Come visit the Jewelry, Gem and Mineral Show!

While you're out and about at the Tehachapi Mountain Festival on Aug. 19 and 20 be sure to stop by the Tehachapi Valley Gem and Mineral Society's Jewelry, Gem and Mineral Show at the Tehachapi SENIOR CENTER.

There will be lots to see and do for all ages. Vendors will be showing and selling beautiful showcase minerals, fossils, polished rocks, beads and handcrafted jewelry. This might be just the place to pick up a unique Christmas or birthday gift for that "hard to shop for" friend or relative.

The Tehachapi Valley Gem and Mineral Society will have the always popular spinning wheel with many unique prizes, such as fossilized shark's teeth, ammonites, beautiful minerals and polished rocks.

If you haven't purchased your ticket for this year's raffle, the show will be your final opportunity to do so. This year we have three prizes: an Amethyst stone with beautiful large, purple crystals, a necklace of graduated Lapis and a necklace of Maligano Jasper and Onyx. The winning raffle ticket will be drawn on Sunday, Aug. 20. You do not need to be present to win (but it would be fun)!

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity and are proud of our contributions to education. Each year our raffle, rock auctions and spin wheel proceeds go to educating our members, the public and area schools. We have monthly field trips to various rockhounding locations or museums and maintain a fully functional workshop to cut and polish our field trip finds. We provide multiple scholarships to deserving high school students from the Greater Tehachapi area and donate rock and mineral teaching kits to elementary and middle school classrooms teaching Geology and Earth Science. Upon request we send knowledgeable members with fabulous displays of rocks and fossils to give lectures and demonstrations to students and various community groups. We take our mission to educate seriously!

If all this sounds like something you would like to involved in, join TVGMS for its regular meetings the fourth Thursday of each month at Tehachapi SENIOR CENTER at 7 p.m. Come out, dig some rocks and get involved!

Be sure to include a visit to the Jewelry, Gem and Mineral Show during this year's Mountain Festival on Aug. 19 and 20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Tehachapi SENIOR CENTER (the corner of 500 East and F Street in downtown Tehachapi). See you there!