Next Meeting Information
Monday, April 14th, 2025 at 7:00 PM
See email messages from the club secretary to all current members for announcements about meeting locations & dates - Any changes to schedules & locations will be provided as needed in these communications
Regular monthly meetings will be held at Bridgewater Baptist Church on Route 42. The address for your GPS is 5568 John Wayland Highway (Route 42), Dayton VA 22821
See here for directions
Our next meeting is on April 14 at 7 pm at the Bridgewater Baptist Church.
We will do an informative "Getting to know you" meeting. We would like members to share when & why they joined our club, and share some highlights of personal travels and collections.
To celebrate 🐣 Easter, 🐰 we're asking you to bring a mineral that starts with an "E".
We will also have another "give-away" of fossils from Marcia Morris and some minerals from the personal collection of Will Crowder.
The shop will be open on Saturday April 19 from 9 am to noon.
Only 1 person has notified me of cases they have. I need to know who has display cases that we use at the show. We are doing an inventory and need to get labels to you.THANKS!
Upcoming events/actions:
The club’s rock workshop sessions are happening again! We decided that the shop will be open on the Saturday after each meeting - this is to return to the original rock shop scheduling of it being on the Saturday after the club meeting, whenever the club meeting is held. If more interest is shown, we may go back to opening it twice a month.This year's Gem. Mineral & Jewelry Show is September 19-21, 2025 - Mark your calendars!
-May 10 - MARK YOUR CALENDAR! We are going to Keezletown to have a silent auction at a private home. There will be over 200 individual specimens, several sets with a variety of specimens, polished cabs, some larger pieces that can be cut and more. These specimens are from all over the world and are high quality. More details later, but you will be invited to bring a friend, and all sales will be cash only and final.
- Ed Stuart has confirmed June 7 for our trip to Graves Mountain/Rose River to search for unakite. There will be a $10 parking fee and will be from 9 am to early afternoon. More details to follow.
- Cindy asked for volunteers to set up an educational booth at Grand Caverns for their family day on June 7th. We'll discuss this at the meeting.
-An educational volunteer opportunity - The head of the fair has contacted me and is asking if we want to set up a booth. We'll discuss this at our meeting.
The Louisa County Agricultural Fair is set for July 31st- August 31st, 2025 at Walton Park in Mineral, VA.
A primary goal of the fair is to offer educational activities for both adults and children. We want our community to know, understand, and appreciate how agriculture affects their lives and our local economy. Our Children’s Tent uses creative games to engage children, offers story time and learning opportunities galore. Programming for adult education has included everything from chainsaw and lawnmower operation safety to beekeeping and gardening. Our previous fairs have featured programs like sawmill demonstration, wooden spoon making, beekeeping, conservation police, small engine demonstration, and blacksmith demonstrations. We plan to continue programming like these at the 2025 fair.
While attending the Virginia Association of Fairs conference in January, we learned of a concept other local Agricultural Fairs use called the "Ag-tivity Zone". The zone is utilized for children and adults to learn hands-on about all different aspects of Agriculture including rocks and minerals. When our board members returned and started thinking about what would be a good addition for our fair, we thought that including a rock and mineral club would be exciting since our fair is held in Mineral, VA which was a thriving mining town and the center of gold mining in Louisa County! In addition to the concept of our "Ag-Tivity Zone" we have a "Heritage Hill" stage where we are looking to bring in groups that tie into our Louisa County heritage including blacksmith displays, cross-cut saws, the historical society and more!
If anyone in your club is interested in coming out to our fair, please let me know and we can get together to specify down more details!
Thanks in advance for your consideration!! Lauren
Field trips:
- Ed Stuart has confirmed June 7 for our trip to Graves Mountain/Rose River to search for unakite. There will be a $10 parking fee and will be from 9 am to early afternoon. More details to follow.Ed sent me a list of items he is working on, such as contacting other clubs, gaining information from mines & quarries, as well as private locations. If anyone has any contact information (or other club trips) or suggestions of places - KY, WV, MD, PA, VA, please contact Ed at stuart.el@outlook.com. .
Looking Ahead:
FYI - If Rockingham County Public Schools are closed for inclement weather on a meeting day, our meeting will be canceled. The club secretary will try to send out an email ASAP that day, and an announcement will be posted on the club’s Facebook page.Thanks for your understanding; we want everyone to be safe.