Why Competition? Why Not? Competing is part of our DNA. Competition is something we live with every day in school, our jobs, our sports, and our elections.
We will explore a bit of the history of mineral competition, starting with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS) in the 1950s. The focus will then move to the Tucson Show®, starting with the general Tucson Competition available to all collectors from the young to the most advanced of exhibitors. The concept of special trophies started in Tucson, and includes the Bideaux Trophy for the best Arizona specimen, the Lidstrom Trophy for the best single specimen contained within any competitive exhibit, the Yedlin Trophy for the best case of micromounts, the Best of Theme plaques for the various size and categories for this show theme related species and of course, the Desautels Trophy for the best case of minerals.
When one competes at Tucson, not only are you sharing your collection with the 18,000 attendees that frequent the Tucson Show®, but you will have your specimens judged by as knowledgeable and experienced a set of judges anywhere.
I hope to see you competing in Tucson in 2026 and beyond.
Please contact me at Presmyk@cox.net if you have any questions.
Les Presmyk retired eight years ago as the Principal Mining Engineer for Salt River Project, Arizona’s second largest electric utility. He and his wife, Paula, are Arizona natives and are both graduates of the University of Arizona. They just celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary. Les has been actively involved in his community of Gilbert, Arizona for over 30 years, serving in many capacities, the most recent being the Veterans Advisory Board.
Les started collecting at the age of 10 and just attended his 62nd straight Tucson Show. Their displays have received AFMS Regional and National Trophies, along with the Prospectors and Pearl Trophies in Denver and the Desautels, Lidstrom and Bideaux Trophies at the Tucson Show. They have been the featured exhibitors at the East Coast Gem & Mineral Show in Springfield, Massachusetts twice.
He is the immediate past president of the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society, is a former President of the Mineralogical Society of Arizona, current Chairman of the Flagg Mineral Foundation, a founding member of the University of Arizona Mineral Museum Advisory Board and appointed by Arizona Governor Ducey to the UArizona Mining, Mineral and Natural Resource Education Museum advisory board. He has served on the Tucson Show Committee for 39 years, including competitive exhibits and judging chairman for this entire period.
Les received the 2002 A. L. Flagg Distinguished Service Award, is a charter member of the 2014 Mineralogical Society of Arizona Hall of Fame, and the recipient of the 2017 Carnegie Mineralogical Award. In February of 2023, he was awarded the John S. White Mineral Legacy Award.
He has explored and collected in a number of localities in Arizona, Missouri and Mexico and provided engineering expertise at the San Francisco mine in Sonora, Mexico, the Brushy Creek mine in Missouri and the Red Cloud mine in Arizona. Les has written numerous articles and co-authored “Collecting Arizona”. He is an accomplished speaker as well.