Northern California region rock shows (updated 3/18/15)
Feb 28, 2015 10:23:51 GMT -5
DirtCleaner, iant, and 1 more like this
Post by Tommy on Feb 28, 2015 10:23:51 GMT -5
A few days ago I was telling a friend that starting last weekend 2/21 through the last weekend in April, with the exception of the weekend of March 21st, there are nine weekends with a total of 10 club rock shows within 1 to 2.5 hours of our house.
I feel blessed by this geographical bounty that we have access to and believe in supporting local clubs, so this gave me the idea to list them here and give a little review on each one, invite others Norcal folks to share their experiences, and maybe even show off some purchase highlights. We won't hit them all (yes we have a life haha) but should be able to make a pretty good dent in the list.
I will keep updating this thread as time goes by and shows are attended or not attended. Everyone feel free to post too if you plan to be at any of these shows and maybe our paths will cross.
February 21st, 22nd – Antioch Lapidary Club, Antioch Fairgrounds
This was a small but energetic show - with active club member participation. They packed a lot to see and do into a small space - from the silent auction and club sponsored rock sale, cabbing and carving participation events, etc. Maybe 12 vendors all together with the usual club show faire - cabochons and pendants and supplies. I was disappointed in the lack of vendors with slabs and no rough dealers - however I was able to come away with a neat 10 lb chunk of magnesite from the club sale and a couple of sweet little slabettes of purple Russian Charoite - one of which has already yielded a beautiful cabochon. Due to the small size this one will probably not be on our radar for next year unless we are really bored and haven't been to a rock show since Quartzsite again haha.
February 28th, 29th – Vallejo Gem & Mineral Society, Solano County Fairgrounds
Update 2/28/15 - had a fun time at this show today for the third year in a row. This is a well run show with an active and energetic club participation with the silent auction and door prizes etc. I was very disappointed that my favorite German vendor Klaus was not in attendance this year and hope all is well with him. In years past he has pulled out a box of the "good stuff" from under his table and sent me off to sit down at a nearby table to go through it and I was really looking forward to it again. Still, there were several other vendors selling smallish amounts of good quality slabs and I was able to leave with a killer slab of Tiffany Stone as well as some Apache Sage, a slab and some slabbettes of old-school Hornitas poppy jasper, and a nice solid little slabbette of black/blue dino bone.
March 6th, 7th, 8th – Mineral and Gem Society of Castro Valley, Newark
3/07/15 Third year in a row to this show and once again it didn't disappoint. It's one of the rare shows that start on Friday and with the location less than 10 miles up the freeway from my work, I made a looong lunch of it and went up there on Friday. This is a larger show as far as gem shows go - it is spread out over two buildings and has an impressive variety of vendors among which I saw probably 10 slab dealers of varying quality but only a minor presence of rough being sold which is typical with these shows. Unfortunately I spend so much time at the first couple of vendors I stopped at that by the end of an hour and a half I barely had time to quick walk the second building because I needed to get back to my job. Overall I only bought two slabs - a nice Laguna lace and a killer dinosaur bone.
This is an ongoing show till tomorrow and your admission is a 3-day pass so I might go back there tomorrow and spend more time in the second vendor building.
March 14th, 15th – Mother Lode Mineral Society, Turlock
Made it to this show on Saturday the 14th and had a really nice meeting with bobby1 from the board. It was very nice meeting and chatting with him for a while and hearing in his insights into local club activities from the federation of clubs perspective.
This was a very impressive rock show that gave me hope for the future of the hobby with the younger generations. Spread across two large buildings with a good size club-rock sale and several outdoor demonstration events such as gold panning, etc. If I had to plan out a show that focused on appealing to as wide of an audience as possible and especially parents of children I would fashion it after this show. They had a tremendous amount of participation demonstration events going and they were packing the "parents with kids" crowd in in droves literally. The two disappointments of the day were that we showed up with our dog and got turned away at the door. First rock show we've encountered that didn't allow dogs and so my wife had to stay outside with the beast while I spent only a short hurried time in the show before having to leave. Secondly for me as a hobbyist who goes to these sales seeking mainly slabs and rough I found it to be lacking in that regard and I ended up not buying much. Still, a high quality well-run show by an energetic club, that clearly appealed to the public based on the wonderful crowd in attendance.
March 28th, 29th – Roseville Rock Rollers, Roseville (Placer County) Fairgrounds
Went last year and will return. Lots of good indoor and outdoor material vendors and a lively an energetic club participation rock sale and silent auction.
