2019 Roswell National Night Out

GMS at National Night Out
Roswell, GA
Tuesday, August 6, 2019

National Night Out is in annual event that brings together law enforcement and firefighters with local community organizations and residents. GMS has become a fixture at the Roswell, GA National Night Out event. People who have visited us in prior years tells us they always look for us every year. This year, Lawrence and Shirley Parker as well as Charles and I were on hand to entertain and teach our visitors about geology and GMS.

As has become our tradition, Lawrence Parker becema a natural-born carny who never fails to draw a crowd to our booth. He delighted young and old alike with a lively game of "Rock/Not Rock" where players are challenged to decide if an object is either a rock or not a rock. Once the player has met the challenge, they select a tumbled stone that is then used for the next game called "Rock Plinko". I ran plinko this year as I helped players drop their "pretty little rock" onto the plinko board where it rattled its way to a prize board. Players won either a rock or a fossil.

Then it was Shirley's turn to offer them GMS stickers and give them a raffle ticket. This year we had a spectacular pyrite specimen from Peru and gave away 176 raffle tickets! It was such a fantastic prize that many people stayed until 8:30 that night just to see if they won. When it was time to call the winning ticket number, there was a crowd of kids around our booth, crossing all their fingers and listening eagerly for the number. A lucky young lady won the prize and her smile sparkled as much as the pyrite.

And, as has also become tradition, Charles helped haul almost everything in and out, did most of the set up and take down, then ran around all night getting goodies from other exhibitors including hot dogs, cold drinks, watermelon, other snacks, pens, pencils, and other useful stuff.

We heard from many visitors, other exhibitors, and event organizers that GMS was a popular booth. We all had a grand time and we are looking forward to next year's event!

Lori Carter
On behalf of the National Night Out volunteers