Rock Show at the Phillips County Museum

Phillips County’s own Mitch and Annie Blatter displayed quite the collection on rocks at Phillips County Museum’s first Gems and Minerals Presentation last Friday afternoon with over twenty in attendance.

The Blatters own a ranch in Phillips County, but spend several months in Yuma, Arizona; the place where the retired couple found a new hobby six years ago.

“We started rock hounding when we retired in 2010,”Annie said. “We went to Yuma and we joined the Rock and Mineral Club.”

At the time the couple joined the club there were only 60 members. Today the club has reached over 200.

The club does more than sit around and talk about rocks. They hunt together.

“We go out on the desert twice a month at least with the club,” Annie said. “We also go out a lot on our own.”

At the event, the Blatters not only shared their collection for viewing, they also had stories of how they found various rocks and explained the history of some of their favorites.

The sad news is that many sites the couple has been to are being shut down.

“The government is shutting all of these places down and it’s just not right,” Blatter said.

One such rock that is no longer available to dig is the Wulfenite, mimetite at the Rowley Mine in the Painted Rock Mountains in Arizona.

“The government has shut them down as of a year ago,” she said. “They make the restrictions and regulations impossible to meet. So they close them down. And it’s really sad because they don’t own the mines.”

The very first type of rock Annie fell in love with was a potato geode, which when opened looks like a russet potato.

“I love bling,” Annie said. “It’s a lot more beautiful than it sounds.”

Though the couple has found many geodes in their natural state, the Blatters go to any rock store they may come across in their travels throughout the country. One of their favorite places to shop for rocks is in a town called Quartzsite, Ariz. The town holds several shows and flea markets every spring.

“We love Quartzsite,” Annie said. “They have a big show every year, big tent with many venders. There are probably 3,000 venders every year.”

Despite early jitters before the event, Annie was happy with how the show at the P.C. Museum went.

“I’m very happy,” Annie said. “I’m shocked actually of how many people are into rocks.”

She also thinks that many more people would’ve been encouraged to rock hound if they came.

The show was put on by the request of the P.C. Museum, who has a small display in the front showroom.

“I said that we could do it. We have enough rocks for sure,” she said.

Annie also said that they have helped display rocks and gems at their local fair in Arizona with their club. They also look forward to putting on a show for their local school in Arizona.

The couple aims to pass their collection down to their grandchildren one day.

For folks wanting to start their own collection, Blatter shared this advice.

“Get a book,” she said. “Join a club. Meet other friends that are interested. You learn a lot by just talking to people. Go to the rock shows.”