Rozalia Brown thinks everyone should take up rocks and gems as a hobby, and it is best to do it before they stop working.

鈥淵ou have to start before you retire,鈥� Brown explained Sunday, Aug. 15, as she and husband Robert from Chilliwack, along with friend Barbra Felton, a jewelry maker from Aldergrove, were setting up a table under a shade awning in the parking lot of the Royal Canadian Legion Aldergrove branch.

鈥淚f you don鈥檛, it gets put on a back burner, then you suddenly retire and you have no hobby,鈥� Rozalia warned.

The Browns got involved in their hobby 15 years before they retired.

鈥淚t is my life,鈥� Rozalia enthused.

鈥淵ou get outdoors and you get to meet great people.鈥�

They were taking part in the very first tailgate event staged by the Aldergrove-based Fraser Valley Rock & Gem Club, as an outdoor alternative to their annual indoor event.

Close to 30 tables were set up from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Organizer Harley Waterson said the club decided to call off their yearly indoor September sale at the Aldergrove Old Age Pensioners (OAP) hall down the road.

鈥淒ue to COVID, we thought we鈥檇 just do an outdoor event,鈥� Waterson told the 91原创 Advance Times.

Billed as a tailgate sale club members brought rough rocks, slab, finished jewelry pieces, mineral specimens, tools, beads, sculptures and more 鈥� 鈥渆verything a rock hound would want,鈥� as Waterson put it.

It was a first for the club, he said.

A second tailgate sale is set for Sept. 19.

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There have been no in-person meetings of the club since it celebrated its 60th anniversary in September of 2019.

Since then, sessions and guest speakers have been taking place by videoconferencing

The club, which is devoted to the study, collecting, cutting, polishing and engraving of gemstones, minerals and rocks, started in 1959 with a core of enthusiasts who had taken night school courses together.

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It has more than 130 adult and 30 youth members from around the Lower Mainland.

The club is a member of the BC Lapidary Society (see ) and also has a Facebook page (see ).

More photos from the Sunday event can be seen .