2024 Yakima Parade of Gems Rock & Mineral Show

YAKIMA ROCK & MINERAL CLUB

PRESENTS

61st “PARADE OF GEMS”
April 26, 27 & 28, 2024

CENTRAL WASHINGTON STATE FAIR PARK & EVENT CENTER
Modern Living Building
1301 Fair Ave. Yakima, WA. 98901

image of petrified wood

Featuring Special Displays:

“Petrified Wood of the Northwest”
Washington State Gem
– Local Rock & Mineral Collections

Vendor’s have rock & mineral specimens,
jewelry, jewelry making supplies, lapidary equipment & more.
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Raffle, Door Prizes,
Silent Auction, Kid Activities

Demonstration’s include:
Gold Panning, Wire Wrap,
Lapidary, Faceting & More.

Chris from “Chris & Andrew Outside” YouTube
Presentation and Q & A on how he finds the Ellensburg Blue stones.
Saturday at 2 pm and Sunday at noon.

Trash Can Volcano Demonstration

The Geology Department at
Central Washington University will be
featuring STEM careers in geology.

Friday April 26, 10 am to 4 pm
Saturday April 27, 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday April 28, 10 am to 4 pm

Admission: Adult $7 Student $2
Under 12 free with paid adult
Free parking at Gate 5

Download Discount Coupon 2024 Rock Show Coupon

Get Directions

MORE SHOW INFORMATION

Listen for 60 second on the following radio stations: 104.0 KXD, Cherry FM 100.9, and the Hawk 105.7.

Then there will be a 10 minute interview on “What’s Up in Yakima” on all 7 stations. This typically is about 6 am on Sunday morning.

There will also be live talk show on 104.0 KXD, Cherry FM 100.9, Hot 99.7 and the Hawk 105.7 on Tuesday April 23, 2024, from 8 am to maybe a little after 8:30 am.

Discount coupons will be posted on all seven stations FB pages.
We will also do complimentary admission give-aways on all seven stations.
Watch for 30 second commercials on KAPP 35TV, ME TV and FOX 41 beginning April 15 through April 28, 2024.
Many of local business have discount coupons available for their customers.
Local Library’s have discount coupons available.

 

60th Annual “Parade Of Gems” April 2023

Yakima Rock and Mineral Club

Presents

Sparkling PARADE OF GEMS

>> April 21, 22 & 23, 2023 <<

CENTRAL WASHINGTON STATE FAIR PARK & EVENT CENTER
Modern Living Building
1301 Fair Ave. Yakima, WA. 98901

Celebrating 60 Annual Shows

image of herkimer diamond collage

Featuring Special Displays:

– HERKIMER DIAMONDS
– Fluorescent Displays
– Local Rock & Mineral Collections

Vendors have rock & mineral
specimen’s, jewelry,
lapidary equipment.
****************************

Raffle, Door Prizes
Silent Auction, Kids Activities

Demonstrations include:
Gold Panning, Wire Wrap,
Lapidary and more

Friday April 21 10 am to 4 pm
Saturday April 22, 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday April 23, 10 am to 4 pm

Admission: Adult $6 Student $2
Under 12 free with paid adult
Free parking at Gate 5

Get Directions

 

59th Annual “Parade Of Gems” April 2022

Yakima Rock and Mineral Club
Presents
the 59th Annual “Parade Of Gems”

>> April 22-24, 2022 <<

“A BLAST FROM THE PAST,
40 PLUS Years After
MOUNT ST. HELENS BLEW”

Yakima Rock & Mineral Club will host annual Rock & Mineral Show April 22, 23 & 21, 2022 at Central Washington State Fair Park in the Modern Living Building. Our theme is “A Blast from the past, 40 plus years after Mount St. Helens Blew.”   

We will feature special displays of Mount St. Helens memorabilia presented by local artisans. 

Demonstrations like Volcanic explosion (presented by Central Washington University students), gold panning, metal detecting, faceting, lapidary. We will also have demonstrations on flintknapping, jewelry making. There will be a silent auction and kid’s activities. And a special presentation on Fossil Fuels. 
We will also have a raffle, door prizes and many vendors that have rock, jewelry, rock & mineral specimen’s and more for sale.   

