by Ethan Wolbach, reporter
OMAHA – The Omaha Convention Center hosted the Omaha Gem and Mineral Show this past weekend, where collectors had the opportunity to display and sell rocks, jewelry and more.
The show was approved by the Douglas County Department of Health with attendees required to wear masks, hand sanitize and receive zero touch temperature readings before entering the venue.
“I feel it’s very safe. Everybody is wearing a mask, having a good time, keeping distance. So, it’s really fun,” said vendor Mark Bochey.
Bochey has been collecting gems and minerals for the last 35 years.
“It’s just a joy for me. I love to cut, and polish rocks. My wife thinks I’m a little crazy and maybe I am, but it’s a lot of fun to do,” Bochey said.
For other vendors, rock collecting runs in the family and has become a large part of their lives.
“My grandpa started doing all this stuff when he got back from World War II. And then my dad got into it when he was young. And then my dad’s been taking me out to collecting ever since I was maybe five or six years old,” said vendor Brad Nielsen.
One highlight of the show for Nielsen is seeing all the kids attending the event, and excited about rocks.
“My dad and I like to educate people on different types of stuff, because there’s thousands of different minerals and hundreds and thousands of different fossils. So, people have seen stuff that they don’t know about and we like to tell them a little bit about it and tell them how it’s gotten out. And that’s basically what we’re into, is educating people because my dad was a schoolteacher so it’s kind of in his blood to teach kids,” Nielsen said.
The proceeds of the show go towards funding geology scholarships at the University of Nebraska Omaha and the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
