For Anna Calkins, it was the lure of silversmithing and her status of being newly retired with more time to devote to fun.
For others, Calkins said, the reasons for being interested in rocks and gems, and beyond that, for joining the Marysville Rock &Gem Club, are as varied as the day is long.
“Some come for the camaraderie of the group and the fun of the trips; some come to learn, as I did, and some come for other reasons,” she said, adding that besides all that, rocks and gems simply make for a fun hobby.
The people devoted to this work will bring the fruits of their labor, including jewelry and polished stones, as well as the various necessary tools, to the 33rd annual Gem and Mineral Show. They will be on hand from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Marysville’s Totem Middle School. The event is also called the Gem and Jewelry Show.
This year’s demonstrators are expected to come from Puyallup, Renton and Canada, demonstrating the far-reaching popularity of stone work and collecting. The demonstrators will show various techniques, such as shaping, grinding and polishing, and will answer guests’ questions and identify objects that visitors bring from home.
The majority of the rock and gem club’s members, Calkins said, are highly knowledgeable on a range of topics, adding that one member once was a geology professor at Everett Community College.
This weekend’s free show will be a feast for visitors’ eyes as well as a source of nonstop activity, with a raffle, hourly door prizes, a silent auction, numerous display cases, and kids’ activities such as a prize wheel.
Calkins, who joined the group in 1999 and is now the show and club’s publicity chairwoman, took a silversmithing class when she retired. She decided that if she was going to be serious about doing that, she’d better learn more about stone-cutting techniques and other basic principles of the work.
“It’s really kind of an overlapping thing, because a gem can be any kind of a stone, and stones come from rocks; and while rocks may be full of crystals, there are also minerals in the rocks that can be used to make jewelry,” she said, adding that many precious stones are mined, so the stone cutter is working with minerals around the stone, and there are keys to doing so correctly.
To show visitors just how complex gems and stones can be, part of the venue will be devoted to approximately 38 display cases, each 2 feet high by 2 feet deep by 4 feet long. The display will include opals, stones used in jewelry making, stones cut to display the inside and outside, and much more.
The raffle, whose proceeds are put into a scholarship fund for a college student studying earth sciences, will offer items such as money clips, bookends, knives with stone handles, various jewelry pieces and more.
The Marysville Rock and Gem Club meets from 7 to 9 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month at the barn in Jennings Park, 6915 Armar Road, Marysville. Information about the group will be available at the show, but anyone who cannot attend the show can get details by calling 425-422-8575 or 360-572-0751. In addition to details about the club, a youth section of the group, called Northwest Rockies, will offer maps of local collecting areas and digging sites for purchase at the show.
Marysville Rock &Gem Club
What: 33rd annual Gem and Jewelry Show
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Where: Totem Middle School cafeteria, 1605 Seventh St., Marysville
Cost: Free admission, raffle tickets $1 each, food will be available for purchase
More information: 425-422-8575, 360-629-2515, www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/3505
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