Join us:         Friday April 22, 2022, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
                     Saturday April 23, 2022, 10:00 to 5:00 pm
                     Sunday 10:00 to 4:00 pm.

Central Washington State Fair in the Modern Living Building, 

Free parking at Gate 5.

Get Directions

 

59th Annual “Parade Of Gems” April 2020

Yakima Rock and Mineral Club
Presents
the 59th Annual “Parade Of Gems”

>> April 24-26, 2020 <<

The show has been cancelled in compliance with the “stay at home” orders issued by our governing powers. 

Stay home, stay safe.

Get Directions

 

Yakima Rock & Mineral Club
presents
the 58th Annual “Parade of Gems”

>> April 26-28, 2019 <<

Friday, April 26, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 28, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Admission:  Adult $5  Student $2
Under 12 free with paid adult
Free parking at Gate 5

Central Washington State Fairgrounds
Modern Living Building
1301 South Fair Ave.
Yakima, WA  98901

Featuring Special Displays:
Yakima Valley Museum Collections of
Local Rocks, Minerals & Fossils
and Columbia Basin Agates

– Vendors
– Demonstrations
– Raffle
– Door Prizes
– Silent Auction
– Kids Activities
– Gold Panning
– Wheel of Fortune
– Decorating Rocks
– Food Available

Get Directions

Central Washington State Fairgrounds

Central Washington University Geology Department Speakers for Yakima’s 2018 Parade Of Gems Show

image of central washington universityThe Central Washington University Department of Geological Sciences will be bringing a
contingent of professors and graduate and undergraduate students to the Northwest
Federation Show that is being hosted by the Yakima Rock Club on April 27-29, 2018.

They will share their expertise in a number of areas including volcanoes, dinosaurs, rocks and minerals, and local geology.  On all three days, but especially on Friday, which is being
designated as kids’ day, they will offer demonstrations on how volcanoes work, complete with both outdoor and indoor interactive activities.  They will also bring a stream table apparatus that is used in their geology classes to study different facets of stream behavior by changing gradient, flow rates, and different types of substrates.  This will be the début of this piece of equipment outside of the university and will involve interactive activities as well. A dinosaur expert will also be on site with some fossils, so come and ask questions about how dinosaurs and other animals, especially animals that lived in Washington state, lived and died.

Graduate students Marie Takach and Melanie Swick will be giving talks on
their Master’s research.  Marie will speak about “Mt. Etna Volcano, Italy: A Historic
Landmark and Volcanic Laboratory”.   Marie’s work is important because Etna’s volcanic
eruptions are becoming more explosive, and her research is searching for the reason
why. Melanie will give an overview of her research on the “Contribution of Light Absorbing
Aerosols Using a Novel Hyperspectral Microscopy Method.”  Her research is important for
helping scientists understand  the impact of airborne particulates on the melting of mountain
snow. These talks are scheduled for Friday April 27 at 11:00 and 1:00. See presenter schedule for details.

Geology department instructor Nick Zentner will also be a significant presence at the show.  He teaches very popular undergraduate classes and his class field trips are the best as he makes use of local geology to embellish the concepts he covers in his courses.  In 2015 Nick received the prestigious James Shea Award, a National Association of Geoscience Teachers Award which recognizes exceptional delivery of earth science content to the general public.  Past Shea Award recipients include John McPhee, Jack Horner, Robert Ballard, and Stephen Jay Gould.

Nick is a tireless promoter of everything that has to do with the field of geology and is a master of taking complex concepts and making them understandable to the general public.  His public field trips are attended by hundreds of people.  For these he provides detailed geology maps and information that make the landscapes of Washington State come alive.  His current video projects include Nick On The Rocks with 6 episodes that were produced by CWU for KCTS (PBS-TV in Seattle, Washington (5 minutes each), and Downtown Geology Lectures which has 22 lectures (60 minutes each) that were also produced by CWU.

Nick has created a “rock star”; following that packs venues every time he delivers a lecture on features of local geology.  For our show, he will give a presentation on Liberty gold and also be our keynote speaker at the show banquet where he will talk on Ellensburg blue agates and Liberty gold.

