Gem show satisfies diverse appetites

Aaron J. Latham / Staff
James Stevens, foreground, and Zach Edwards unload barrels of amethyst geodes from Brazil in the gem show tents at Tucson Electric Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way.

David Sanders / Staff Elias Cervantes arranges his obsidians on a table at Howard Johnson Hotel, 1010 S. Freeway.

It's a show that satisfies the shopping appetites of home decorators, hobbyists, scientists and artists.

It's a serious business-gathering for thousands of exhibitors and dealers who descend on Tucson from around the globe to trade rare gems and minerals.

It's the annual Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase that officially opens three public shows today, with more shows opening through Feb. 10.

The 25 retail and wholesale shows are located in hotel rooms, meeting halls and tents in a carnival-like atmosphere. The public shows spread from East Ajo Way on the south to East River Road on the north and from I-10 on the west to North Campbell Avenue on the east.

When it all ends on Feb. 11, an estimated 46,500 people will have visited the show, according to the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"It puts Tucson on the map," Jean McKnight Guymon, public relations director for the bureau, said yesterday. "This is the biggest event in Tucson every year."

Promoters emphasize that the showcase offers something for everybody - from the glitzy shows in the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave., to the public sideshows where vendors may sell geodes, crystals or the amulet of the year.

You'll find anything there from petrified ivory to specimens of gold. You can rummage through amethyst crystals in 50-gallon drums or buy a pristine amethyst tower with a light inside. You'll see heaps of 50-cent fossil fragments and carefully excavated trilobites displayed under glass.

Vendors sell exotic beads, meteorites, wood sculptures and imported carpets.

There's American Indian, Indonesian and African art. The event's 2001 directory displays in glossy color the utter immensity and diversity of offerings. You won't find shellacked alligators and human skull fetishes in it, but rest assured, they are available.

If you arrive downtown early, you might miss the legendary traffic and quickly find a free parking space. But shoppers should be prepared to walk to retail shows; most of them don't open until about 10 a.m.

Many retail dealers close shop by 6 p.m.; others operate into the night.

Organizers expect several exhibits new this year to draw hefty crowds. But the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society's show is definitely the most popular public event, said the visitors bureau's McKnight Guymon.

The society's 47th Annual Tucson Gem & Mineral Show which opens to the public at the Tucson Convention Center from Feb. 8 to Feb. 11 will feature more than 400 dealers and exhibitors, hands-on events for kids and the Forbes Collection of New York, which will send original Peter Carl Fabergé artwork.

Other exhibits for that show include displays from more than 20 museums including the Smithsonian Institution, the Harvard University Museum, the American Museum of Natural History and the Royal Ontario Museum.

And while shoppers and gem traders kick up high-volume sales at the show, local businesses, from lighting companies to executive armored car services, also benefit, business owners said.

Last year exhibitors, buyers and out-of-town shoppers spent $76.5 million on goods and services in Tucson during the show, according to a study conducted for the visitors bureau.

Restaurants already are taking reservations for the next 15 days of the show, said Rob LaMaster, executive director of the Southern Arizona Chapter of the state Restaurant Association.

And while Tucson still has lodging vacancies, "hotels, resorts, bed-and-breakfasts and guest ranches are close to capacity," said McKnight Guymon.

Some travel planners this year believe the crowd of buyers may be slightly diminished because this is the first year that two other nationally prestigious shows - the Jewelers of America show in New York City and the Jewelers' Circular-Keystone show in Orlando, Fla. - are held simultaneously with the Tucson show.

"We're making every effort not to run the 2002 show over the same time of the Tucson show," said Dave Bonaparte, vice president of the show holding a five-day convention in Orlando next month.

James Marker, a spokesman for the distinguished American Gem Trade Association in Dallas, which holds its wholesale gem fair from Wednesday to Feb. 5, said the number of attendees for its group is holding steady in Tucson.

Many other dealers arrived early last week to buy gems, minerals and fossils from the créme de la créme. Gem collectors this week discreetly carried their pieces with them as they were picked up by armored limousines and Suburbans at the airport and transported around the city.

Others, like Howard Merk of Westbrook, Conn., drove a truck into town last week pulling a trailer filled with thousands of pounds of rock to sell to international traders. They come "early to get the pick of the crop," said Merk as he traded a rock with two dealers from Montreal from his room at the Tucson InnSuites Hotel & Resort at 475 N. Granada Ave.

"If you can't find it here, you can't find it anywhere," said mineral company partner Claude Bégin of Montreal, as he hauled a piece of crystalline lead ore out of the hotel room.

