New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
No vitamins, but plenty of minerals at this show
Annual event at Big E’s Better Living Center
If you whet your whistle on the New Haven Mineral Club’s annual show this spring, you can indulge, gorge and/or splurge at the East Coast summer version just an hour up I-91 in West Springfield, Mass., this Friday through Sunday.
There is much to behold in these geological byproducts that are millions of years in the making. Eyepopping rocks in vivid colors and crystal shapes so jagged, alien-looking or perfect (the cubic, gold pyrite crystals) that you can’t imagine how they formed.
Rock hounds, New Age folks, children with an interest in Earth science and the just plain curious will
enjoy these shows of colorful rocks, gems and fossils at the East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show at the Big E’s Better Living Center.
Regina Aumente, assistant show manager for LLD Productions, Inc., which runs the show in its 31st year, said in an email that the show typically draws about 9,000 visitors.
“A healthy economy combined with increasing interest in ‘natural’ products, and enjoyment of outdoor activities for the whole family, are making shows like this more popular than ever,” she said.
We’ve been to the show the past two years and it’s always a treasure of mindblowing minerals — some small as a grape and others the size of a watermelon or giant pumpkin. Kids can spend 50 cents on tumbled stones or a little more on a cheap mineral specimen.
For adults, you can lay out $20-$50 to start or add to a collection for your mantle shelf. There are also some stunning items best housed in a lighted, mirror-backed display case and costing from several hundred dollars to $50,000, say organizers.
If you know any rock hounds, you know they will go anywhere to dig around construction sites or old mines on the chance of finding cool crystals or minerals. Gems are a little bit much to find for newbies, but we do know two college students who made a trip to Herkimer, New York, recently to collect some Herkimer diamonds (OK, they’re not actually diamonds but double-terminated quartz crystals discovered within exposed outcrops of dolostone in and around Herkimer County).
Rock hounds don’t like to miss this show, where they can buy, trade or just talk rocks. Casual fans will be amazed at the thousands of specimens for gawking or purchase — from azurite to zeolite.
There’s always one ridiculously rich collection on display near the entrance and this year it’s the David & Karen DeBruin Collection. The DeBruins have been collecting minerals for almost 40 years and been involved with mineral shows and the club in their Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, area, says the trade show’s website.
As they gained more minerals and experience, the DeBruins have branched out to exhibiting at major shows in Cincinnati, Tucson and Denver. They specialize in Midwest minerals, galenas, quartz, Wisconsin specimens and apophyllite. Karen will also display her striking collection of intarsias by Eugene Mueller (a stack of very thin sections of various minerals sandwiched together to create the painting-like images).
Speakers include Bob Jones on “Bristol, CT Mining,” Marty Zinn on “Why Do Minerals Cost So Much?” Dudley Blauwet on “Tourmaline of Northern Viet Nam” and Kevin Downey on “Chasing Fine Minerals in China.”
There will be 140 retail and 60 wholesale vendors (including artisans and crafters) from around the world at the event, including Connecticut Valley Mineral Club, Ethiopian Opal Exporter, Geologic Desires, PhatRocks, The Tourmaline Guys, Unique Russian Minerals and Yankee Mineral and Gem Co. And there is a long waiting list to get vendor space at the event, say organizers.
In addition to the acres of display space you can peruse, there is a huge wholesale area which offers discounts for other vendors. But you may be able to get in there if you know a vendor.
There’s also a snack bar. Hey, a hound’s gotta eat.