Do you ever wonder what a Lapidary and Mineral Club really does?
Maybe you see their ads for monthly meetings in the newspaper over the course of a month — you may even notice the occasional mention of a sale somewhere along the way.
What is this non-profit club and what, exactly, does it do?
According to president, David van Dieren, Vernon’s Lapidary and Mineral Club, which is a member club of the BC Lapidary Society and The Gem and Mineral Federation of Canada, it promotes the love of rocks, minerals, and fossils in many ways.
Some examples, he said, include, identifying specimens for members and non-members, provide guest speakers at their monthly meetings, having field trips from spring through fall to local areas, holding rock auctions at the meetings and having sales at Village Green Centre and the Vernon Recreation Complex.
“To bring love of the hobby to the general public, we also hold an annual sale in Winfield, with vendors from across Canada,” van Dieren said.
“We hold classes in cutting and polishing stones, jewelry making classes, we co-fund a lapidary workshop with the Kelowna Club, and provide a general all-around education to those interested in this hobby,” he added.
In addition to all of this, the Vernon Lapidary and Mineral Club supports the post-secondary education of members of the club and of their family members by way of awarding scholarships.
This year the club awarded two $500 scholarships to a sister and brother, Nicole and Eric McGinn of Kelowna. The siblings are the grandchildren of Lorraine Stacey, a long-time club member, and currently attend UBC Okanagan, where they study microbiology and biology, respectively.
Their meetings are held the second Wednesday of every month except July, August and December at the Arts Centre. For more information contact David van Dieren at dieren@telus.net.
Morning Star Staff