The Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society’s 65th Annual Show is scheduled for Feb. 24-25 at the Trade Mart on the Mississippi State Fairgrounds in Jackson.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25. 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. Whether you just pick up interesting rocks in the driveway and want to learn more, or you are an avid fossil collector, the show provides an opportunity to learn about rocks and fossils across the state and around the world, and add to your collection. If gems put a sparkle in you eye, prepare to be bedazzled. Vendors offering everything from fine jewelry to affordable, cute fashion jewelry for kids will be at the show. And if you make jewelry, the show’s variety is the place to inspect every strand and stock up for future projects and get lots of ideas. Twenty-seven vendors from across the country will display and sell gems and jewelry and the wonders of naturally formed fossils and minerals.
There’s always a line stretching around the crowd favorite Geode Gallery, which cracks open nature’s wonders that were thousands of yeas in the making. Geode Gallery, operated by the Sandstrom family from Davenport, Iowa, has been a cornerstone (pun intended) among show vendors for decades. Fossil vendors are expected to offer everything from dinosaur droppings – the scientific term is “coprolites” – to fern and fish fossils to the ubiquitous Moroccan orthoceras.
Local artifact and fossil collector Jeff McCraw, who owns the Artifact Shack private museum near Bay Springs, will display some of his finest specimens, including an array of Ice Age fossils. Whether it’s prehistoric whale vertebra or mastodon or mammoth tusks and teeth, Jeff has collected them and loves to show and talk about them.
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 labeled rock and mineral collection, and MGMS members Vonda and Ken Echols have expanded the collection to include a section of native Mississippi rocks.
There also will be hands-on craft creations for children. One of the most popular is gem tree making. Children make a gem tree using wire and gem chips or beads. Adults can enjoy watching talented jewelry artists as they demonstrate techniques in beading, wire wrapping, gem faceting, cabochon making and other lapidary work throughout the show.
People with an interest in archaeology, geology and paleontology will have an opportunity to talk with professionals and students in those disciplines. The Mississippi Archaeological Association, 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 mgmsshow@missgems.org and follow the group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/missgems/.
Photos from previous shows are available if you need art.
The Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society, founded in 1957, promotes knowledge and enjoyment of activities related to the earth sciences. MGMS members include amateurs and professionals with a wide range of earth science and artistic interests. To learn about MGMS membership, visit the website at www.missgems.org.