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Gem, Mineral, Fossil and Jewelry Show

Date and Time: Sat, Feb 25, 9:00 am

Gems, jewelry, fossils and minerals will be on display Feb. 25 and 26 at the Trade Mart on the Mississippi State Fairgrounds in Jackson. It’s the Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society’s 53rd annual show.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

Artisans and craftsmen will display their skills and demonstrate techniques in lapidary work. MGMS’s artisans will show how to turn rocks and semi-precious stones into jewelry. Demonstrations will include cabochon cutting, gem faceting and wire wrapping. A flint knapping enthusiast will show how primitive peoples created arrowheads and other stone tools. Children will delight in hands-on activities including making gem trees and picking out a geode or a fossil grab bag.

More than 20 dealers of jewelry, gemstones, beads, lapidary tools and fossils are expected to sell goods at the show. Dealers from around the country as well as local craftspeople will sell at the show. Sellers will offer fine jewelry and custom made pieces. Artisans and amateurs alike can find an array of beads and stones from around the world, as well as other craft materials. Collectors can purchase Brazilian cathedral amethyst and Keokuk, Iowa geodes, gems and minerals from around the world, and fossils that are millions of years old.

The show will also include educational displays of fossils and Native American tools collected from around the state. Educational displays will include fossils donated to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science by avocational fossil collectors and rock hounds, as well as samples of the best of MGMS members’ collections.

“There is something there for everybody,” said MGMS President Keith Peacock of Braxton.

For more information, call MGMS Show Chair Janie Hand, 601-706-4629, or Peacock at 601-863-6535.

The Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society, founded in 1957, promotes knowledge and enjoyment of activities related to the earth sciences. MGMS members include amateurs and science professionals whose interests range from jewelry making to paleontology. To learn more about the gem and mineral show, or about MGMS membership, visit the web site at www.missgems.org.

filed under: Artistic Opportunities, Community, Creative Classes, Exhibits and Openings, Family, Outdoors, Shopping and Sales, Youth.