March 28th, 29th – Calaveras Gem & Mineral Society, Calaveras County Fairgrounds, Angels Camp
April 4th, 5th – Paradise Gem & Mineral Society, Silver Dollar Fairgrounds Chico
April 11th, 12th Mariposa Gem & Mineral Society, Mariposa County Fairgrounds
April 18th, 19th Santa Clara Valley Gem & Mineral Society, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose
I think this is the home club of our members Pat and stoner. We went last year and it was a great show. Lots of good vendors inside and outside selling nice slabs and rough.
April 25th, 26th – Santa Cruz Mineral & Gem Society, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
This was a tiny show last year, set up a smallish single room with maybe eight vendors. My first thought when I walked in was that it was a waste of time but then I spotted one vendor gal in the back corner who was selling slabs and proceeded to buy a good bag full of unusual stuff that produced a bounty of beautiful cabochons. The drive alone – Santa Cruz on the ocean on a warm sunny day in late spring makes this destination worthwhile and finding some good rocks too was the cherry on the cake.
May 9th, 10th – Reno Gem & Mineral Society, Reno-Sparks Livestock Event Center
June 12th, 13th, 14th – California Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Lodi Grape Festival & Harvest Grounds
August (tbd) – San Francisco Gem and Minerial Society, Golden Gate Park
We love this medium sized show and have found some very nice stuff, slabs and small rough, two years in a row. Wish they would get their act together and get the website updated with current show information.
September 19th, 20th – Sequoia Gem & Mineral Society, Community Activities Building, Redwood City
October 17th, 18th – El Dorado County Mineral & Gem Society, El Dorado County Fairgrounds, Placerville
October 24th, 25th – Peninsula Gem & Geology Society, Los Altos Youth Center, Los Altos
October (tbd) – Shasta Gem and Mineral Society, Anderson
Home club of my brother and they need to get their butts in gear and get the show listing up haha.
Nov 1st, 2nd – Contra Costa Mineral & Gem Society, Centre Concord
This was our home club till we stopped going out of frustration. From strictly lapidarist point of view this show was a virtual waste of time for me due to a lack of rough and slab vendors the two years in a row that we have attended. That being said, the venue is awesome – nice large clean ballroom with plenty of high quality finished-goods vendors filling the room and catering to the consumer market.
November (tbd) – Sacramento Gem & Mineral Society, Scottish Rite Temple, Sacramento
Attended this show last year and it was a good one. Very active club which a robust club rock sale and silent auction.
November (tbd) – Sutter Buttes Gem & Mineral Society, Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds
I feel blessed by this geographical bounty that we have access to and believe in supporting local clubs, so this gave me the idea to list them here and give a little review on each one, invite others Norcal folks to share their experiences, and maybe even show off some purchase highlights. We won't hit them all (yes we have a life haha) but should be able to make a pretty good dent in the list.
I will keep updating this thread as time goes by and shows are attended or not attended. Everyone feel free to post too if you plan to be at any of these shows and maybe our paths will cross.
February 21st, 22nd – Antioch Lapidary Club, Antioch Fairgrounds
This was a small but energetic show - with active club member participation. They packed a lot to see and do into a small space - from the silent auction and club sponsored rock sale, cabbing and carving participation events, etc. Maybe 12 vendors all together with the usual club show faire - cabochons and pendants and supplies. I was disappointed in the lack of vendors with slabs and no rough dealers - however I was able to come away with a neat 10 lb chunk of magnesite from the club sale and a couple of sweet little slabettes of purple Russian Charoite - one of which has already yielded a beautiful cabochon. Due to the small size this one will probably not be on our radar for next year unless we are really bored and haven't been to a rock show since Quartzsite again haha.
February 28th, 29th – Vallejo Gem & Mineral Society, Solano County Fairgrounds
Update 2/28/15 - had a fun time at this show today for the third year in a row. This is a well run show with an active and energetic club participation with the silent auction and door prizes etc. I was very disappointed that my favorite German vendor Klaus was not in attendance this year and hope all is well with him. In years past he has pulled out a box of the "good stuff" from under his table and sent me off to sit down at a nearby table to go through it and I was really looking forward to it again. Still, there were several other vendors selling smallish amounts of good quality slabs and I was able to leave with a killer slab of Tiffany Stone as well as some Apache Sage, a slab and some slabbettes of old-school Hornitas poppy jasper, and a nice solid little slabbette of black/blue dino bone.
