A passion for collecting
Rockhound, museum owner shares knowledge with others
By LARRY MEYER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Monday, June 23, 2008 10:52 AM PDT
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| Margaret Stallknecht, a rockhound and museum owner, holds a piece of orthorcerus ammonite at the rock and gem show held at the Malheur County Fairgrounds during the weekend, which was part of her display in the Commercial Building. At left (on the table) is a mastodon femur. |
VALE — A lifelong rock collector, Margaret Stallknecht has brought her knowledge, expertise and passion to Vale and Malheur County and has set up her museum in downtown Vale after moving it from Idaho.
Stallknecht also hosted the Northwest Federation of Mineralogical Society’s annual show in Ontario this last weekend.
Everybody at the show seemed to know “Margaret” and a lot of people wanted her attention Friday as the event was getting underway, but Stallknecht was in her element and seemed to be enjoying herself as she met her friends.
She was born and raised in upstate New York, near Syracuse, where her interest began.
“I collected rocks along the river,” Stallknecht said.
Another fascination was watching barges on the Erie Canal, which was close by, she said.
Stallknecht moved to Idaho because her husband was stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base and resided there about 31 years. She also lived on a small ranch in Emmett for about 12 years and raised exotic birds.
“I do a lot of teaching.” she said of how she keeps herself busy,
A self-taught rockhound, archaeologist, anthropologist, expert on Egypt and a stamp collector, she teaches in classrooms and at seminars for teachers. She taught one her classes, rockhounding, 11 years for the Boise Community Education Program.
Her museum collection has been a traveling exhibit, which Stallknecht has taken to schools and science teacher conferences. The museum became a member of the Northwest Federation of Mineralogical Societies in 2006, and Stallknecht was elected education chairwoman of the federation and given the opportunity to chair the federation show in Ontario this year.
For Stallknecht, this area was perfect to host the show, calling it a “premier geological phenomenon, a hot spot in geological time.”
“What is going on in Yellowstone, use to go on here,” she said.
She is also the education coordinator for the Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology. Besides opening her museum, situated on A Street in Vale, Stallknecht has two new clubs, one in Ontario that meets the second Wednesday in the former silk flower outlet and one in Vale that meets every second Thursday at the Vale Library.
