The Agatelady: Adventures and Events: The Celebration of Agates International Agate Show -- Post 1

On Wednesday after leaving Interstate Park, my friends and I caravaned around an hour to Hastings, MN, which is located a little over 40 miles from Minneapolis. Jill has an agate friend there who had invited us over. We arrived early, so we killed time wandering the antique stores located in this Twin Cities suburb. I bought several glass plates for use in making new agate plates.

Around 2:00 we drove over to Mark's house. It was amazing. Mark, has more Lake Superior agates than anyone I have ever met. Apparently he hunted for agates several times a week for many years--until lately. Now due to other constraints, he only gets out 2 or 3 times a week. However, he had barrels and bins and glass cases full of Lake Superior agates. Thousands of them. The glacial terrain where the St. Croix River and the Mississippi River converge must be good agate territory -- proof is in the size of his collection.

I knew that I didn't have much time since I wanted to purchase a few agates, organize my car, and then drive to Minneapolis. As a result, I did not take any pictures of his incredible agate collection. Sorry.

The drive was more than I have endured for more than a decade. I hit rush hour in the Twin Cities and drove in stop and go traffic for two hours. It was quite a relief to finally arrive at the Marriott. I ate dinner and then got a good night sleep. I knew that I had to be at the Celebration of Agates meeting well before 8:00 a.m. Well, I tried to sleep....

I must admit that I was a bit nervous as Thursday morning dawned. During my corporate career I spoke at a lot of large meetings, as well as at legislative hearings, etc. But it has been a long time....

My speaking slot was just before lunch. As nervous as I was, things went well for the most part -- until the AV company's computer died. Apparently the cord had wiggled loose and the computer lost power. Since at first the lights were out in the theater, It took them a few minutes to diagnose the problem, but there was a 4 or 5 minute gap in time. I kept thinking that my power point presentation would start up any second, but it did not. Thanks to Roger Clark who asked me what the Gitche Gumee Museum contains. My response filled at least some of that gap.

Once my presentation was over, I felt a great sense of relief. My talk must have come off OK however, because since Thursday morning over 50 people have sought me out to give me positive feedback.

As a celebration of the international Agate Show, for the next few days I'll post some of the pictures I took from the presentations as well as on the show floor. Tomorrow, I'll list the names of all the speakers and their topics. But today I just want to post some pictures of nature's art. Enjoy.

The show venue is Hopkins High School.