It is hard to believe that the Raft River Rockhounds Club only started one year ago.
With 51 members and growing, we have accomplished many things in our first year, including hosting the BC Summer Camp at the Overlander Campground in Little Fort, with approximately 150 people from other clubs across B.C.
We have had numerous field trips in the North Thompson Valley. We found red garnets at Silence Lake, rhodonite in Joseph Creek, purple fluorite in the Foghorn, and panned for gold up Eaten Creek - just too many to mention.
We held the first club show on Canada Day with a huge turnout and many events - gold panning demonstrations, “dig your treasure” and rock painting for children, a barbeque, popcorn sponsored by Home Hardware, cake donated by the District of Clearwater, live music, silent auction and more. Numerous vendors sold cookbooks, artist prints, Canada Day balloons, fudge, old fashioned candy, native crafts, herbs, one of a kind mosaic pieces, fortune teller, a medicine woman from Valemount, fresh vegetables, jewelry from 100 Mile House, lapidary equipment for sale from Burnaby, local jewelry, and Discover Gemstones from Edmonton, selling gemstones, minerals and crystals. Local musicians kept the place rocking’ with their talents.
The club’s Christmas party was held at Flour Meadow Bakery with an old fashioned steak BBQ.
Our annual general meeting will be held on Jan. 20, in the Evergreen Acres meeting room, 7 p.m.
Membership includes fees that go to BC Lapidary Club for insurance and other expenses. BC Lapidary society is a non-profit organization founded to encourage and promote the lapidary hobby in British Columbia. The organization consists of 30 member clubs with a membership of approximately 1,500 people who collect rocks, minerals, crystals and fossils. The Society presents an annual BC Gem and Mineral Show in April, which is well supported by clubs from across the province, plus numerous dealers from across North America. The society organizes two major field trips, Rockhound Rendezvous in May each year (this year Princeton) and the Summer Camp (this year on Texada Island) to explore our beautiful province.
Join us and experience a new way of looking at the Earth, and our place on it. Explore stunning backcountry areas, hunt rocks and minerals, and learn to work and set gemstones. Expand your horizons, open your mind. It’s an exciting place out there!
Everyone is welcome to join or come and see what we have to offer.