This weekend's gem show may be last by local group

This weekend's gem show may be last by local group

July 12, 2001

By Kevin Denke
Journal Intern

The annual Gem and Mineral Show hosted by the Ute Mountain Gem and Mineral Society, long a staple event of the Cortez summer, will take place this weekend for the last time barring a massive influx of interest from younger people.

While group members won’t definitely say that the 27th annual show will be the last, they say a dwindling and aging membership has caught up with the group. Three members passed away this year, and the youngest members of the group are in their 40s.

"It’s probably the last show unless we get more interest and younger members," a group spokesperson said on Monday.

Stanley and Regina Brewer, now 87 and 86 respectively, helped start the 100th Meredian Rock Club in Cozad, Neb., back in the early 1960s. The Brewers moved back to their farm on Squaw Point, southwest of Dove Creek, in 1967 but they missed their Nebraska rock club. They contacted the late J.B. Sanchez of the San Juan Rock Shop about starting a local rock club.

In 1971, the group was formed with the Rev. Dale Schultz as chairman and Ingrid Black as secretary. Their first meeting was held on Jan. 21, 1971, in the Grace Speck Room.

The group’s popularity grew over the years and peaked in the late ’80s and early ’90s with a membership ranging from 30 to 40. In addition to starting the annual show in 1974, the group also has gone on rock trips and explored mines in New Mexico and Utah over the years.

The group has also has been a visible part of the community, sponsoring scholarships for local high-school students going into the fields of geology and mineralogy.

The group says the club itself won’t disband down and that rock trips and other activities will most likely continue but that putting on the show simply takes too much time and money.

This year’s show will be held at the Montezuma County Annex on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. As in past years, it will have gem and mineral exhibits from hobbyists, dealers and demonstrators.

There will also be retail sales of fine jewelry, lapidary tools and equipment, gemstones, minerals, rocks, and fossils as well as demonstrations on mineral identification.

Admission is free, and there will be a continuous silent auction as well as chances to win prizes both days.