Mikenauk Rock and Gem Club brings more treasures to KWF

 
By JEREMY LAND

ROSCOMMON – It wouldn’t be a Kirtland’s Warbler Festival without the Mikenauk Rock and Gem Society, and all the fun it brings for youngsters of all ages.
For the 10th consecutive year, the club will be part of the festivities, which include displays of all manner of artifacts as well as the mound of sawdust in which children can search for interesting items.

Among the demonstrations in Portable Classroom A will be silversmithing, done by Ken Bendick; cabbing and faceting, two methods of working stone into different shapes; rock tumbling, where stones are put into a container and shaken together to be polished; and wire wrapping and beading, said Robert Anderson, the organization’s field trip chairman.

New this year: Anderson’s demonstration of patterns with agate slices.

Among the main attractions: the mammoth tusk – the largest of the club’s exhibits – and the Chinese dinosaur egg.

The treasure hunt, most popular among kids, will be open from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Children will be able to hunt for mineral specimens, fossils, toys, and the grand prize, which in years past included a large shark tooth and amethyst point crystal.

The fluorescent booth will be making reappearance this year and will remain open throughout the day, said Doug Laur, the club’s president.

Bendick will be crafting a pendant, cutting stones, and may include in his demonstration necklaces or rings. Many of the Rock and Gem Club’s other members will have booths of their own set up with minerals, fossils, and other wares. Visitors may also purchase egg-carton kits to be filled with choice specimens for only one dollar.

The Mikenauk Rock and Gem Club is a hobbyist organization that meets monthly at the CRAF Center in Roscommon. Activities for the group’s C.O.O.R-area members include field trips to Alpena and Charlevoix’s gravel pits, as well as the iron- and copper-rich Lake Superior coast. Guests may visit the club’s CRAF Center office after 7 p.m., appointment.

For more information on the club, visit http://www.geocities.com/mikenauk/