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Hernando Today

Gettin' A Piece Of The Rock

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: December 8, 2008

WEEKI WACHEE - David Schmitt knows he is different from the rest.

For a hobbyist and small-scale exhibitor, he has an extensive collection.

"See that? It shines even when you move the light away," he said as he pulled the lamp further from the multi-colored opal.

The green vein-like stripes along the outside of the stone snatched what little light that was available and appeared to glow in the dark.

Schmitt is from Brooksville. He joined others who traveled hundreds of miles to attend the annual Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Show, which took place Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the SNPJ Hall in Spring Hill.

Schmitt used to buy handfuls of opals at a time when they were just a few hundred dollars. Today, getting his hands on some rough opals would cost up to $1,500, he said.

It's a good thing he grabbed as many as he did 20 years ago while in Miami.

"That was when an opal was still affordable," he said as he picked out some of his favorite stones for sale. "That's not the case today."

Opals, rubies, diamonds, sapphires, topazes and various other gems were sold during the weekend. Some had the diameter of a silver dollar while others were as wide as the tip of a felt pen.

Eddie Rusks has a clam shell he thinks is 2 million years old.

Thousands of people per year visit his backyard looking for those same fossil clam shells, which are filled with orange crystals.

He found the clam shell six years ago in northern Okochobee County near Fort Drum.

Another specimen discovered there reportedly sold for $7,000. Minors from as far away as Japan visit the mine to try and find the crystals, Rusks said.

"I'm so proud of it," he said of the mining area near his home. "It's something this state can be proud of. It's a great thing and nobody knows about it."

He said former Gov. Jeb Bush visited the mining area twice while he was in office.
Rusks was one of the many exhibitors at the gem show during the weekend. He and his wife run Fort Drum Crystal Mine, the "largest supplier of calcite in clams," according to his business card.

Not all the vendors at the show were selling jewelry or gem stones. Shirley Squire manned a booth filled with leather, fur, animal skulls, tomahawks and other Native American memorabilia.

She usually works at pow-wows, but wanted to try her hand at a gem show because visitors there are attracted to old-fashioned jewelry and stones made by both man and nature.

"It's a nice change," she said. "I love gem stones, crystal healing and things like that. You know, natural stuff."

The three-day event was organized by the Withlachoochee Rockhounds of Brooksville.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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