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Flagg Gem and Mineral Show in Mesa this weekend by David M. Brown - Jan. 4, 2010 12:44 PM Special for The Republic Here's a multi-faceted event that sparkles and shines for everyone. The 38th Annual Flagg Gem and Mineral Show takes place 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday through Sunday, Jan. 8, 9 and 10 in the west parking lot of Mesa Community College, 1833 W. Southern Ave. in Mesa (entrance on Dobson Road). Admission and parking are free. Sponsored by The Arizona Mineral and Mining Museum Foundation and the Mesa Community College Geology Club, the free family event will offer 100-plus dealers of minerals, fossils, gems and lapidary materials. In addition, local organizations and clubs will exhibit and distribute educational information, including the Arizona Leaverites, the Mineralogical Society of Arizona, Maricopa Lapidary Society, Apache Junction Gem and Mineral Club, and Mesa Southwest Museum. "It is difficult to know what the vendors will bring," said Raymond Grant, a Queen Creek resident and retired geology professor at MCC, where he taught for 26 years. "I always find some small treasure to buy." He's particularly looking forward to seeing a 480-pound piece, recently mined near Wickenburg, which fluoresces in red, blue and other colors. In addition, the Peralta Stone Tablet Treasure Maps will be exhibited. Owned by the museum foundation, they are rarely on public exhibit. Honoring Arthur L. Flagg, founder of the Mineral Society of Arizona and first museum foundation curator and superintendent, the show started in 1970 as the Superstition Mountain Mineral Festival. The nonprofit Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum Foundation started in 1962 as the A. L. Flagg Foundation; in 1988 this was changed to reflect support of the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum, 1502 W. Washington St. in downtown Phoenix. By design, the Flagg show is an event for the children, said Grant. A Peralta Treasure Hunt for children, 3 to 7, takes place throughout the weekend. They'll look for clues around the show and complete a brief questionnaire. The winner, based on a drawing, gets a class trip to the Arizona Mineral and Mining Museum. The Arizona Leaverites will offer a booth where children can choose minerals, rocks, and fossils to make a collection of 12 specimens in an egg carton. The Mineralogical Society of Arizona and the Maricopa Lapidary Society will set up spinning wheels where children get a mineral sample depending on where the wheel stops. The Mining and Mineral Museum has a booth for children's activities, and the MCC Geology Club's booth will give out free samples. In addition, children can enjoy a fossil dig or even "Make a Fossil." They'll find an "ice cream" volcano, too. Gilbert Councilman Les Presmyk, a long-time mineral dealer and chairman of the museum foundation board, will be cracking geodes for "kids" at the event. "Kids are defined as those from 3 to 83," said Presmyk, Salt River Project's principal mining engineer, who helps acquire fuels for its coal-fired and nuclear generating stations. "Everybody loves geodes." Presmyk says he attended the first show held at the Don's Peralta trailhead camp in the Superstition Mountains and began collecting when he was 10. "I became a mining engineer because of my love for minerals," he said. Michael Shannon, a native Mesan who lives in Gilbert, will also be at the show - and bringing family members. His sons, David, 10, Zachary, 8, and daughter, Chelsea, 17, and his niece are all involved in the family business, Shannon & Sons Minerals, which sells mineral-collecting specimens and tools. "Even my wife, who is a nurse, loves to come and work the show," said Shannon, whose dad, David, was a mineral dealer. For more information on the show, call 480-814-9086. |