Club Activities
Below are pictures of the people and projects we support.
Below are pictures of the people and projects we support.
Purpose, Community Involvement, and History
Purpose
Cedar Valley Rocks & Minerals Society is a 501(c)4 nonprofit corporation orangized for the purpose of studying the sciences of mineralogy, geology, and paleontolgy, and the arts of lapidary and gemology.
Community Involvement
Cedar Valley Rocks & Minerals Society gives to the community through scholarships, donations to food banks, providing speakers for schools and other community groups, and support of the Van Allen Science Teaching Center (VAST), the Eastern Iowa Science Fair and the Connections program. Profit from our annual show and auction is distributed to University of Iowa and Cornell College for scholarships for geology students' required field camps and to the VAST Center to help fund their geology teaching kits, which are used by thousands of students in Eastern Iowa.
At Christmas time, members donate money which the club divides between HACAP and the Linn County Food Bank. Upon request, knowledgeable club members present programs on rock-related topics to area schools, libraries, and other community groups. We provide cash prizes for junior and senior projects at the Eastern Iowa Science Fair, and make a small donation to the Fair. Since 2014 we have supported the Iowa City Take A Kid Outdoors (TAKO) event sponsored by River Products in Iowa City by providing exhibits and activities for the kids as well as helping them identify specimens they might find.
On separate occasions Cedar Valley Rocks & Minerals Society has brought internationally-known dinosaur experts Pete Larson and Phil Currie to Cedar Rapids. Their programs were well attended by the public and attracted lots of children.
History
Cedar Valley Rocks & Minerals Society currently has about 110 members. The club had its beginning in 1951 at the home of Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Ozburn in Marion. Twenty-seven people were present at that first meeting.
Early shows were exhibits at the Science Fair from 1954-1958. Our first official show was held at Hawkeye Downs in April of 1965. The 1978 Midwest Federation Show was held in Cedar Rapids at Hawkeye Downs with our club as hosts. There were 48 competitive exhibits, 948 stamp cancellations, 236 attending the Awards Banquet and 231 campers on the grounds.
From 1983 to 1994 we held our shows at the IBEW Local 405 Meeting Hall in Cedar Rapids. From 1995 to 2003 our shows were at the Teamsters Hall on J St. SW. For our 40th show in 2004 we again hosted the Midwest Federation Show & Convention at Hawkeye Downs.
We returned our show to the Teamsters Union in 2005. Having outgrown the Teamsters Union, we moved our show back to Hawkeye Downs in 2011.
Code of Ethics
Cedar Valley Rocks & Minerals Society Abides by the American Federation of Mineral Society Code of Ethics
A non-profit organization, (501,c-4), it is a member of The American Federation of Mineralogical Societies and The Midwest Federation of Mineralogical and Geological Societies. Contact Webmaster.