Great Vendors At Show

By Karen Blisard - Club member and Vendor Manager

An exciting array of rocks, minerals, fossils, gems and jewelry will be on display at the Grant County Business and Conference Center Labor Day weekend.  The occasion is the 28^th Annual Grant County Rolling Stones Gem and Mineral Show.  There will be a total of 45 vendors, 13 of whom are new to the show.   Twelve of the vendors are from the Silver City area, and six are from Deming.  Vendors are coming from all over New Mexico, as well as from Texas, Arizona, California, Arkansas, and even from China.

Mineral and fossil specimens are an important part of every gem and mineral show.   Veteran dealer John Scully of Scully’s Minerals in Albuquerque offers a variety of specimens from New Mexico such as azurite, rainbow fluorite and Triassic cycad wood replaced by copper minerals.  He and his wife Laurie travel to places like Brazil, Namibia, Madagascar, Morocco, and the Dominican Republic to purchase specimens at the source.   Specimens include topaz, tourmaline, dioptase, Brandberg amethyst quartz, as well as many others.

One of the new vendors is Tom Hales of Tom Hales Minerals in Deming.  He features minerals and cutting rough from the USA, Mexico, Canada and many worldwide locations.   The minerals range in size from thumbnail specimens (over 2,000 in stock) to large cabinet specimens.  He specializes in Mexican minerals and has many rare and beautiful examples.

In addition, a group of mineral dealers from Jinan, China will provide a new source of exotic specimens.  The Jinan Chinese Mineral Trading Company specializes in gathering minerals directly from mines all over China.

A large selection of jewelry, both silver and gold, and featuring cabochons and faceted stones, will be on display.  Karen Blisard, of Radiant Gemstones in Silver City, is primarily a facetor of gemstones, and displays jewelry made with gemstones she has cut herself.  She also has a wide variety of rings and earrings featuring commercially faceted stones set in silver.

Another long-time vendor, Sharon Szymanski from SanTan, AZ, will be selling jewelry (fine as well as costume).  She also offers rock carvings from around the world, wood carvings from Bali, as well as collectibles for the home. 

For the lapidary enthusiasts, there will be rough material for cutting, as well as lapidary equipment and supplies.   For those who like to make their own jewelry, there will be all kinds of beads and pearls, and of course, faceted stones and finished cabochons.  

An exciting addition to the show is wildlife artist Tony Zenan from Cottonwood, AZ.  Tony paints beautiful portraits of animals and birds on slabs of agate and petrified wood.  Local artist Barbara Nance will be displaying rock carvings and sculptures.  

The show this year should be bigger and better than ever.  The show is open 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Saturday and Sunday September 3^rd and 4^th, and 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday September 5^th.

The members of the Grant County Rolling Stones look forward to seeing you there.