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he Denver Gem & Mineral (Spring) Showcase is kicking off another great year with two fantastic shows — the larger Colorado Mineral & Fossil (Spring) Show held at a big hotel ballroom in Aurora on the east side of Denver, and the smaller Colorado Independent Warehouse (Spring) Show in Lakewood on the west side of town. Both shows are unique and you won’t want to miss either one. We call this Denver Gem & Mineral Showcase the “spring” showcase because a much larger and more famous Denver Gem & Mineral Showcase is held each September with twelve shows open over a ten-day period. And both of the shows that are in this Denver Spring Showcase also have shows in the Denver Showcase in September.
Colorado Mineral & Fossil (Spring) Show
RMGM Promotions (Rocky Mountain Gems and Minerals) is gearing up for the 2019 season. Show Schedules:
• Colorado Mineral & Fossil (Spring) Show at Crowne Plaza DIA, 15500 E. 40th Ave., Denver, April 13-15.
• New! Texas Mineral & Fossil Show at Lone Star Convention Center & Expo, 9055 Airport Rd., Conroe, Texas, April 26-28.
• Colorado Mineral & Fossil (Fall) Show at Crowne Plaza DIA, 15500 E. 40th Ave., Denver, September 6-14.
Admission and parking are free for the April Spring show, and approximately 90 retail and wholesale dealers from around the globe will be exhibiting and selling a variety of gems, minerals, cabochons, meteorites, jewelry, fossils, gold specimens, and home décor products. Many collectors, rock shop owners, and jewelry designers shop this show because of the quality of the dealers and their products, and at the same time enjoy springtime in the Colorado Rockies. The area has many great attractions and is home to multiple mineral clubs and spectacular museums, like the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum, the Colorado Nature and Science Museum, and the Georgetown Loop Railway Museum.
The Spring show also features an array of activities from free gold panning lessons for all ages, facilitated by the Foothills Prospector’s Gold Club, a free rock dig, a $5.00 dinosaur dig for kids, and free hourly drawings. In addition, the show offers both beginners and advanced wire-wrapping and beading workshops and classes taught by Susan Garner, owner of Perfectly Twisted, and Kate Dowd of Kate Dowd Designs. A fundraiser on Saturday, April 13, at 6 PM will benefit the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum. This event is sponsored by RMGM Promotions, Friends of the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum, Rock Warehouse, Mineral & Fossil Supply, Inc., and Xpo Press, and, of course, all the generous mineral dealers from the show who’ve donated mineral and fossil specimens for the auction. For more information log on to www.coloradomineralandfossilshows.com or www.rmgmpromotions.com.
Colorado Independent Warehouse (Spring) Show
Since 1989, Steve and Janet Applebaum of The Rock Warehouse, owners of CIWS, have been dealers at the September Denver Gem & Mineral Show under their old name, Desert Gems. In 2006, they moved to their own warehouse at 810 Quail St., in Lakewood, and began promoting and operating their own shows in both September and April. Both shows carry a large inventory and have eliminated soaring show fees. They stock many items that buyers won't often find at the larger shows. Making their inventory even larger and more unique, Rock Warehouse was joined a few years ago by a new warehouse neighbor, Vicjon Enterprises, the well-known Peruvian import company, and they’re open year-round.
Three years ago, JK Stone joined the “warehouse team,” adding an even larger selection than before, and Carl Scott's South Dakota Rose Quartz is another dealer who displays at the warehouse shows. CIWS features a huge selection of amethyst — large decorator pieces down to crystals — from Brazil and Uruguay. Other featured minerals and products include: citrine, quartz and agate products, a wide variety of tumbled stones, gemstone carvings, Palo Santo, polished spheres, wands, points, hearts and eggs; Peruvian carved birds and framed butterfly arrangements, pyrite, and meteorites; pyrite dollars, kyanite and a large mineral selection including thumbnails, and rough rose quartz; top quality fluorite and many polished shapes and carvings, polished petrified wood bookends and other products from Cota Lapidary. The warehouse team can ship pallet purchases from the warehouse.
