Che-Hanna Rock and Mineral Club to hold 41st annual Gem and Mineral Show

BY BRIAN BISHOP (Staff Writer)
Published: March 21, 2010

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2010 marks the 41st year for the Che-Hanna Rock and Mineral Club's Gem and Mineral Show, which will be held on March 27 and 28 in the Valley.

The show will feature thousands of rocks and minerals in displays as well as rock and mineral vendors, according to club member Sandy Keener. Keener will be at the show herself, with some of the gemstone trees she creates.

Keener said she's been making the gemstone trees since about 1991, after someone gave her one as a Christmas gift and she "got hooked on it." The trees are made with small polished gemstones and lengths of wire twisted to resemble trees of all shapes and sizes, she said. She makes various kinds and sizes of trees, including bonsai trees, pine trees with Peridot gemstones and Wisteria trees made with Amethyst.

Each tree takes a long time to produce, she said, and she makes around 50 each year. The larger trees take longer, she said, especially the pine trees, whose individual branches have to be twisted and set with gemstones before being added together to make the final tree.

The art of making gemstone trees isn't practiced by a lot of people, Keener said. Keener takes pride in making her trees look more realistic than others. She buys all of the stones in various shapes and colors from a supplier in Arizona, she said, who happens to be the person who taught her how to make the trees years ago. She uses various stones of different colors to make the trees, though she tends to buy colors she likes (she has a lot of pink, she said.)

Keener said she uses a pattern to make the trees, and makes up some patterns herself. "If I don't like to make it, I don't do it again," she said.

Each tree, depending on size, contains hundreds of individual gemstones, each twisted into a loop of wire and set together. The finished gemstone-and-wire trees are then set on a rock chosen to match the stones used in the tree, Keener said.

One of the things that Keener said has kept her at the hobby all these years is the variability of the finished product, she said. "I just think that when you make a tree, you never do things exactly the same - it never turns out exactly alike," she said. Each natural stone is a different shape and has a slightly different color, she said, and each loop of wire has to bent just so to match a particular stone.

Keener said she joined the Che-Hanna club around four years ago, in order to learn more about the stones she enjoyed working with so much. The club has been very helpful to her, she said.

"They've taught me quite a bit about the stones."

The Gem and Mineral Show attracts around 1000 people each year from all over, Keener said.

According to the Che-Hanna Rock and Mineral Club Web site, the show will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 27 and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 28 at the Athens Township Fire Hall on Herrick Avenue.

The show will feature geological exhibits presented by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Paleontological Research Institute, exhibits of minerals, gems and Native Indian artifacts, vendors, door prizes, and more, according to the club's Web site. There will be food available on the premises as well, according to the Web site; the requested donation for the show is $3 for adults and $1 for students; children under 8 are free.

Brian Bishop can be reached at (570) 888-9652; or e-mail: bbishop@thedailyreview.com.