04/30/2026
May 2026 Meeting Highlights
April showers did bring May flowers, and we are finally getting some sunshine and warmer weather. May also brings a great meeting stuffed full of fun and excitement!! Come and enjoy a wonderful meeting this month where we can close the doors, take a few deep breaths, and leave the world and all our concerns outside the doors for a couple of hours.
We have a wonderful presentation put on by our own Blaine Thornton. Blaine will be bringing in some wonderful artifacts from his collection and will be talking about ancient axes and other stone tools.
The juniors will be having a great program put on by Ammy Day, our wonderful Junior’s Program Coordinator. The juniors will continue to be working toward earning their Federation badges. This month they’re learning about fossils.
Bring your Show-and-Tell items to show off the treasures in your collection. The cash prize, plus a cigar box full of goodies out of Victor’s old collection, could be yours!!
Those with juniors, make sure they bring something for Show-and-Tell as we have a separate drawing, so they get a chance to win a wonderful prize.
May Silent Auction will be one you do not want to miss!! We will continue donating the funds from this auction to Ed Molsee’s family, who lost their house to a fire. Ed was a long-term member of our Rock Club family and was well known throughout the Jade collecting community. We are again asking members to bring items to be auctioned. This will be a wonderful way for our club to help Terry and Della try to rebuild their lives…
We need goodies!!! A special thank you to those that are bringing snacks and food to the meetings. However, our meetings are getting huge, and we are running out of food…. Remember, happy bellies mean happy members. Let’s overwhelm Joanne in the kitchen this month where she needs to set up another table to hold everything!!
On another note, if any member has other ideas about the meeting, please contact me personally as I’m here to serve you. My cell is 425-346-9313…I’m also looking for ideas on presentations or members who would like to give a presentation. If you have an interest in a subject or a special talent you would like to talk about, please contact me and we will get you set up for next year.
Now here is what is going on:
Remember dues were due for 2026 back in October. However, if you still need to do renew, Jules and her crew will be at the meeting to get you caught up. Unlike many other clubs, we do not charge a late fee. Adults are only $10 each and juniors (17 and under) are free with adult membership. We are the cheapest date in town in terms of our dues!! If it is easier, just pop a check in the mail, made out to MRGC, and send it to MRGC, P.O. Box 1721 Marysville, WA. 98270.
Presentation—Blaine Thornton, a valuable and long-term member of our rock club and our Show-n-Tell chair, is an expert on artifacts. Blaine will be speaking on ancient axes and other stone tools. Blaine will be bringing in some wonderful specimens out of his museum for us to see and touch.
The Silent Auction—As I mentioned above, we are asking all members to bring items for this month’s silent auction with all proceeds going to the Molsee family. I will also have many great club items there, including those being polished by the ‘Silent Auction Polishing Team’ that Jason has set up at our lapidary shop. A great way to learn how to polish so contact Jason if interested……….
Cards, cash, checks, and IOUs for those who forgot will be accepted….
There will be three cool things for the juniors to bid on also!!!
Junior’s Program—Ammy has put together a great program where the juniors will continue work towards earning their Federation badges. The juniors this month will be learning about fossils.
Rockoberfest 2026—our show flyers are ready so make sure you pick some up at the meeting. If you attend rock shows or other events, make sure you bring flyers with you to put on their greeter’s table. Also, it is time to start posting our show flyer on Facebook and social media so everyone can put it on their calendars!!
Adult Door Prize drawings—
Our door prize drawing is the envy of many other clubs. This month we will be giving away 15 slabs plus a few other things I will throw in there!!!
Juniors’ Door Prize Drawing—After the juniors get back from their meeting, they will join the other juniors to get a chance to win great prizes!!
Our Guess-the-Rock-Game will continue with a great prize for the winner.
Show-and-Tell—here is the reminder for members to bring items for Show-and-Tell. This could be anything that you have found, bought, made, or anything in lapidary that makes you happy. Both 'old timers' and 'newcomers' really enjoy seeing these items and hearing the story behind them. If you don't like to speak in front of others, no worries as we can speak for you. If you are coming to our meeting for the first time, make sure you bring your treasures and meet our rock club family. Don’t forget to bring your Show-and-Tell treasure and win the cash prize plus a great specimen out of Victor’s collection!! This month it is an old cigar box stuffed full of treasures that Victor collected years ago.
*If you do not bring something, then you can watch others win!!
For those members with juniors, we have a separate Silent Auction for our juniors. This gives them a better chance to win and show off their treasures. The junior winner will win cash and a special surprise.
We would love to see your treasures and hear the story behind them….
We will also have another round of sign-ups for the orientation classes at our lapidary shop. Please check in with one of the monitors at the meeting.
A special thank you to Jason who is working hard behind the scenes as a Monitor Director, making it one of the best around. Jason has some great ideas for the shop that he will be announcing at the next couple of meetings.
We are looking for additional monitors to be trained and help run our lapidary shop. This is a great way to learn how to use the equipment. Monitors also get to use the equipment on their own when classes are not being taught.
June “Buy, Sell, Trade, Swap, and Beg” sale. This will take place at our June 8th meeting. We will have a short meeting without a presentation, show-n-tell, silent auction, or Junior’s program.
This will be free to all members who are current on their dues. Each person will have a 4-foot table space so plan accordingly. We thought it would be fun if each member had one item for their own silent auction. This would encourage members to visit your table!
Only four spots left so contact me at [email protected] if interested.
4th Annual Outdoor Parking Lot Sale—The sale will be on July 18th from 9:30am to 5:00pm. We will start setting up at 7am that morning. Blaine and I will have all the spots marked off so all you need to do is show up and get your treasures ready to sell.
Only three spots left so contact me at [email protected] if interested.
--I also have the flyers ready for this sale so make sure you
grab some and especially start posting it on social media…
Christmas Party 2026—Our Christmas party this year will be on December 5th, set up at 1130am, social hour from noon to 1pm, then a wonderful potluck dinner and a great program. You have plenty of time—so no excuses and get it on your calendar!!
This is a special call out for others to bring treats. Our meetings have been hovering around 100 to 160 members, and we’ve been running out.
Hope to see you all at the May 11th meeting!!
If you haven’t been coming in a while, no worries…. Just show up and join your rock club family. We have been waiting for you……………
See you all at the meeting…We are becoming one of the largest rock and gem clubs in Washington State!!! Come say ‘Hi’ and be an active member of ‘your’ club!!!
--Brian
