(Nathan Ferraro / Fourth Estate)
Collectors and amateur enthusiasts alike enthralled by worldwide mineral specimens
BY NATHAN FERRARO, MANAGING EDITOR
While many Northern Virginia families will be heading to one of several holiday markets in the region as the festive season approaches, a unique holiday shopping opportunity has just made its way to Mason from Nov. 22 to Nov. 23.
Several hundred attendees could be found yesterday exploring the Northern Virginia Mineral Club’s 33rd Annual Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show at Dewberry Hall.
The event’s first day brought nearly 20 mineral sellers and hundreds of community members, local children and Mason students to campus. Organizers expect just as many, if not more, attendees today between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., where there will be a silent auction in addition to the event’s other attractions.
Available for purchase are raw and carved minerals, gems, fossils, figurines, jewelry and other accessories from all over the world priced anywhere between $1 and $1,000.
The show also has an expansive children’s section, complete with games, quizzes and hands-on learning exhibits.
Alan Benson, 36, has been collecting minerals since he was 7 and running a mineral-selling business since he was 14.
Though he and his wife Elise live in New Jersey, they have been driving to Fairfax for the Northern Virginia Mineral Club’s annual show for nearly 20 years.
“For us, it’s not too far,” he said, adding that they regularly travel to western U.S. states and overseas for mineral shows.
“It exposes you to a lot of different cultures,” Benson said about the mineral selling business.
He and his wife recently returned from a trip to a mineral and fossil show in Germany.
He said that, for him, mineral collecting was a hobby that turned into a life-long business: Alan’s Quality Minerals LLC.
His bestsellers are fluorite and quartz, though his favorite mineral is rhodochrosite. He said despite the higher price point of his minerals compared to other vendors in Dewberry, there are some shows where his prices are the bargains.
(Nathan Ferraro / Fourth Estate)
Ken Rock, of Rock’s Rocks & Minerals, was another seller present Saturday.
Rock, the editor of the Mineralogical Society of the District of Columbia’s newsletter, said going on geology field trips in college “ignited” his interest in geology and minerals.
He has been collecting minerals since college, though he has only begun selling them recently.
“A lot of these [specimens] I’ve had for so long I can’t remember what I’ve paid,” he said.
Across from Rock’s table was the Mineralogical Society of the District of Columbia’s table. Club President Dan Teich said all purchases made at their table will fund scholarships for students and donations to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Department of Mineral Sciences.
Tom Taaffe, the Northern Virginia Mineral Club’s show chair, said he witnessed a lot of good energy from attendees and sellers both Saturday afternoon and the day before, during set-up.
He described the show as a “traditional club show with mostly collectors.”
Those collectors include people from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Delaware, according to the show’s webpage. Highlights of the collectors’ selections include agates from Mexico, Germany and Indonesia, amethysts from Brazil and Uruguay and garnets from Afghanistan.
“Variety is what we’re after,” Taaffe said.
The mineral club also exhibits not-for-sale minerals at the show, including fossil plants, garnets, Michigan copper samples, geologic bubble samples, meteorite mineral samples and mineral finds from the club’s field trips to quarries, nature sites and museums.
(Nathan Ferraro / Fourth Estate)
Describing the effort it takes to plan such a large annual event, Taaffe said he was grateful for the support of Mason staff and the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, who sponsored the event.
Jules Goldspiel, an instructional assistant professor who teaches geology and hydrology, served as the liaison for coordinating this year’s mineral show.
GMU Geology Club President Parker Hagerty said he and his club have worked closely with Goldspiel, the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences and the Northern Virginia Mineral Club to execute this year’s show.
The club helped collectors set up their displays all day on Friday, Hagerty said.
The senior Geology major said he had to set a spending limit for himself, knowing that he would be working at the show all weekend.
He also spoke about the exciting aspects of the event, including the increase in educational activities for children.
“A lot more passion is being put into these sorts of extracurricular activities,” Hagerty said, highlighting the importance of holding more on-campus events at Mason.
The Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show is free for Mason students and staff and all children under 12. Regular admission for adults is $6, seniors is $4 and teenagers is $3.
The Northern Virginia Mineral Club will be auctioning off several items today, including a mineral LEGO set.
EDITOR’S NOTE: An error was corrected in which Northern Virginia Mineral Club show chair Tom Taaffe was mistakenly referred to as “Tom Taafe.” (Sunday, Nov. 23, 1:12 p.m.)
