By Jim Brace-Thompson, VGMS Educational Outreach Chair –
The Ventura Gem & Mineral Society (VGMS) seeks a new home and has just a short time to find it. VGMS has been an active member of the Ventura community for 80+ years as a nonprofit educational organization founded in the midst of the war years, December 27, 1944, by a group of rambunctious teens. What began as teens seeking field trip adventures has evolved into a society of over 200 adults and 50 kids firmly woven into the fabric of Ventura.
You’re probably most familiar with VGMS through their annual gem show. It’s taken place at the Ventura County Fairgrounds the first weekend of March since 1963. While that’s their highest profile event and their major fund-raiser, they do much more. Comprised entirely of volunteers, they publish an award-winning monthly newsletter and hold monthly meetings open to the public that generally include a guest speaker. The annual show is community oriented, with a Kids’ Activities Booth, free educational materials for Ventura County teachers, and on-going demonstrations by local lapidary and jewelry artists, as well as educational displays.
VGMS established a workshop studio for member use of club-owned equipment and also offers members occasional specialty classes, such as silverwork. In that same facility, they maintain a two-room museum of minerals and fossils to host field trips by classrooms, home-schooled children, and youth groups, and they install displays at local libraries and other venues. Other educational outreach efforts include classroom talks and hands-on activities at Science Nights for school districts throughout Ventura County. Members also participate fully in the Gem & Mineral Building during the Ventura County Fair; for instance, one member is Superintendent for that building while others serve as clerks, exhibitors, judges, maintenance crew, and jewelry-making demonstrators. And—just as those founding teens desired—VGMS sponsors field trip adventures.
These varied efforts resulted in VGMS being named the top club in the U.S., receiving the 2025 “All American Club” award from the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies for their level of service to members and community. It’s all been possible thanks to having had a stable home base. VGMS currently occupies what was once a park ranger’s home at Camp Comfort in Ojai, but the parks department has plans to convert that space to other use. Thus, VGMS seeks a new home.
The ideal facility would provide secured space to house a lapidary workshop studio with storage space for materials used in the annual show. They also seek space adequate to house their modest library and museum—a compact but high-quality museum of both local and worldwide rock, mineral, and fossil displays you can’t see elsewhere in Ventura County. This museum serves as a focal point for educational outreach efforts and the monthly gathering of club kids who engage in educational activities on the premises as part of a national badge program. The goal is for a facility of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 square feet that can accommodate all of the above.
The society’s ability to serve both members and the community has been due largely to having such a home base. If you have facilities that might prove appropriate or if you can help in networking efforts, the volunteers of VGMS would love to hear from you. Contact them at info@vgms.org or (805) 659-3577.
