Written By: Audrey T
The Minnesota Mineral Club
The Minnesota Mineral Club is a community organization built on a love of rocks and minerals. We were lucky to be given the opportunity to volunteer there! If you are interested in learning more about this lovely club, you can find its official website here. Some of our mentors, including our head mentor, have ties to this club, and many of our team members have a love of rocks, making this a perfect way for us to get involved with our community!
“To encourage interest and education in geology, mineralogy, lapidary and earth sciences.” – MN Mineral Club mission statement
Volunteering at the Event
There was a wide variety of stations where volunteers worked during the show. Ranging from admissions to the kids’ corner (a personal favorite), we were kept busy and got to see a lot of the event! A highlight of the event was how kind the other volunteers from the club were. We learned a lot about the minerals around us, including tips and tricks on finding them in the wild! In addition to all the great people, we were surrounded by some of the coolest minerals Minnesota has to offer. Even if you didn’t go into the event with an interest in them, it was impossible to leave without wanting to check the ground under you for some agates.
Other Fun
It wouldn’t be a Talon event without side quests. While the rocks were the main focus, there was still a lot of other stuff to do! There were some cool food trucks offered at the event, including one with their own twist on a Minnesotan classic, tater tots.
Even though we were there to run the activities, the kids’ corner was still plenty of fun for our team! A fan favorite was the copper detection station, where participants used metal detectors to find bits of copper hidden in a box of pebbles. We had some fun with the detector, trying to figure out what would set it off. Towards the end of the night, we even interviewed a very special guest, a large chunk of copper found on the table!
Thank You!
This was probably one of the most unique outreach opportunities we’ve gotten in a while! It was a great experience to give back to our community in a way that reaches people outside of our STEM bubble. As previously mentioned, everyone there was extremely nice, from the event organizers to the people checking out the event. A moment that stuck out was someone recognizing our team from the State Fair earlier this year!
Giving a helping hand to the Mineral Club was a wonderful way to spend the weekend. We hope to continue working with local nonprofits like them, including others that don’t seem to fit into the robotics niche. Our team is full of a wide variety of people with a wide range of interests, and getting to attend many different events really helps everyone have a great time!
Stay Connected With Us During The Entire Season!
If you want to stay connected with the team during the entire season. Feel free to check out our social media pages: