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The Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society’s 66th Annual Show is scheduled for Feb. 22-23 at the Trade Mart on the Mississippi State Fairgrounds in Jackson.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. Admission is $8 for adults and $3 for students. Scouts and Scout leaders in uniform get $2 admission. Children 5 and younger get in free.
As one of the state’s largest and longest running rock and gem events, the two-day family-oriented show has something for everyone. Twenty-eight vendors will pack the Trade Mart. A dazzling array of jewelry is always part of the show. Whether it’s fine jewelry or children’s trinkets, shoppers will find something to fit their taste and budget.
The show offers jewelry makers an opportunity to shop and stock up on beads, gems, findings and tools. Jewelry artists also will demonstrate techniques in beading, wire wrapping, gem faceting, cabochon making and other lapidary work throughout the show.
The show provides an opportunity to learn about rocks and fossils across the state and around the world, and add to your collection. Stones & Bones of Franklin, North Carolina, will return with a collection true to its name. The Geode Gallery, operated by the Sandstrom family from Davenport, Iowa, is a crowd favorite with plenty of pre-cut and polished geodes and piles of whole geodes to be cracked while you watch.
Local artifact and fossil collector Jeff McCraw, who owns the Artifact Shack private museum near Bay Springs, will display some of his finest specimens. Jeff’s collection isn’t for sale, but he loves to show and talk about the Ice Age mastodon and mammoth molars and tusks, whale vertebra and other fossils.
While most displays are “handle with care” or “don’t touch,” the Touch and See Table invites kids and adults alike to hold nature’s wonders in their own hands. Longtime MGMS member James Amason started the carefully curated rock and mineral collection, and MGMS members Vonda and Ken Echols have expanded the collection to include a section of native Mississippi rocks. Ken also oversees a scavenger hunt, which challenges show goers to scout the Trade Mart for answers to a set of questions about rocks, minerals, fossils and gems.
Children can enjoy other hands-on crafts. One of the most popular is gem tree making. MGMS members make the wire frames in advance, and children thread on gem chips or beads.
Education has always been an important part of the show. Geologists, paleontologists and other scientists as well as college students in those disciplines will answer questions about their fields. The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, the Office of Geology of the state Department of Environmental Quality, and instructors and students from the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi will have displays. Flint knapping enthusiasts will show how arrows, bow drills and other stone tools were made.
For more information, e-mail Show Chairman Greg Britt at mgban31@yahoo.com, call Greg at 601-278-3997, visit the MGMS website at https://missgems.org/ and follow the group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/missgems/.
The Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society, founded in 1957, promotes knowledge and enjoyment of activities related to the earth sciences. MGMS offers a classroom grant funding program to further the education of students in the field to earth sciences. Funds are limited. An application form may be found on the MGMS website at https://missgems.org/grant/.
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