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Fairfield to host gem and mineral show Oct. 14-15
FAIRFIELD — Fairfield’s Sac & Fox Lapidary Club will hold its annual “Rocktoberfest” gem, mineral and lapidary show Oct. 14-15 at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.
The event will last from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15. The event is free and open to the public.
Club member Dennis Kossow said attendees can expect to find jewelry, mineral specimens, fossils, polished stones, geodes and crystals at this year’s show. Club member Mike Messer said the club is experimenting with something new this year, and that is a fossil activity for children. Kids will be dig for fossils in a kiddie pool filled with sand.
Messer said he hopes the gem, mineral and lapidary show can be another way for the club to connect with the community, in addition to the regular programs it puts on throughout the year.
“Just this year, I’ve done presentations for over 400 kids in Winfield, Mt. Pleasant, Salem and New London,” Messer said. “Boy Scouts and other clubs have had me come to give a talk, and we also do geode cracking parties.”
Kossow said that people from all over Southeast Iowa will bring something to show off at this year’s event. Jeff Pohren is traveling all the way from Omaha, Nebraska for the show. Pohren is from Washington, Iowa, and comes back to the area a few times a year. He became friends with Messer when the two were attending Northeast Missouri State, and that’s when they started hunting for rocks.
Messer taught school in Texas for 30 years and is now retired, giving him more time to add to his rock collection. He said he’s taken a number of field trips to hunt for rocks in West Texas and New Mexico, and loves to learn about how there are different kinds of gems and minerals in different parts of the world. For instance, Texas is known for its deposits of agates and jasper stones. Pohren said that he likes to visit Arkansas to hunt for quartz.
“There’s also a lot of stuff that comes from out of the country, places where we’ll never get to collect,” Pohren said, mentioning that a precious stone like Blue Lace Agate is found mostly in the African nation of Namibia.
Messer and Pohren make jewelry from the rocks they find. Pohren said he does the “grunt” part and that Messer adds the “finesse.”
“You’re not going to make minimum wage selling jewelry like that,” Pohren said.
“It’s more for the love of the craft and seeing what you can create out of it,” Messer said.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
