With a desire to fill the needs of local rockhounds, the Marysville Rock and Gem Club (MRCG) was organized in October, 1963, in Marysville, Washington. Thirty adults and nine juniors signed a charter to become a rock club. The MRCG was incorporated on June 23, 1967. In 2017, we will be celebrating our club’s 54th year in encouraging interest and joy in rocks and minerals!
The objective of the MRGC is to bring together those persons who have chosen as their hobby, the collection of rocks, minerals, and fossils; the practice of lapidary arts including jewelry-making; and methods of display, and to encourage the study of related earth sciences.
Members of the Marysville club represent a wide range of expertise in prospecting, geology, mineralogy, and the various lapidary arts such as jewelry-making, silversmithing, and faceting. Advice is always at hand for any who ask, and many members also teach classes. We enjoy sharing what we love to do! If you don’t know what it is you are specifically interested in or how to go about it, come visit us! We will be more than happy to help you explore and learn at your own speed!
Our club welcomes members of all ages. While we do not currently have a Junior program, we would welcome and support anyone with the dedication and interest to become a Junior Leader. Our club’s annual show has a large section dedicated to children’s activities.
We enjoy going on field trips as often as possible and sharing those adventures in our monthly meetings. Special field trips requiring an overnight are occasionally organized so that club members really have an opportunity to get to know each other.
Attending local rock shows and supporting our fellow rock clubs is a favorite year-round activity of many of the members. We often carpool to these shows and get together for a meal before or after; displaying our “silver pickings” (stuff we bought at the show), and catching up with news in the hobby or local events. Some members will also wander farther afield and attend rock shows out-of-state, then report back to the club with their findings and recommendations. Many members will attend the yearly Northwest Federation Annual Show, held in a different location and often state, every year. This show is a three-day event and often eagerly awaited.
Lapidary: adj: relating to stone and gems and the work involved in cutting, polishing or engraving or, noun: a person who cuts, polishes, or engraves rocks, or gems.