* Contact Jeannine Relly at 573-4213 or by e-mail at jrelly@azstarnet.com.

Rolling stones gather a few bucks by lifting rocks for shows

It isn't amethyst cathedrals and healing crystals the gem shows' first visitors are chasing. It's work.

Roustabouts looking to trade a few days of sweaty labor for badly needed cash stake out the shows before the dealers even arrive, ready to pounce on the first person with wares packed in 50-gallon drums. Dealers are usually so grateful for the help that tramps across the country have permanently etched Tucson into their calendars.

"I can use all the people I can get," said Ilich Diaz, assistant to the president of Gem Kingdom Inc., an Orlando, Fla.-based semiprecious stones dealer. Diaz hired dozens of unemployed construction workers and newspaper hawkers to help him unload his stash of geodes.

Some workers at the Tucson Electric Park show - still anachronistically known as the Congress Street Expo - complained that the show's relocation this year made it harder for laborers to reach the site, but veteran workers had no trouble finding it.

"I've been coming here six years," said an Alaskan tramp named Breeze who insists he's lost track of his age. "We do the dirty work, we do the hard work."

Breeze leads a group of four scraggly middle-aged men who reunite every year in Tucson. The diehard tramps, who hop freight trains when they can find them, and the "rubber tramps" who travel by car or bicycle, share nightly campfires and get drunk on cheap wine while they're not working.

"I come and relax," Breeze said. "I do construction in Alaska for $16 an hour. I come here and work for $7.50 an hour. This is a vacation."

Zach Edwards, 20, hasn't found much fun in moving quarter-ton crates. His wages are already promised to his girlfriend, who has a new baby.

"It's $8 an hour, it's non-taxable and it's beautiful," said Edwards' partner James Stevens, 21. Both men spend their winters in Tucson, picking up whatever work they can at restaurants and construction projects. Unlike Breeze's weathered crew, they're prone to pacify their temporary boss with a "no worries."

Take Speedway west to some other gems

Newcomers, this is the first thing you need to know about our town: take Speedway east, and you'll experience traffic jams.

Take Speedway west, and you'll experience Tucson's soul - once you get a few miles past Interstate 10, that is.

West Speedway takes travelers out of the city and into the beautiful desert. The road leads to a fine dining establishment, then turns into Gates Pass Road, a winding trail through the saguaro-filled Tucson Mountains. Then it passes a wildlife museum.

When Gates Pass ends at Kinney Road, 9.5 miles from the Interstate, it forces travelers to make a choice: either turn around and go back to the city, go north for a slice of the Sonoran Desert's wildlife, or go south and be transported back to the Old West.

For just a few minutes, let's take a break from the gem shows and head west on Speedway.

Evangelos'

4405 W. Speedway

792-3055

With a warm, friendly staff and a spacious dining room, the restaurant formerly known as Scordato's offers delectable continental modern European cuisine, plus a stunning view of the mountains. Entrées typically cost between $13 and $24, and the dress is high casual - ties aren't necessary, but sandals aren't acceptable.

Hours: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for lunch, 5-10 p.m. for dinner. Tapas bar is open 11 a.m.-midnight.

Gates Pass drive

Getting there can be half the fun. West Gates Pass Road is a slow, hilly and winding journey through the heart of the Tucson Mountains.

The road provides the means to get to the attractions in this story, but it can also be a destination all by itself, specifically in the evening, when many Tucsonans like to take advantage of one of the road's many pull-offs to take in a dazzling saguaro-lined sunset.

International Wildlife Museum

4800 W. Gates Pass Road

617-1439

The animals in this museum aren't alive, but they are lifelike.

The museum features stuffed specimens and models contained in lifelike environments, complete with lifelike sounds. The museum is meant to re-create exotic wildlife environments for people who don't have the time or money to go on safaris.

The museum's newest exhibit, "Wildlife Conservation: Bringing Back Wildlife," is a tribute to successful conservation efforts in the wild.

Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. weekends, last admission sold 45 minutes before closing.

Admission: $7 for adults, $5.50 for seniors 62 and up and students 13 and up; $2.50 for children ages 6-12, and children 5 and under get in for free.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

2021 N. Kinney Road

883-2702

To glimpse a cross-section of Sonoran Desert wildlife, this is the place for your one-stop shopping.

The museum, named in the Star's latest reader poll as the favorite spot to take an out-of-town visitor, offers glimpses at all sorts of desert wildlife in re-creations of their natural environments.

A recently added exhibit, "Ancient Arizona," re-creates the paleontology dig that found the Sonorosaurus, a dinosaur that once roamed in Southern Arizona.

Hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.

Admission: $9.95 for adults, $1.75 for kids ages 6-12. Children 5 and under get in for free.

Old Tucson Studios

201 S. Kinney Road

883-0100

A short drive to the west of Tucson takes you 100 years or so into the past. Old Tucson features live stunt shows and gunfights, along with other Old West-themed attractions.

Hundreds of television series, commercials and films have been filmed there, including "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," "Rio Bravo" and Audie Murphy's "Guns of Fort Petticoat."

Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.

Admission: $14.95 for ages 12 and over, $9.45 for ages 4-11. Toddlers 3 and under get in for free. Discounts available.

* Contact Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or prv@azstarnet.com.

Gem show nuggets

Stringing beads made easy

Artistic vision isn't a prerequisite for buying beautiful beads.

Bronwen Heilman is pitching a product that allows everyday folks to show off their finds without learning the finer points of design. Heilman, a dealer at the Best Bead Show at Tucson Electric Park, has created three styles of bead mounts. Anything with a hole in it can be easily slipped onto them, transforming yesterday's purchases into today's jewelry.

The $30 mounts are available at bead booths throughout the show, and at Heilman's Web site, www.ghostcow.com.

***

Whether you're buying marble sculptures or malachite eggs, the most important thing you purchase in Tucson should be made of wood.

Fragile items should be shipped home in wooden crates, according to dealers or know a thing or two about packing.

"If you're going to ship something a long way in a cardboard box, it will give way," said Desiree Shotwell of Penney's gemstones, at Congress Street Expo.

Shotwell strongly suggests double-boxing. She packs her Chinese-carved stone sculptures in cardboard boxes which she slides into wooden crates.

Most lumberyards carry crates. Price varies by size.

Hanna Miller

Where to park

Just follow this crystal-clear guide

It can be tough to find a parking spot at the gem show of your choice. Here's a listing of the public shows, coupled with parking tips for each.

Congress Street Expo at Tucson Electric Park

Tucson Electric Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way

Ample parking is available in the Tucson Electric Park parking lot.

Globe-X Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelry show

Days Inn, 222 S. Freeway Ave.

The best spots to park are the Days Inn parking lot, or the Tucson Convention Center for $4.

International Gem & Jewelry Show/Intergem Tucson 2001

700 block of West Congress Street, west of Freeway Avenue

Parking along Congress Street in front of the tent is the best way to go.

Rapa River

292 S. Freeway Ave.

Parking is available, but it costs $5 in the show lot.

Arizona Mineral & Fossil Show

Four sites:

• Ramada Inn University, 1601 N. Oracle Road

• Best Western Executive Inn, 333 W. Drachman St.

• InnSuites Hotel, 475 N. Granada Ave.

• Mineral & Fossil Marketplace, 1333 N. Oracle Road

Look for spots on the sides of streets if you can't find them in the hotel lots.

American Indian Exposition

Flamingo Travelodge, 1300 N. Stone Ave.

The Travelodge parking lot provides some parking. During the weekends, you can park at Pima Community College's Downtown Campus on Stone north of Speedway.

* La Quinta Group

La Quinta Inn, 665 N. Freeway Ave.

If the La Quinta parking lot is full, you'll have to scavenge.

* Atrium Productions

Four Points Hotel by Sheraton, 350 S. Freeway Ave.

Chances are the Sheraton lot will be full, so it's best to park at the TCC.

* Trade Shows International Tucson Gem & Jewelry Show

Gem Pavillion, 450 S. Freeway Ave.

Officials say there will be ample parking in the lot behind the show scene.

* Dell Productions

Tucson Scottish Rite, 160 S. Scott Ave.

If you can't find a spot on the side of the street, there's a lot south of the building that charges $2.50.

* Beaucoup Congé

335 E. Fort Lowell Road

There are a few spots in front of the store, but your best bet is to park along North Geronimo Ave.

* Crystal Myths Inc.-Best Bead Show

Kino Veterans' Memorial Community Center, 2805 E. Ajo Way

Parking is ample at the site of the show.

* The Whole Bead Show

The Windmill Inn of Tucson, 4250 N. Campbell Ave.

There is plenty of parking in St. Philip's Plaza.

* Rio Grande Catalog in Motion Jewelry Equipment Showcase

Hilton Tucson East, 7600 E. Broadway

The hotel parking lot is the best place to park for this show.

* 47th Annual Tucson Gem & Mineral Show

Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave., 322-5773

The TCC lot is the place to park for this show.

* Contact Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or prv@azstarnet.com.