Minnesota Mineral Club
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April and May Club Meetings and the June Picnic and Rock Swap All Cancelled!
The purpose of this Club shall be to encourage interest and study in geology, mineralogy,
lapidary and allied earth sciences.
Visitors always welcome!
Club meetings are held at the Falcon Heights City Hall which is located at 2077 Larpenteur Avenue, Falcon Heights, 55113. Meetings are held the second Saturday of the month at 7:00 pm, except June, July and August during which time no club meetings are held. Visitors are always welcome!
Club activities
Great Annual Show
Location: National Guard Training and Community Center, 8180 Belden Blvd, Cottage Grove, MN, 55016
Date: Third weekend of October
What You Can Expect: Exhibits, Dealers, Kids Corner, Tailgate Sales, Programs, Demonstrations, Agates, Rocks, Gems, Minerals, Fossils, Jewelry, Beads.
Admission: $2 per adult, $1 per child, $5 per family
Field Trips
The club organizes many great field trips throughout the year to places such as Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Thunder Bay, Michigan, and also places within Minnesota. We collect agates, geodes, fossils, amethyst, petrified wood, dinosaur bones and other assorted mineral specimens. By all accounts, members have a great time and return with loads of treasures.
Newsletter
Members receive 10 issues of our newsletter Rock Rustler’s News each year. This keeps them up-to-date on Club meetings, events, field trips, geology and earth science news as well as other interesting rock, mineral and fossil topics.
Programs
We offer our members a wide variety of programs at our meetings. These include demonstrations of various lapidary skills and techniques, interesting speakers, silent auctions, contests, displays of members’ collections, and an annual banquet. All our meeting programs are free and open to the public.
Rock collecting, minerals, lapidary, geology, and fun!
Education
Education, combined with fun, is a primary focus of our Club. We encourage kids of all ages (including adult kids–those who have retained their childhood wonder) to participate in all we have to offer.
Mineral Identification
Even experienced rockhounds sometimes have trouble identifying minerals. Our website has numerous tutorials and links to resources that are experts in mineral identification.
Lapidary
Many of our members enjoy a variety of lapidary arts including cutting, shaping, polishing, drilling, wrapping, faceting rocks, minerals and gemstones. They are willing and eager to share their techniques and skills so that others may learn and enjoy.
Outreach
We are often invited to speak with elementary and high school level science classes that are studying the earth and its makeup. Also, we participate with other organizations involved with geological education. Our Annual Show attracts thousands of families interested in learning more about the rocks and minerals that makeup our region and our planet.
Information Sharing
All our meetings, events and field trips offer opportunities to meet and share ideas and information with those who share similar interests. In addition, our website is packed with instructional videos and links to a whole world of rock, mineral, fossil and earth sciences resources.
Encouraging Youth Participation
We try as a Club to be as kid friendly as possible. We encourage parents to include their kids in our meetings and when we have events, such as our silent auctions, and contests, such as our ‘Find of the Year’ contest, we set up categories specifically for kids. Our Annual Show’s most popular feature is our ‘Kids’ Corner’ and many of our field trips are open to even young kids.
Silent Auctions
Each year we conduct at least one silent auction which gives members (and guests) a chance to purchase a whole host of items related to our hobby. These include rough and finished rocks and minerals, jewelry, fossils, gemstones, books and magazines, tools and equipment and often, passes to museums or other interesting locations. Auction proceeds are used to help fund Club activities and earth science student scholarships.
Friendship
Discovering that one shares common interests with other people is a rewarding experience. Club members who participate in meetings, field trips, Club events and shows widen their circle of friends while increasing their knowledge and appreciation of all things earth-related.
We are a member of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, a non-profit educational Federation of seven similar regional organizations
The Midwest Federation Of Mineralogical and Geological Societies was organized in 1940, and one of the original four founders of the AFMS in 1947. It encompasses a region of 11 states and has about 150 different clubs.