A Hidden Jewel In The Rogue Valley

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is well-known to tourists, but there is a hidden gem in the Rogue Valley that deserves to be explored:  The Crater Rock Museum in Central Point.  Despite its uninspiring name, it hosts one of the finest mineral collections in the Northwest.  The museum is run by the Roxy Ann Gem and Mineral Society, a non-profit organization.  It began in 1954 through the initiative of Delmar and Frieda Smith and Cap Mentzer.  It has grown into a world class museum, offering spectacular mineral specimens from around the world.  It has the largest agate collection in the country, and also offers arrowheads, shells, fossils and an ultraviolet room.  There is also a gift shop.  The museum is open from Tues.-Sat. 10:00 A.M.-4:00 P.M.  If you’ve got kids, the museum is a wonderful place for them to start a new hobby.  There are classes in cab making, faceting, jewelry with planned trips to mineral locations, and there is a special Kid’s Day!  Please drop by, if you’re in the area.  Volunteers will be glad to show you around.  For more info, please visit http://craterrock.comIMG_6341

About Robert M. Weiss
From an early age, I've taken great pleasure in reading. Also, I learned to play my 78 player when I was quite young, and enjoyed listening to musicals and classical music. I remember sitting on the floor, and following the text and pictures of record readers, which were popular in the 1940s and 50s. My favorites were the Bozo and Disney albums. I also enjoyed watching the slow spinning of 16s as they spun out tales of adventure. I have always been attracted by rivers, and I love to sit on a boulder with my feet in the water, gazing into the mysteries of swirling currents. I especially like inner tubing on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon. Since my early youth, I've been interested in collecting minerals, which have taught me about the wonderful possibilities in colors and forms. Sometimes I try to imagine what the ancient Greeks must have felt when they began to discover physical laws in nature. I also remember that I had a special passion for numbers, and used to construct them out of stones. After teaching Russian for several years, I became a writer, interviewer, editor, and translator. I continue to delight in form, and am a problem solver at heart.

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