Published: Saturday, November 27, 2010, 10:44 PM
While hordes of holiday shoppers have been hitting the stores this weekend, others have been rocking out at the at the Gulf State Fairgrounds.
The 16th annual Jewelry, Gem & Mineral Show, which began Friday and wraps up today, features 36 vendors with jewelry, gems, minerals, fossils and more available for purchase.
Visitors can view florescent rocks, check out gem-cutting machinery and see numerous demonstrations. They are able to sift through dirt and "mine" for gems at one sluice, but new to this year’s show is another sluice where visitors can buy bags of dirt to sift for gold.
Blue agate, rose quartz and quartz crystal were among the gemstones 11-year-old Bradley Yates of Mobile bought Saturday. The Government Street Baptist School student proudly displayed two bags of gems.
Bradley said this was his third year attending the show. He said he likes coming "because it’s very fun. You get to find a bunch of beautiful rocks."
Fewer people had turned out through Saturday than organizers had hoped, said Jerry Shirey with the Mobile Rock and Gem Society, which puts on the show. Rainy weather and the Iron Bowl may have helped keep the turnout low Friday, he said. He said he was anticipating 1,000 to 1,200 people today, the final day of the event.
Typically, the three-day events draws from 3,000 to 3,500 visitors.
Julia Luke of Uriah and Nita Saxon of Citronelle attended the event Saturday for the first time. The women, along with 11-year-old Brook Elafosse of Chickasaw, who was attending the show for a second year, carefully examined gems in display cases.
"I came to check it out. I just started collecting gems, and wanted to find out more about it," Luke said.
The event offers a little of something for everyone, according to Shirey.
Fossil lovers will find fish and trilobites. For the non-squeamish, some of the more unusual items include pieces of petrified alligator poop and slices of coprolite (petrified dinosaur poop).
And if you’re in the market for an Edmontosaurus dinosaur tail that includes some vertebrae, tendons and skin, you’re in luck. But be prepared to pay a pretty penny for that prize. The dinosaur fossil, found earlier this year in Dawson County, Mont., will cost $6,000, said seller Keith Harmon of Stone Crystals in Tyler, Texas.
Bill Mitcham, of Kudzu Minerals of Fayetteville, Ga., is back for his fourth year selling a wide range stones, and said business has been good — better than at some other shows he has been to.
"Y’all are not in a depressed area," he said, adding that the economies in many other areas are struggling far more than in Mobile.
Craig Winter of Killeen, Texas, who has come to Mobile’s show for the past four or five years with an array of arrowheads and tomahawks, said his business has been a little slow this weekend. But he expressed confidence that it would pick up later Saturday and today.
With many gemstones and jewelry items to be had for $20, Shirey said the event is a good place for holiday shoppers looking for gifts. Most of the vendors are selling their products for half retail prices, he said.
In addition to showcasing collectors and artisans, part of the goal of the show is to get more young people interested in collecting and in joining the Mobile Rock and Gem Society, Shirey said. The group meets at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at 1324 Forest Dell Road. The group also holds workshops, he said.
Anyone interest in the society can visit its website at www.mobilerockandgem.com or all Shirey at 251-458-2867.
"I’ll talk to anyone about rocks," he said.
If you go:
Hours: Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Greater Gulf State Fairgrounds, Cody Road and Zeigler Boulevard
Admission: $3; children under 12 free
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