PORT ANGELES — Millions of years of history will be on display this weekend during the 2016 Rock, Gem and Jewelry Show.
The show will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St.
Admission is free. Lunch will be available for purchase.
The show is sponsored by the Clallam County Gem &Mineral Association.
When it comes to the study of rocks and minerals, “we find it very exciting,” said Scott Thornhill, Clallam County Gem &Mineral Association president, on Wednesday.
The club particularly is interested in the varieties of rocks found on the Olympic Peninsula, he said.
“We find there are three or four very distinctive rocks out on the Peninsula,” he said.
“They are not the minerals or the gemstones, per se, but they are some very distinct rocks — the orbicular jasper, the turtle stone.
“In our club, we teach people how to work with [such] rocks and make it into cabochons, into jewelry, into artwork — whatever their interest is.”
Two featured speakers will be available to answer questions about collected rocks and where to find collectible specimens and to discuss the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a fault that stretches from Vancouver Island to Northern California.
Russel Boggs, who earned a bachelor’s degree in mineralogy from the University of Washington and completed master’s degree and doctorate programs at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will speak at 11 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday discussing “Minerals of the Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho.”
Geologist and rock club member Dann May of Peninsula College, also a UW graduate, will speak at 1 p.m. Saturday about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, in which interest was increased by the drill earlier this summer to prepare response to a massive quake expected sooner or later along the fault.
“There are a number of things going on,” Thornhill said.
“We have a kids corner where kids get to come in. We have different games for them to play, and they get to win rocks for every game they play.”
“Rock Alley” will provide activities and free rocks for kids while supplies last.
Additionally, “we have a number of vendors that come in that will be selling rough rock, collector jewelry and will have some used equipment for sale [for] people interested in getting started,” Thornhill said.
“That is a good way for them to pick up some equipment and get started at home.”
There also will be lapidary demos and raffle prizes provided by vendors and club members.
“We have a number of raffle items,” Thornhill said.
“People can buy tickets and win some very nice raffle prizes.”
For more information, call 360-417-4523.
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Features Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at cmcdaniel@ peninsuladailynews.com.
Barbara Deese of Port Angeles looks over a table filled with crystals and minerals during last year’s Rock and Gem Show at Vern Burton Community Center in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
The 2016 Rock, Gem and Jewelry Show will take place Saturday and Sunday in Port Angeles. Featured rocks will include orbicular jasper, such as that seen here from Madagascar. (Wikimedia Commons)
The 2016 Rock, Gem and Jewelry Show will take place Saturday and Sunday in Port Angeles. Featured rocks will include orbicular jasper, such as that seen here in the Bucegi Mountains of Romania. (Wikimedia Commons)
