomo Agate of the marcasitic variety which is the most-prized.

Close-up of one of the three DeeDeeite spheres in the club display case.

Polished DeeDeeite free form showing agate.

Polished DeeDeeite surface showing brecciated rhyolite in chalcedony "gel".

Polished slice of marcasitic DeeDeeite reminiscent of the marcasitic variety of Nipomo Agate.

Another polished surface of DeeDeeite showing the brecciated pattern of the rhyolite and chalcedony fill.

Rough chunk of DeeDeeite with DeeDeeite pendant featuring a wire-wrapped pendant of the same material created by OMS-member Sharon Duncan.

Orcutt Mineral Society member Sharon Duncan also created this DeeDeeite pendant as well as the one below,

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).