Plan on coming to the show and spending some quality time with these very knowledgeable
folks.

Click here for more Show Information

2018 NFMS 80th Anniversary Show & Convention Hosted by Yakima Rock & Mineral Club

80th Anniversary Northwest Federation of Mineralogical Societies
Show & Convention 2018
& “Parade of Gems” Show

>> April 27-29, 2018 <<

Hosted by Yakima Rock & Mineral Club, Inc.

Friday, April 27th, 10 am – 6 pm
Saturday, April 28th, 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday, April 29th, 10 am – 4 pm

Admission:
Adults $4.00
Students $2.00
Children under 14 free with adult paid admission
Free parking


Info for Dealers, Participants, Out-of-Town Guests

2018-NFMS-COMPETITIVE-ENTRY-FORM
2018-DISPAY-APPLICATION
REGISTRATION-NFMS018-FORM
REGISTRATION-FORM-Silversmithing-Class-Deadline-March-30
For out-of-town guests, The Best Western Plus Ahtanum Inn is officially our host hotel. 2408 Rudkin Road Yakima, WA 98903  1-800-348-9701


What:

Raffle for over thirteen grand prizes
Hourly Door Prizes
Children’s Activities
Silent Auctions
Grab Bags of Polished Stones
Wheel of Fortune – Every spin a winner!

Private Collectors Exhibits
Rock, Mineral & Fossil Dealers
Jewelry, Gems, and Bead Dealers
Rock, Mineral, Fossil and Lapidary Art Displays
NFMS Display Competitions
Jewelry Making Demonstrations
Jewelry Making Competition

Join The Fun:

Flint Knapping Workshops & Demonstrations
Wire Gem Tree Workshops
Metalsmith Workshops with Pre-Registration – Deadline March 30
Cabochon Making Workshops
Gold Panning Demonstration

Guest Speakers:

image of guest speaker time slots

Speaker Information


Friday 11:00-12:00 Marie Takach Central Washington University

Marie is a western Pennsylvania native who is interested in studying the processes by which volcanic rocks form. Since there are no volcanoes in Pennsylvania, she fled to the west coast in 2016 to pursue graduate studies in geology, where she is currently a master’s student at Central Washington University. There, she studies the chemical compositions of volcanic rocks and minerals in order to gain insight into their formation and evolution. The title of her presentation will be Mt. Etna Volcano, Italy: A Historic Landmark And Volcanic Laboratory.

Friday 1:00-2:00 Melanie Swick Central Washington University

Melanie is a masters student at Central Washington University. She is studying geology with a focus on snow studies. She realized that geology had won her heart after she began studying glacial geology as an undergraduate at St. Lawrence University in New York State. After moving to the Pacific Northwest she realized she could combine her passion for geology with her passion for the outdoors. during her spare time she can be found in the mountains skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and rock climbing. The title of her presentation will be Partitioning the Contribution of Light Absorbing Aerosols Using a Novel Hyperspectral Microscopy Method.

Friday 2:00-3:00 Greg Carr North America Research Group

The North America Research Group (NARG) is a group formed to promote research and provide paleontological information related (and not limited to) events, identification, and legal collecting and preparation of fossils. Greg will be giving an overview of their organization and some of the projects they have participated in.

Saturday 11:00-12:00 Bob Pattie

Bob has been an active rockhound and member of the Boeing Employee’s Mineralogical.Society, Inc., Cascade Mineralogical, and the Washington State Mineral Council for over 40.years. he is an author of Gems and Minerals of Washington, a pamphlet published by the.State of Washington Department of Natural Resources and also an article in the Rocks &.Minerals Washington State Issue titled “Collecting Sites or Agate in Washington State”. He has supported the DeLorme issue of the Washington Atlas and Gazetteer. Bob has also been a contributor to the Washington State Mineral Council’s Wagon Masters Maps which identifies collecting sites in Washington. He has also supported the Department of Natural Resources in the Snoqualmie Corridor recreation Planning Committee as the rockhound recreation representative. And finally Bob has provided many public information talks for schools groups, clubs, and scouts. The title of Bob’s presentation will be Gemstones in Washington. He will show samples of gemstone specimens found in Washington that showcase localities and maps that can be found in the Wagon Master Map Book.

