Wednesday, January 9, 2013

22nd Annual Paso Robles Gem And Mineral Show

The Santa Lucia Rockhounds based in Paso Robles, CA, and representing Northern San Luis Obispo County and Southern Monterey County proudly announce a new date for their annual Rockhounds Roundup Gem, Mineral, & Jewelry Show. Previously, this show has been held at Pioneer Park and Pioneer Museum just south of the Mid-State Fairgrounds in Paso Robles each year for the previous 21 years. For the first time since its inauguration the show WILL NOT be held the third weekend of September but will instead be held the FIRST WEEKEND in May, 2013.

The reasons for this change were manifold. The primary concern was the weather which more often than not is too hot that time of year for the good of our show. On the first day of our most recent show the mercury reached 105°. Whoever thought it a good idea holding an outdoor show in Paso Robles in September must have been smoking crack.

Secondly, when the show first began 21 years ago there were not nearly as many other events going on in town and across the region that particular weekend as there are now which in recent years has hurt show attendance. Yet another reason for the change is the fact this show was one of the later rock shows on the Central Coast over the course of the year which meant people were already pretty tapped out in their rock-buying when our show finally occurred.

Lastly, following the demise of the original Snyder Pow-Wow (the new Pow-Wow up there just isn't the same thing and is held in a new location on Labor Day Weekend) and the now-defunct  Bakersfield Gem & Mineral Show formerly hosted by the Kern Mineral Society there was a large hole in the California statewide rock show schedule the first weekend in May. That weekend (until we recently moved our show into it) featured only small club shows in Anaheim and Bishop, CA, leaving the rest of the California fairly bereft of shows that weekend. The Santa Lucia Rockhounds have now changed that and will be the most significant rock show in California that weekend (and the first Central Coast rock show of the year) which this year will be Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5.

This family-friendly show will feature more than 30 dealers in the park as well as about that number of display cases inside the adjacent museum where we will also offer numerous demonstrations of various lapidary and jewelry-making activities. Our show will also feature a silent auction, raffle, country store, bake sale, Santa Maria-style barbecue (conducted by the Native Sons of the Golden West), geode-cracking booth, and a youth treasure hunt. Last but not least, we are proud to announce the presence in our show for the enjoyment of the public of the 18th largest meteorite currently extant in the United States as well as a fine Big Sur Jade boulder. We are currently about to send out vendor contracts so if you are a seller and interested in being in our show you are invited to contact me (I am the show chairman) via this blog for more information. See you all in May!

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