East Texas Gem and Mineral Society member Linda Carter of Jacksonville picks out rocks to use during a work day held at Bullard Church of Christ Saturday Jan. 9, 2016. The East Texas Gem and Mineral Society Show Gemstone & Jewelry Showcase will be held January 22, 23 and 24 at the Tyler Rose Garden Center. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

 

From exquisite jewels that take our breath away to odd-shaped stones that cause us to smile, rocks have the undeniable ability to amaze and amuse.

Rocks in their many shapes and colors and those who practice lapidary arts will be featured at the 20th Annual Gemstone and Jewelry Show, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 24 at Tyler Rose Garden, 420 Rose Park Drive.

The show is presented by the East Texas Gem and Mineral Society. Admission is $5 for adults and $1 for children and students.

“What we do at the show is have vendors who bring in all aspects of the hobby from rough rock to polished rock, to mineral specimens, to fossils, to jewelry from inexpensive pretty items to fine jewelry that is very expensive, to home decorator items,” Keith Harmon, show chairman, said.

Participants will demonstrate the skills involved cutting and polishing stones for jewelry, wire wrapping and panning for gold. Some will sell equipment and supplies.

“There is usually a crowd watching the geodes get opened because the geodes are all different and beautiful,” Harmon said. “There is a wheel of fortune that the kids can spin for 50 cents and win a prize every time. There is a silent auction that has a variety of items that folks bid on and win every half hour.”

Visitors also can enter a drawing to win an amethyst.

Among displays will be the Rock Food Table, which looks like a dinner setting of food but is made entirely of rocks.

Harmon has been admiring and collecting rocks for decades. He took up the hobby to have a shared interest with his young son.

“As my son grew older his interest increased, and he wanted to become a geologist,” he said. “His mother told him to get me interested in what he was doing if he wanted me to help him. He did. He found some very pretty mineral specimens and brought them home and gave them to me. It was my first true introduction to the beauty of rocks and minerals.”

His interest eventually led him to the East Texas Gem and Mineral Society.

“My wife and I joined the club and started to learn more and more in spite of ourselves,” he said. “As my collection started to grow and I wanted to purchase better specimens than I had found, my wife told me to sell the old ones before I could buy new ones. That was how I got started in the gem and mineral business. That was over 25 years ago and I am still at it.”

Harmon said that the study of “earth’s treasures” is never ending.

“It is amazing to me that I still see things and learn new things constantly in this hobby that astound me, he said. And it is a hobby that can be as large or small as one wants to make it. The thrill of taking a rough stone and cutting and polishing it yourself into a beautiful piece of art or jewelry is impossible to describe. This is a hobby that literally can be enjoyed ones entire life.”

The club has the show each way to raise money to build a workshop at which members can practice their craft. The club meets at 6:45 p.m. on the first Monday of each month at the Discovery Science Place, 308 N. Broadway Ave., in Tyler.