Recently, brightly painted rocks began appearing at various locations across Marion County.
Soon, droves of children and parents appeared, seeking the colorful treasures and creating more of their own.
Dawn Pursell Gonzalez said the project is designed to be a community building exercise meant to inspire creativity in all ages and to “energize people to explore the beautiful area we live in.”
Gonzalez helped create and administrate MCMS ROCKZ recently and the group has grown to more than 400 members on Facebook. Children and parents can be seen seeking the rocks on Main Street, in parks and nearly everywhere else imaginable in Marion County.
Often, general locations are posted on Facebook, allowing rock seekers to look in a specific area, however, many people simply walk around downtown, schools, parks and churches in search of the colorful rocks.
“We went to New Jersey about a month ago and they were doing it up there,” Gonzalez said. “The kids said they really wanted to do it down here. They even brought some rocks back from New Jersey.”
Gonzalez said the idea is to paint and then safely hide the rocks for others to find. A list of rules has cautions about places to hide or not hide the rocks. Of course, safety and not harming property and the environment are tops on the list.
“It’s a great way to get out and about with the kids,” Gonzalez said. “They’re hidden everywhere. I’m surprised how quickly this has spread. Everyone has taken off with it.”
On a recent afternoon, several groups of rock hunters could be seen checking out locations in downtown Columbia.
“A friend was doing this and we wanted to participate,” Kayleigh Morton said. “We wanted to paint rocks and hunt, so I joined the Facebook page. We painted some of our own and plan to hide them.”
Gonzalez said that as the popularity grows, she hopes to organize events, such as a painting party in the park or at the Columbia-Marion County Public Library.
Columbia resident Crystal Duncan said she and her family are enjoying the rock painting and hiding.
“We went on vacation last week and my son found one at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky.,” she said. “When you find a rock, you can keep it or you can re-hide it. He decided to bring his back to our state and our town and hide it here. It’s a fun activity that children can do and it takes them away from video games and other electronics for a while.”
Duncan said that participating in MCMS ROCKZ is easy and fun.
“You can paint anything on the rocks as long as it’s appropriate,” she said. “It can be funny, inspirational or whatever you want it to be. It seems that no matter what it is, it brings a smile to your face when you find a rock.”
For more information, interested people can find MCMS ROCKZ on Facebook or look up the Kindness Project.
“We want it to continue to grow,” Gonzalez concluded. “We want to continue spreading the kindness. x We’re only the second group of this type in the state and we want to see it continue to grow. I want to thank the people who have shared photos and stories with their loved ones and painted rocks. I get excited every day when I see a new person sharing because you can see the excitement on their faces.”
Pictured Above: Hunting for rocks in downtown Columbia were Dawn Pursell Gonzalez, Denna Cameron, Alex Gonzalez, Donna Cameron, Haley Reeder and Hazard, the dog. | Photo by Mark Rogers
