21st Annual Rockhound Roundup - Finale!

Today was the finale of the 21st Annual Rockhound Roundup hosted by the Santa Lucia Rockhounds at Pioneer Park and Pioneer Museum in Paso Robles, CA. Attendance was okay but continued to be negatively effected into the second day of the show by the hot weather. This is something we cannot control and we labored on as a club to make the best of the situation. Our show received beaucoup praise from many different quarters for the enthusiasm and energy of the club members who participated. We also noted a great deal of enthusiasm in our many guests and in the children in particular. With better weather the show would have undoubtedly experienced greater attendance, something that can be remedied for the next show in a year's time with a better allocation of funds in regards to publicity. We certainly already innovated this year to make the show better and many elements of the show were distinct improvements over the previous years. I have been officially asked to return next year as show chairman and have officially accepted that role.

Note: check out previous postings on this show: Opening Day  Set-Up Day  Chalking Day

The communal snack table at the back of the Pioneer Museum upon which I exclusively dined upon donuts and club cake. I was able to have my cake and eat it, too!

Topsy Nemke (left) and Terrence Tweedy (right) were our hospitality booth's primary players and they did a great job!

The Native Sons of the Golden West - San Miguel Parlor #150 did their typical bang-up job operating a full-service Santa Maria-style barbecue for our show.

Past-President Richard Smithen (left) and David "The Handyman" Nelson posing by our raffle wheel.

Yukon jade bracelets - I do not recall seeing this type of jade before today.

Jade from Central America formed into modern carvings. However, until Hurricane Mitch in 1998 uncovered the deposit its location was lost to history. This source of jade is the one from which came all the Pre-Columbian jade artifacts created by the Meso-American peoples.

Legendary jade hunter and diver-extraordinaire Ernie Porter visited us again today.

One can always identify the show chairperson by their servicing the bathrooms.

Our display case competition in the Pioneer Museum....

.... was a big hit again this year and our display case competitors did a fine job once again, too.

Orcutt Mineral Society member (again) Sharon Duncan with our gimpy club president Barbara Bilyeu.

Club facetor and past-president Rich Smithen (left) and dealer chairman Dale Conrad (right).

Club bead-maker Pete Duckworth manning his demonstration station.

Young Chris Driesbach at the grinding wheel demonstration station.

The scene today at David Nelson's demonstration station featured only two soda cups today, but where is David?

Our silent auction station never looked better than this year.

The street-view of the show from Riverside Avenue.

The show now over, the park thinned out as dealers headed home.

The park continued to empty and darken as evening deepened.

Ernie DeFever sharing his views on my performance as show chairman this year.

With the gathering gloam over the park the day said goodnight.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).