History
A Little Bit About Our History
The Club welcomes all with an interest in the broad area of earth science to consider joining.
The Tulip City Gem & Mineral Club was established in 1967 and has been meeting monthly ever since. Its main purpose is to develop interest in and increase knowledge of minerals, rocks, gems, fossils, and the lapidary arts, and to promote them through family participation whenever possible.
The first meeting was initiated by Joe Moran, who was the Director of the Holland Recreation Department at that time. About 10 or 12 couples/families joined at that initial meeting, and the Club has grown through the years. Currently, it has one of the largest memberships of both adults and juniors of any Michigan club. The youth are especially enthusiastic about their Junior Club, which meets for part of each meeting in a separate room with their own advisors who provide programs tailored to their specific age levels.
As part of its mission to educate, the Club has provided annual scholarships to geology students at Hope College and GVSU since 1975. These awards are presented at a spring banquet to which the students, their families, and the geology professor are invited. The scholarships have ranged up to $2,500 in a single year, and the cumulative total awarded to date is nearly $40,000. Income from the Club's annual show is the primary source of income and makes these scholarships possible.
Starting in 1970, the Club hosts an annual show in September that is open to the public. It features Club member and guest exhibits of minerals, rocks, fossils, and lapidary materials. The show also provides several dealers (non-club members), a club sales area, a silent auction, Junior games, and an area for kids to polish a Petoskey stone. The opening day is focused on elementary classes, 2nd through 5th grades, from Holland, West Ottawa, and surrounding area schools, as well as home-school families. All these students, plus their teachers and chaperones, attend at no cost. Show attendance over the last several years has ranged from 2100 to 3000 individuals.
For decades, the Club has purchased and donated books on minerals, fossils, and lapidary to Holland’s Herrick District Library’s collection, and more recently, Zeeland’s Howard Miller Library, as memorials to deceased members. This has developed a substantial collection that the entire community can access and borrow.
In 2005, the Club created a “Geology Trail” at the DeGraaf Nature Center. This installation consists of 13 large rock specimens set in cement with an identification sign by each rock, and a 6-page handout that describes the nature of the specimens in fuller detail. The handouts are available in the Center.
The Club welcomes everyone with an interest in the broad area of earth science to consider joining.
The Tulip City Gem & Mineral Club was established in 1967 and has been meeting monthly ever since. Its main purpose is to develop interest in and increase knowledge of minerals, rocks, gems, fossils, and the lapidary arts, and to promote them through family participation whenever possible.
The first meeting was initiated by Joe Moran, who was the Director of the Holland Recreation Department at that time. About 10 or 12 couples/families joined at that initial meeting, and the Club has grown through the years. Currently, it has one of the largest memberships of both adults and juniors of any Michigan club. The youth are especially enthusiastic about their Junior Club, which meets for part of each meeting in a separate room with their own advisors who provide programs tailored to their specific age levels.
As part of its mission to educate, the Club has provided annual scholarships to geology students at Hope College and GVSU since 1975. These awards are presented at a spring banquet to which the students, their families, and the geology professor are invited. The scholarships have ranged up to $2,500 in a single year, and the cumulative total awarded to date is nearly $40,000. Income from the Club's annual show is the primary source of income and makes these scholarships possible.
Starting in 1970, the Club hosts an annual show in September that is open to the public. It features Club member and guest exhibits of minerals, rocks, fossils, and lapidary materials. The show also provides several dealers (non-club members), a club sales area, a silent auction, Junior games, and an area for kids to polish a Petoskey stone. The opening day is focused on elementary classes, 2nd through 5th grades, from Holland, West Ottawa, and surrounding area schools, as well as home-school families. All these students, plus their teachers and chaperones, attend at no cost. Show attendance over the last several years has ranged from 2100 to 3000 individuals.
For decades, the Club has purchased and donated books on minerals, fossils, and lapidary to Holland’s Herrick District Library’s collection, and more recently, Zeeland’s Howard Miller Library, as memorials to deceased members. This has developed a substantial collection that the entire community can access and borrow.
In 2005, the Club created a “Geology Trail” at the DeGraaf Nature Center. This installation consists of 13 large rock specimens set in cement with an identification sign by each rock, and a 6-page handout that describes the nature of the specimens in fuller detail. The handouts are available in the Center.
The Club welcomes everyone with an interest in the broad area of earth science to consider joining.