club news by eileen moss

• Our shop courses and open shops are fully operational at this time.  For details, on various timeframes, please check the calendar tab on our website.  Our current open shop times are Sunday’s from 10-1pm, Tuesday’s from 10-1pm and 630-830pm, Wednesday’s from 10-1pm . Thursday’s from 10-1 will be open shop for enamelling students or for a variety of other courses as volunteer instructors are available.
• On Tuesday evenings, we teach lapidary skills or how to cut and polish gemstones.  Training is free with a Club membership and all equipment is provided.  By the end of the evening, you will have created a polished cabochon and have learned how to use the small saw, grinders and sanders.
• Our silversmithing courses continue to be very popular even with the escalating price of silver stock.  Generally the courses are full within a few hours of posting.  We are limiting class sizes to 6 students with two instructors to ensure the full content is covered and to meet the needs of our students.
• Along with the beginner silversmithing course, the Club continues to offer a variety of beginner and intermediate courses to Club members with the much appreciated help of our volunteer instructors.  We have created certificates that are issued to students who have completed the beginner silversmithing course and/or the lapidary course successfully.  This enables students to use the open shop at their convenience. For each open shop we have 2 instructors on duty, one for silversmithing and one for lapidary. Students are required to sign in and out each time.
• We are participating in Family Day activities within the Tett Centre, Monday February 16, from 10-1pm.  Catherine Byers will be the instructor for this event and will teach participants how to create artwork with beach glass in two different sessions.  One session will be from 10:30 to 11:30 am, with the second session from 12:00 to 1:00 pm. If you would like to register, contact Eileen Moss at 613-384-4439 or by email at [email protected]. This is a free activity for all age groups and all skill levels.  
• Our bi-annual Metal Rocks shows have become well established and much anticipated shows in our community.  We schedule the Sprint and Fall shows to coincide with the Potters Spring and Fall Sales, providing more for visitors and shoppers to see and purchase within the Tett at the same time.  Approximately 16 members of the Club are able to participate in the show to sell their unique creations handcrafted with skills that many of them have acquired through the Club.  Grenville Minerals is also a welcome addition to the show and sale enabling visitors to add to their rock and mineral collections. Our Spring show for 2026 will be held April 30 – May 3 in the Malting Tower, while our Fall show will be  November 26- 29 in the Rehearsal Room on the second floor.  Check out our Events page for more details.
• Gem Storm 2025 was held once again at St Lawrence College in the Event Centre.  Attendance was slightly lower, however we are hopeful that a number of new activities and promotions will increase attendance once again in 2026.  Gem Storm 2026 has been scheduled for October 23 -25.  The show planning committee will be hard at work completing the activities for a successful show over the sping and summer months.  This will be the 55th annual gem and mineral show for the Club, which is one of the longest run show of its kind in Southeastern Ontario.  Stay tuned for details on our Event page as well as by following the Club's social media links in Facebook and Instagram.