Saturday 1:00-2:00 Bruce Bjornstad

Bruce Bjornstad is a licensed geologist/hydrogeologist and retired Senior Research Scientist from Battelle’s Pacific National Laboratory. He received a Bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of New Hampshire and Masters in geology from Eastern Washington University. During his 35 year career he has written numerous documents and reports on the geology of the region as well as two geologic guidebooks on Ice Age floods that transformed the pacific Northwest as recently as 13,000 years ago. Bruce is also the creator of an online YouTube channel titled: “Ice Age Floodscapes.” Bruce will be delivering a talk on the Ice Age Floods.

Saturday 2:00-3:00 Darryll Powell (Diamond Dan)

Florida native Darryl Powell and owner of Diamond Dan Publications will be flying in courtesy of the NFMS to participate in several venues at the show. Some of the publications he offers for sale on his website are The Best Bathroom Book for Mineral Collectors Ever Written, Diamond Dan’s Mineralogical Dictionary For Mineral Collectors, and Minerals Of The USA. Darryl has extensive knowledge of minerals, their properties, and locations where they can be found. He is especially gifted at taking complex mineral concepts and adapting them so that children can understand. Darryl will be presenting two talks at the show. The first will be on specimen mineralogy and the second will be on building and maintaining a vibrant and fun juniors program. He will also be helping out at the Juniors Table. Make sure you find time to stop by, say ‘Hi’, pick his mind, and peruse the materials he will be bringing with him.

Saturday 3:00-4:00 Nick Zentner Central Washington University

Nick hails from the geology department at Central Washington University where he teaches very popular undergraduate classes. His class field trips are the best as he makes use of local geology to embellish the concepts he covers in his courses.

Nick received a BS in geology in 1986 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MS in geology in 1989 from Idaho State University-Pocatello. In 2015 he received the prestigious James Shea Award, a National Association of Geoscience Teachers Award which recognizes exceptional delivery of earth science content to the general public. Past Shea Award recipients include John McPhee, Jack Horner, Robert Ballard, and Stephen Jay Gould.

Nick is a tireless promoter of everything that has to do with the field of geology and is a master of taking complex concepts and making them understandable to the general public. His public field trips are attended by hundreds of people. For these he provides detailed geology maps and information that make the landscapes of Washington State come alive. His current video projects include “Nick On The Rocks” with 6 episodes that were produced by CWU for KCTS (PBS-TV in Seattle, Washington (5 minutes each) and “Downtown Geology Lectures” which has 22 lectures (60 minutes each) that were also produced by CWU.

His past video projects include:
I-90 Rocks and other Special Topics (6 episodes)
2 Minute Geology (17 episodes)
Central Rocks-Roadside Geology (8 episodes)
Central Rocks Interviews with Geologists (33 episodes)

Nicks’ afternoon talk will be on Liberty Gold

Sunday 10:00-11:00 Darryll Powell (Diamond Dan)

This will be the second presentation Darryll will be giving at the show. The title of his presentation will be Building And Maintaining A Vibrant And Fun Juniors Program.

Sunday 11:00-12:00 Pat McMahan

Pat McMahan was born in Los Angeles, California in 1947. At the age of eight he met Professor Ade, a well know rockhound who collected in the 1930’s. He taught Pat how to cut, polish, distinguish the various rocks, document his collection, and prepare displays for shows. Pat focused on rocks until he was 12 years old then set the hobby aside until he was about 38 and had kids of his own. He got a guidebook and took his wife Kathy and two boys Scott and Chad to the desert camping and rock collecting. With Professor Ade’s influence Pat came to love sagenite and plume agate. Little did Professor Ade know that he was creating a life-long obsession for Pat.

Pat graduated from the University of Southern California in 1969. His major was business but he loved the earth sciences and studied geology, systematic botany and more. Upon graduation he worked in his family’s office furniture business and after 15 years opened his own retail stores in Santa Barbara and Ventura. Selling his business at age 42 and retiring, Pat has spent much of the past 30 years collecting agates.

