Ocotillo Rocks! Event

by Susan Massey

Chuck Bucher helps Christian Campos 
identify rocks found outside the Desert Museum 
during the program Ocotillo Rocks, Saturday March 31

One hundred and thirty people poured into the Desert Museum on Saturday morning to attend the Ocotillo Rocks event.  Everyone stopped to look at the items in the gift store and especially the beautiful jewelry that  Lydia Walker had brought, including some exquisite silver pieces made by Pima Indians.  Volunteers scurried around putting more chairs in the classroom.  Still not everyone could get a seat.  Joe Rodrigues of the Gem and Mineral Society talked to the crowd of over a hundred about the geology history of the Imperial Valley and about the evidence we can find that the entire region was once a sea.  He showed a collection of rocks from the region. 

Since the room was overflowing and the small children were getting restless, Jessica Brody, our curator, ran a session of the Ceramic Art Program in the lab where she showed them an example of coiled clay pots and gave them clay to work with.  The kids were very entertained.

Joe Rodrigues of the Gem and Mineral Society gave a talk 
about local geology at the  Desert Museum on March 31.
130 people attended the event and many went out 
onto the museum grounds to identify rocks after the talk.

When the talk was finished everyone went outside to walk around the museum grounds and try to identify the rocks.  Joe and John Pyle, president of the Gem and Mineral Society helped them identify and examine the rocks. Rather than take their findings out of the desert, children were encouraged to take videos and email them home. When we came back inside, Joe answered questions and gave each child a geode.  A lot of people stuck around to ask questions and wander around the museum after the event was over.