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closeRock hounds galore at rock fair
Puyallup Valley Gem and Mineral Club hosts annual event at Fruitland Grange
Chris Albert
For the rock hound, jewelry maker and fossil enthusiast, the Puyallup Valley Gem and Mineral Club is the place to be.
The club will host its annual rock fair from June 6-8 at the Fruitland Grange on South Hill.
The annual event will feature a variety of vendors, learning opportunities, demonstrations, buckets of material to purchase and even a children’s zone for young rock enthusiasts to get some hands-on experience.
“There’s a lot of things you can do with rocks,” said Dana James, club member and event organizer.
Many of the people who go to the event find themselves aching to get in the dirt and find some rocks after leaving.
“They want to go out and dig for rocks and hunt for rocks,” James said.
The event is not only a place where interested people become members, but also helps fund some of the club activities.
The six foot high Space Needle model will also be on display. It is made completely of cut and polished rocks and has a working elevator. It was originally built in the 1960s and has recently been refurbished.
It’s an example of the many things that can be done with rocks and the diverse example really gets potential rock hounds interested in joining the club fun.
People find their way to the club in a variety of ways, but the annual event they host really sparks people’s interest whether it is learning, hunting or honing in on jewelry making skills with gems and minerals.
Jim Nicholls joined the club 12 yeas ago when he went to a jewelry exhibit with his wife.
“I tagged along behind her,” he said.
He wasn’t impressed with what he saw and got to thinking, “I could do better than that,” since rocks have been a part of his life and fill up as much space as his house allows.
“Since I’ve started rock hounding, my two car garage has never seen a car,” Nicholls said. “Everyone has their wood pile. Their petrified wood pile, that is.
“It (the club) offers a real variety of things to do and you don’t have to be artistic or things like that and you can make really beautiful things.”
The club was established in 1946 and with more than 100 members it is a great source of knowledge. Help in learning about all types of rocks is only an established club member away.
“And the older people will bend over backward (to help),” said Ken Graves, a club member.
“There’s a lot of knowledge in this group,” said club president Brett Lawrence.
For as much knowledge and experience members gain from club activities the camaraderie and sharing experience with non-rock hounds is something they cherish most.
The club meets twice a month at the grange and conducts at least one to two field trips a year. Club meetings range from planning events to learning from experts about a particular gem or mineral. And once a month the members bring in a featured item for show and tell.
Gem and mineral clubs in this area are a dying breed, Nicholls said.
“There aren’t many left,” he said.
But the Puyallup club has continued to thrive with its members eyeing the future. There’s a junior section of the club where the curious tyke or teen can get their nose to the grindstone and learn about everything rock related, from what to look for, how to find it, how to cut it, clean it and mount it in jewelry.
“The future of the club depends on kids that are coming,” Nicholls said.
Outreach has always been a big part of the club and its members are always eager to talk to scout troops, classrooms or anywhere they are invited.
Young people always have 10,000 questions, Nicholls said, and having a guest speaker talk about geology with real experience is exciting for the students and the speaker.
When Nicholls speaks he likes to bring a bag of tumbled rock for the children to take home and get them on their way to being rock hounds.
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Annual Rock Fair
The Puyallup Valley Gem and Mineral Club will host its annual rock fair June 6-8 at the Fruitland Grange, 112th and 86th streets in Puyallup.
> The fair will run from noon to 5 p.m. Friday, June 6; from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 7 and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 8.
> For more information about the fair, e-mail info@puyallupgemclub.org or go to the Web site at www.puyallupgemclub.org.
> The Puyallup Valley Gem and Mineral Club meets at 7:30 p.m. the second and fourth Fridays of each month at the Fruitland Grange. To find out more information about joining, e-mail info@puyallupgemclub.org or go to www.puyallupgemclub.org.