His long years of intensive collecting resulted in the best and most comprehensive collection of sagenite and plume agate in the world. More than 8,000 polished agate specimens from over 550 locations are in his collection. Most of these agates have been collected in the field by Pat himself. He has spent considerable time digging on the Laguna and Coyamito Ranches with Gene Mueller from thegemshop.com. He has dug “Condor Agate” at over a dozen localities in Argentina and has collected in all 11 Western states in the U.S., also in Canada and Alaska.

In addition to plume, sagenite and dendritic agates, he has a collection of fine quality banded agates. He has displayed agates in rock shows in Europe and across the U.S. He has published articles in Rock and Gem Magazine and the German magazine Mineralien Welt, and is the author of a chapter on agates with inclusions in the authoritative book Agates II. Pat has just completed Agates, The Pat McMahan Collection. This is a comprehensive book of 500 pages which includes 1,250 beautiful color photos of agates from 300 agate deposits worldwide. It shows personal collecting stories, prospecting techniques, history of some locations and more.  His signed book will be available for viewing and purchase. http://agateswithinclusions.com.

Sunday 1:00-2:00 Bron Mayo The Wenas Mammoth Foundation

Bron and her husband Doug are the driving force behind the Wenas Mammoth Foundation and the dig site on their property that led to its formation. Construction of an access road led to the discovery of the partial skeleton of a regionally rare Columbian Mammoth which was excavated by researchers from Central Washington University over several summer dig seasons. Since then Bron and her husband have been tireless advocates for science education as it applies to the dig site. Their mobile museum has been toured by thousands of students and adults and their outreach presentations at area schools have been well received. Bron has designed several hands on activities for kids that have been showcased at the Central Washington State Fair and other events around the Yakima Valley. She is also a tireless writer of grant proposals, the success of which has led to the development of both the mobile museum and infrastructure at the dig site. Bron will be giving an overview of the Wenas Mammoth Project.

NOTE: Being that it is still February this slate of speakers may or may not change by show time. Stay tuned for updates or any changes. 

 

Special Attractions:

 

image of wire gold specimen image of wire gold image of Doug True's T-Rex Skull model image of space needle replica

North American Research Group (NARG)
The North American Research Group (NARG) – Displaying “Bernie” the Reptile Sea Monster, with many other fossil specimens, fossil Identification, and their 3-D Printer.

The Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals
The Rice Museum has agreed to display part of their rare Liberty Washington wire gold collection.  The Liberty area has produced some of the largest and finest specimens of crystallized wire gold in the world.  We are truly honored to be able to include their display in our 2018 show.

Audie Turner Petrified Wood Collection
Now housed at the geology dept. at Central Washington University.

Wenas Mammoth Foundation – Mobile Education Unit

Space Needle Replica – Made of petrified wood & gem stones by Puyallup Valley Gem & Mineral Club, Inc.

Paleontology Demonstrations

Rare Ancient Ammonites from Canada

Peck’s T-Rex Skull Fossil – Displayed by Doug & Janette True

MCBONES Research Center Foundation Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site from Kennewick, WA

Ellensburg Blue – Langford Jewelers

picture with kids and a mammoth bone from Wenas Mammoth dig image of petrified wood image of an ammonite shell McBones mammoth dig ellensburg blue

 

Advertisers:

 

Dealers:

Granite Mountain Nature GalleryThe World's Fossils & MineralsThe Gemstone ConnectionDoug True
Martell & MartellEarth's TreasuresRockin' RosesLangfordjewelers.com
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Beryl Mountain MineralsPaleo EnterprisesManchee, LLCStone Styles
Gliptic ConceptsU.S. Bead WarehouseProspector's GuildPrehistoric To Present LLC

Location:

Modern Living Building & Pioneer Hall
Central Washington State Fair Park
1301 S. Fair Avenue, Yakima, WA

Parade of Gems Yakima Show

Get Directions

For out-of-town guests, The Best Western Plus Ahtanum Inn is officially our host hotel. 2408 Rudkin Road Yakima, WA 98903  1-800-348-9701