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Photo by Jim Craven Rock and gem enthusiasts admire the wares of Medford rockhound Francis Oakes at the Roxy Ann Gem and Mineral Society's show Saturday. The show continues today at the Medford Armory. Medford rock show gets rolling By Susan Jay Francis Oakes has left no stone unturned in a quarter-century of rock collecting and dealing. At the Medford Armory Saturday, he eagerly shared facts and stories about his rocks with anyone who would ask. Like the one about the ice-blue crystal kyanite, which is supposed to have healing powers and whose Brazilian supplies are quickly dwindling. Then there's the chrysanthemum rock, from China, which has a flower inside that looks like a fossil, but is not. "They're broken and sanded so, to bring out the flower," 80-year-old Oakes explained at the 44th Annual Gem and Mineral Show Saturday. Oakes was among the 60 exhibitors at the popular show, sponsored by the Roxy Ann Gem and Mineral Society. It continues 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., today at the Medford Armory. The cost is $2.50 for adults, 50 cents for students and free for kids 12 and under. This year's theme is obsidian, and visitors will find cases of this gleaming and versatile stone, polished and carved into a variety of shapes -- including a model stagecoach complete with horses. Many of the exhibitors are jewelers and carvers who happily demonstrate their craft for visitors. Other exhibitors sell rocks in their natural state, cut, polished or made into jewelry. More than 1,000 people streamed into the Armory Saturday, and many of them lined up at Oakes' 24-foot table, loaded with interesting-looking rocks, mostly in raw form. Rows of jars were filled with raw opals from Australia. Boxes displayed eggs of amber, cubes of pyrite from Peru and rose crystals. One of his best-sellers was red potassium crystals, manufactured in a laboratory. "I happen to love certain colors that jump out at me -- it's called excitement in life -- and red is one of them," said Peggy Johnson, a rock fan from Redding, Calif., who bought two of the vibrant, ruby-colored crystals. Not many people, however, were picking up the black chrysanthemum rock, one Oakes noted as rare and special. "This is the first I've seen from China," Oakes said. Miners in China found 700 of these rocks in a quarry, unexpectedly. Most chrysanthemum rocks sold in the United States come from Canada. "Down the road they'll be gone," he mused. "They just mine them out and that's all there is." Another unique specimen is a 12-sided quartz crystal. "It's like two crystals growing inside each other," said Oakes. Most quartz crystals are six-sided, he said. Oakes also has some exquisite pieces, such as a foot-tall golden horse, carved out of amber, and a green-and-brown tiger carved out of fossilized coral. Both are from China. Oakes has been buying and selling rocks and gems for 26 years. He and his wife, Viola, run a business called Facet West, and they work out of their home. He got his start looking for rocks in nearby creaks for fun. But after he became partially paralyzed from a hiking accident, he turned to rock buying and selling full-time. Now he calls dealers all over the world to catch their latest finds. "He knows his rocks, that's for sure," Viola said. "People come up asking about rocks, and he talks to them for hours." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA