East Texas Quarterly Magazine Summer 2013 | Page 21

cooling installed, we needed seating and tables. All
this on an income of less than $7,000 per year.”
Fundraising, begging, sweat equity performed in
summer heat…and then a breakthrough. Under
the category of enhancing tourism, the club was
approved for a portion of the Hotel Occupancy Tax
by the city of Jasper and the Chamber of Commerce.
That helped the club accomplish one big goal, to
host the South Central Federation of Mineral Societies (SCFMS) at the Jasper rock show in 2012. SCFMS
is one of only seven regional organizations under the
umbrella of the American Federation of Mineralogical
Societies, so hosting their annual confab was a major
coup for Jasper.
As lagniappe for vendors and federation members
who had come so far, the club offered two field trips
to collect petrified wood in Jasper County, about the
only collectable rock found in East Texas, but highly
coveted for its color, character and taking a great polish.
Petrified palm wood is the Texas state rock and rare
pieces do turn up in creeks littered with other petrified wood. So well preserved are these pieces that
tree experts can still identify the species of tree.
Palmwood is recognized by “straws” instead of tree
that nevertheless requires great expense and great rings, as a palm tree grow more like a grass than a
tree.
effort for its care.
“Instead of a long-term lease as we requested, they
deeded the property with the existing building to
the rock club,” Nash said. “Some of our members
were not too sure that this building could ever be
salvaged. Not only did the roof leak, the walls leaked
as well, and it had honey bees that were not inclined
to leave.”

These are the kinds of facts members learn at club
meetings, along with techniques for wire-wrapping, silver-smithing and the occasional lecture on
meteorites from Mars.

Once someone from NASA came during the search
of East Texas for remnants of the Shuttle Columbia.
They knew that rockhounds spend a lot of time
But it was all theirs, free and clear, and in a great outdoors looking down, studying what’s on the
location only a block east of the courthouse and two ground, and they figured here was a good pool of
blocks north of the library, Outdoor Learning Center people to help with recovery efforts.
and Arboretum.
How do you know if you have rockhounding in your
And big enough to house members’ private blood? If the pile of rocks next to your garage is taller
collections, to have a permanent meeting room, and than your dog, probably. If the local university calls
still enough room in back for a future workshop and to ask permission to hold a geology field trip in your
back yard, definitely.
classroom.
“Cleaning was the first order of business, partitions If you only have one rock in your collection?
torn down, painting, and the list goes on,” Nash It’s a start.
said. “The building had to be re-wired, heating and

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