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The Central Texas Gem and Mineral Society hosted their gem, mineral and jewelry show at the Abilene Convention Center this weekend, April 14, 2019. The show is held annually on the second weekend of April every year.

The show featured several venders offering their crystals, stones, fossils, handmade jewelry and crafting materials.

Central Texas Gem and Mineral Society was a big presence at the show. They offered activities for people of all ages, including a Wheel of Fortune game where players could win anything from candy to small crystal pieces and fossils. Society members also assisted attendees in choosing and cracking their own geodes.

“There’s something great about being the first person to see a geode open after the millions of years that it took for them to form,” Jim Owens, a long-time society member working the geode cracking station said.

The society prides itself in educating people on lapidary skills. They used the show as an opportunity to showcase that with demonstrations in gem tree and hammered metal creation and the silversmithing process. Jerry Davis demonstrated silversmithing along with a few of the students he has taught in the classes he teaches for the club.

Society members displayed their personal large-scale projects to be voted on by show attendees. Project display cases included numerous different themes, one of which was “The Story of the Covenant” created by Brad Helbert, who said he cut his own stones for the project.

A fluorescent rock display featured natural glow-in-the-dark stones of different colors in a dark room as well.

As a way to raise money for a scholarship for students wanting to attend school locally at Hardin-Simmons University, a silent auction and raffle for a crystal egg and hundred-dollar bill were held.

For more information on the Central Texas Gem and Mineral Society and membership, visit their website or their Facebook page.