The 47th Annual Montgomery Gem, Mineral & Jewelry Show
Dec 1 – 3, 2017
Garrett Coliseum
1555 Federal Drive
Montgomery, Alabama
Show Times:
Friday, December 1: 9 AM – 6 PM
Saturday, December 2: 10 AM – 6 PM
Sunday, December 3: 11 AM – 5 PM
Admission:
$2/Adults or $3 for weekend pass
Free/18 & Under with student ID and 1 paid adult ticket.
Free Parking.
Free door prize ticket with each paid adult admission.
Dealers will have beads, crystals, geodes, rough, cabochons, gem stones,
finished jewelry, tools, supplies and mineral & fossil specimens. Club
members will display their individual collections and will give
demonstrations on gem and rock cutting, faceting, cabochon making, and
knapping.
$1 Wheel of Fortune.
Web Site: www.montgomerygemandmineralsociety.com
—-About the Club
Membership in any organization works best when it works two ways, when you put something into it and when you get something out of it. Before applying for membership, join us for two club functions, (meetings, field trips, club workshops, classes etc.) to be sure your interests and the society’s programs are compatible. If you decide to join, simply fill out the application for membership (below) and bring it to a meeting. Membership dues currently are $15.00 for individuals and $20.00 for a family for a year. Dues are renewable by January 31st of each year.
Members can earn points through various acts, such as attending monthly meetings or field trips. At the end of the year, members with 25 or more points are entered into a drawing for a scholarship to William Holland School of Lapidary Arts or Wildacres Retreat. Two names will be drawn as winners, and two names as alternatives since the prizes cannot be carried over to future years. Please print the following score sheet to see how points may be earned, and to keep up with your points.
Winners will be responsible for their own transportation & cost of materials.
—-Club Purpose
To cooperate with educational and scientific institutions or other groups engaged in increasing the knowledge and popular interest in Geology, Mineralogy, the Lapidary Arts and related subjects.
To foster the cultural aspects of, and the comradeship engendered by the study of Geology, Mineralogy, the Lapidary Arts and related subjects.
To cooperate or affiliate with similar clubs and societies.
To provide means and make arrangements for the exhibition of collections at exposition, fairs, and other public gatherings.
All the assets, property and funds of the Society shall be devoted to the furtherance of the primary objectives and purposes of the Society. Its works, purposes and objectives are primarily educational, recreational, and social; and are solely in the interests of the advancement of its members, and of the public along scientific and educational lines.
—-Club Code of Ethics
I will respect both private and public property and will do no collecting on privately owned land without permission from the owner.
I will keep informed on all laws, regulations or rules governing collecting on public lands and will observe them.
I will, to the best of my ability, ascertain the boundary lines of property on which I plan to collect.
I will use no firearms or blasting material in collecting areas.
I will cause no willful damage to property of any kind such as fences, signs, buildings, etc.
I will leave all gates as found.
I will build fires only in designated or safe places and will be certain they are completely extinguished before leaving the area.
I will discard no burning material – matches, cigarettes, etc.
I will fill all excavation holes which may be dangerous to livestock.
I will not contaminate wells, creeks, or other water supplies.
I will cause no willful damage to collecting material and will take home only what I can reasonably use.
I will practice conservation and undertake to utilize fully and well the materials I have collected and will recycle my surplus for the pleasure and benefit of others.
I will support the rock hound project H.E.L.P. (Help Eliminate Litter Please) and will leave all collecting areas devoid of litter, regardless of how found.
I will cooperate with field-trip leaders and those in designated authority in all collecting areas.
I will report to my club or federation officers, Bureau of Land Management or other authorities, any deposit of petrified wood or other materials on public lands which should be protected for the enjoyment of future generations for public educational and scientific purposes.
I will appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources.
I will observe the “Golden Rule”, will use Good Outdoor Manners and will at all times conduct my self in a manner which will add to the stature and Public Image of Rockhounds everywhere.
Keep updated on the best shows with the American Geode gem, mineral, jewelry and fossil show newswire and calendar!
Watch a short video here for gem, mineral and fossil show tips from the experts!
Does your gem, mineral or fossil club or society need new members in your ranks? How about new guests to your gem, mineral and fossil shows? Would you like rockhounds and gem, mineral and fossil enthusiasts to travel across state lines to visit your show? Would you like exponentially more traffic to your club’s homepage or the show’s homepage?
American Geode can help. Between 3000 and 10000 rockhounds and gem, mineral and fossil enthusiasts visit our website each month. They also contact us for suggestions on clubs to join, and shows and events to attend.
Other mineral websites charge between $600 to $1000 per year for a banner ad on their site.
We charge a flat rate of $150 for 12 month basic partnership and offer much more than other mineral sites. Send us two banner ads, 728×90 and/or 150×150, that we will post on our website. As an add-on service, send your club announcements and show announcements for us to post over our famous American Geode Twitter Account with 10,000+ rockhound followers, fans and friends.
The benefits to you and your club are that you will raise higher in the Google ranks when someone searches for gem and mineral clubs, and gem and mineral shows. You will also view many more visitors to your site, soliciting information about how to join your club, download your member application form, and visit your shows.
How to choose the gem and mineral club that is right for you?
Each club does have a different style, and you can tell what that is from their homepage, or if they do not maintain a homepage, then ask someone from the club. Some clubs have access to facilities offering a complete workshop; saws to cut giant geodes in half, cabochon machines, polishing wheels, lapidary tools, faceting machines, and kilns to heat your wire-wrapping or jewelry projects are for member use! Some clubs maintain all that equipment in their own private clubhouse! Is a workshop something you seek to pursue and hone your hobby? If so, then find the club that offers that equipment.
Now the clubs like this may not always have a special monthly speaker, but the clubs who meet in a rental space, hotel banquet hall or college facility do very likely provide different speakers each month. The clubs in big cities, where a workshop or clubhouse would be impractical, or impossible to acquire and maintain rely on other facilities for monthly meetings and shows, so to keep membership growing, those kinds of clubs keep a lively roster of speakers on their calendars.
Is your goal to get out and rockhound? Do you seek to explore old abandoned mines? A question to ask a club is do they throw and organize field trips? You can often times find out the answer on their homepage. There is often a “field trip” section, much like this Rockhound page. If you can’t tell, then ask the club. Sometime being in a big city can make field trips a challenge. Most people in New York City or Chicago do not have cars for instance. A field trip would require permission and arrangement to visit a site, a bus or fleet of vans, and if it rains, the field trip is canceled. So big city clubs may not offer rockhounding field trips. The age range of the club can also set the tone for interest in rockhounding and field trips. For a club whose members’ days of getting out into the field are past, you may not find these opportunities.
So what is the best approach to becoming involved with gem, mineral, and fossil clubs? The answer is to join more than one. The dues are annual and range from $15 per year to about $50 per year on the very high side. You may live in New York but find the newsletter from a club in Texas is chock full of so many good tips about polishing gems and minerals, cleaning rocks from the field, and other anecdotes that you belong despite the geographical distance.
So join more than one gem and mineral club, to have access to a workshop when you need it, field trips in the spring and fall, the chance to hear academic and scholarly discussions in geology and paleontology, and make new friends during the whole gem and mineral club experience!
