Club History

The Hastings Centre Rockhounds formed in 1958 and within a short time club members were participating in local and BC shows.

The first display was at a Hobby Show held in Burnaby Mountain Park on June 27 and 28, 1959. It looks like they had pretty good weather, but were prepared for anything.

By October we participated in our first BC Gem and Mineral Show in the “Gardens” building at Hastings Park. The November issue of The Canadian Rockhound described the event:

“The Hastings Centre Rockhounds had as the centre of their display a beautiful group of Rosy-Brown quartz crystals over a foot in diameter, the centre crystals were about 5 inches high, this mass of crystals were sprinkled with pyrite crystals. There were found in a vug in a mine at Yellowknife. This new club also displayed cabochons, jewelry, and polished specimens.”

We participated in the BC Gem and Mineral Show every year after that. In 1960 the display by Hastings Centre Rockhounds was a log house booth which inside had several cases of crystals and artifacts collected by the members. Today’s displays are not nearly as elaborate and follow specifications for size.

By 1966 we were ready to host our first show at the Hastings Centre. It was reported in the Vancouver Sun with a large photo of students from the local elementary schools holding up gift rocks to be identified after they toured the show. Times do change though… the 1966 show was on Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6 pm until 10 pm. (The students must have had a special show time). Now, our show has daytime hours on the weekend!