March 6th, 7th, 8th – Mineral and Gem Society of Castro Valley, Newark
3/07/15 Third year in a row to this show and once again it didn't disappoint. It's one of the rare shows that start on Friday and with the location less than 10 miles up the freeway from my work, I made a looong lunch of it and went up there on Friday. This is a larger show as far as gem shows go - it is spread out over two buildings and has an impressive variety of vendors among which I saw probably 10 slab dealers of varying quality but only a minor presence of rough being sold which is typical with these shows. Unfortunately I spend so much time at the first couple of vendors I stopped at that by the end of an hour and a half I barely had time to quick walk the second building because I needed to get back to my job. Overall I only bought two slabs - a nice Laguna lace and a killer dinosaur bone.
This is an ongoing show till tomorrow and your admission is a 3-day pass so I might go back there tomorrow and spend more time in the second vendor building.
March 14th, 15th – Mother Lode Mineral Society, Turlock
Made it to this show on Saturday the 14th and had a really nice meeting with bobby1 from the board. It was very nice meeting and chatting with him for a while and hearing in his insights into local club activities from the federation of clubs perspective.
This was a very impressive rock show that gave me hope for the future of the hobby with the younger generations. Spread across two large buildings with a good size club-rock sale and several outdoor demonstration events such as gold panning, etc. If I had to plan out a show that focused on appealing to as wide of an audience as possible and especially parents of children I would fashion it after this show. They had a tremendous amount of participation demonstration events going and they were packing the "parents with kids" crowd in in droves literally. The two disappointments of the day were that we showed up with our dog and got turned away at the door. First rock show we've encountered that didn't allow dogs and so my wife had to stay outside with the beast while I spent only a short hurried time in the show before having to leave. Secondly for me as a hobbyist who goes to these sales seeking mainly slabs and rough I found it to be lacking in that regard and I ended up not buying much. Still, a high quality well-run show by an energetic club, that clearly appealed to the public based on the wonderful crowd in attendance.
March 28th, 29th – Roseville Rock Rollers, Roseville (Placer County) Fairgrounds
Went last year and will return. Lots of good indoor and outdoor material vendors and a lively an energetic club participation rock sale and silent auction.
March 28th, 29th – Calaveras Gem & Mineral Society, Calaveras County Fairgrounds, Angels Camp
April 4th, 5th – Paradise Gem & Mineral Society, Silver Dollar Fairgrounds Chico
April 11th, 12th Mariposa Gem & Mineral Society, Mariposa County Fairgrounds
April 18th, 19th Santa Clara Valley Gem & Mineral Society, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose
I think this is the home club of our members Pat and stoner. We went last year and it was a great show. Lots of good vendors inside and outside selling nice slabs and rough.
April 25th, 26th – Santa Cruz Mineral & Gem Society, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
This was a tiny show last year, set up a smallish single room with maybe eight vendors. My first thought when I walked in was that it was a waste of time but then I spotted one vendor gal in the back corner who was selling slabs and proceeded to buy a good bag full of unusual stuff that produced a bounty of beautiful cabochons. The drive alone – Santa Cruz on the ocean on a warm sunny day in late spring makes this destination worthwhile and finding some good rocks too was the cherry on the cake.
May 9th, 10th – Reno Gem & Mineral Society, Reno-Sparks Livestock Event Center
June 12th, 13th, 14th – California Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Lodi Grape Festival & Harvest Grounds
August (tbd) – San Francisco Gem and Minerial Society, Golden Gate Park
We love this medium sized show and have found some very nice stuff, slabs and small rough, two years in a row. Wish they would get their act together and get the website updated with current show information.
September 19th, 20th – Sequoia Gem & Mineral Society, Community Activities Building, Redwood City
October 17th, 18th – El Dorado County Mineral & Gem Society, El Dorado County Fairgrounds, Placerville
October 24th, 25th – Peninsula Gem & Geology Society, Los Altos Youth Center, Los Altos
October (tbd) – Shasta Gem and Mineral Society, Anderson
Home club of my brother and they need to get their butts in gear and get the show listing up haha.
Nov 1st, 2nd – Contra Costa Mineral & Gem Society, Centre Concord
This was our home club till we stopped going out of frustration. From strictly lapidarist point of view this show was a virtual waste of time for me due to a lack of rough and slab vendors the two years in a row that we have attended. That being said, the venue is awesome – nice large clean ballroom with plenty of high quality finished-goods vendors filling the room and catering to the consumer market.
November (tbd) – Sacramento Gem & Mineral Society, Scottish Rite Temple, Sacramento
Attended this show last year and it was a good one. Very active club which a robust club rock sale and silent auction.
November (tbd) – Sutter Buttes Gem & Mineral Society, Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds