{"id":6337,"date":"2021-10-29T10:27:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T16:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/?p=6337"},"modified":"2021-10-29T10:27:44","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T16:27:44","slug":"childs-passion-inspires-unique-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/childs-passion-inspires-unique-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Child’s passion inspires unique business"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

By Kerri Rempp<\/strong><\/p>

Discover Northwest Nebraska<\/strong><\/p>

From a 9-year-old on Cloud Nine after finding two Fairburn Agates to women in their 20s searching for quartz or crystals and fossil hunters from around the globe, a must-see stop in Northwest Nebraska is Prairie Agate Rock Shop.<\/p>

Owned by Gary and Valerie Homrighausen, the shop, located along Highway 20 in Crawford, is instantly recognizable by the large, mounted metal sculpture of a T-Rex head out front. The business, inspired by their now-grown son Tyrell\u2019s fascination with fossils, showcases finds from Northwest Nebraska and around the world.<\/p>

\u201cYou meet a lot of interesting people from all over,\u201d Gary said.<\/p>

That 9-year-old, he\u2019d visited the shop to learn what and where to look for native rocks in the area and returned with two Fairburn Agates.<\/p>

\u201cHe was fired up,\u201d Gary said.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cI love show and tell,\u201d Valerie added.\u00a0<\/p>

Prairie Agate Rock Shop opened in its current location in 2012 but started just up the road prior to that after Valerie lost her job at a local nursing home.<\/p>

\u201cMy son Tyrell had been collecting fossils for many years, and we\u2019d been doing the (Crawford) Rock Swap,\u201d Valerie said. By age 4, the young boy could identify several fossils and Christmas requests were always fossil-themed. When the opportunity presented itself, Valerie decided to embrace the interest and purchased a relative\u2019s rock collection out of storage.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cI spent a year in Brazil but didn\u2019t care what a rock was,\u201d she said of an exchange student experience. Today, she\u2019s a local expert, pointing visitors and residents alike in the direction of interesting finds or educating them on fossil hunting.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cDid you know, when you strike rose quartz together it will light up inside with pink sparks?\u201d she explained to a California woman who stopped by the shop recently.<\/p>

From the beginning, her son\u2019s finds have been displayed at Prairie Agate Rock Shop, serving as examples of what can be found in Northwest Nebraska. Amateur fossil hunters and rockhounds are shown the \u201clocal table\u201d so they can see what the fossils or rocks looks like in the rough \u2013 and what can be made of it.<\/p>

\u201cEverything I\u2019ve learned, I\u2019ve learned from my public and reading,\u201d Valerie said. \u00a0<\/p>

Until the last few years, Prairie Agate Rock Shop was mostly a hobby, Valerie said, and when they moved into their current building in 2012 she remembers one thought: \u201cI can remember walking into it and thinking we\u2019ll never fill it!\u201d<\/p>

Fast forward to 2021, and they\u2019ve added on and Prairie Agate Rock Shop is a destination stop for many.<\/p>

\u201cIt was wall-to-wall people at times in 2021,\u201d Gary said.<\/p>

Travelers to Denver, Yellowstone and the Black Hills often stop, and regular clientele are from Scottsbluff, Alliance, Rapid City and Hot Springs. This summer three visitors from Alaska showed up and international visitors from France, Germany and South Africa also made their way to the shop. Two other guests recently relocated to Omaha from Panama and Ecuador, Gary said.<\/p>

\u201cWe have people who drive up from Denver just to go to the shop,\u201d he added.<\/p>

\u201cRock shops are becoming few and far between,\u201d Valerie explained.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Upward Bound students at Chadron State College visit during the program and bring their parents back, and young kids have always loved rocks and fossils. Traditionally, the demographics have skewed older, but the Homrighausens are noticing a shift downward in age. The fossil hunting demographic that seems to be growing the fastest is 13-18-year-old girls.<\/p>

\u201cThey know what they\u2019re talking about,\u201d Gary said.<\/p>

And as crystals have come into fashion again, many visitors poke through the shop\u2019s collection, holding this one or that one for a while before deciding if it\u2019s the one they want.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Prairie Agate Rock Shop sees everyone from beginners searching for advice and guidance to experts who want to show off their finds. The Homrighausens suggest places in Northwest Nebraska for rockhounding and fossil hunting and schools them on the rules \u2013 no vertebrate fossils, teeth or artifacts can be collected from Nebraska National Forest and Grasslands.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI also give them my card so they can call if they get lost, stuck or have car trouble,\u201d Valerie said.<\/p>

It\u2019s a long way from helping her son set up a table at the Crawford Rock Swap when he was 7. This year was the 35th<\/sup> annual swap, and Valerie now helps coordinate the event with Wade Beins. Held over Labor Day Weekend each year at the Crawford City Park, the Rock Swap offers opportunities to buy, sell and trade rocks, gems and fossils and is the location of the annual Fairburn Agate Collectors meeting. Demonstrations and field trips are also on the agenda.<\/p>

The 2021 Crawford Rock Swap was one of the biggest ever.<\/p>

\u201cI think it shows how rocks are in,\u201d Valerie said.<\/p>

And while the Homrighausens share their passion for Northwest Nebraska rockhounding and fossil hunting at Prairie Agate Rock Shop, they carry a much larger variety.<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019ve got stuff from everywhere,\u201d said Gary.<\/p>

Buckets of bulk rock are available by the pound from a consignor, and the pair heads to Quartzite, Arizona, each January to meet with dealers from all over the world.<\/p>

\u201cThey set up in the whole town,\u201d explained Valerie, who does books for the twice-weekly auction during the event. \u201cIt gives me a lot to look at and lots to buy!\u201d<\/p>

The product she comes home from Arizona with includes rocks direct from Madagascar or Brazil, for example, or stalagmites and stalactites from China or Morocco.<\/p>

\u201cI carry more than just rocks,\u201d added Valerie. \u00a0<\/p>

There\u2019s metal sculpture art out front, Native American prints and cards inside and horsehair pottery made in Washington.<\/p>

After more than a decade, Valerie\u2019s favorite fossil hasn\u2019t changed: it\u2019s a titanothere juvenile, a large rhino-like animal, her father and Tyrell, then age 14, found. Her favorite rock is harder to land on; originally it was petrified wood because it was the easiest for her to identify. This month it was a yellow fluorite new to the shop.<\/p>

\u00a0\u201cIt changes daily. There are so many things,\u201d Valerie said.<\/p>

\u201cBe careful when you pick up a pretty rock,\u201d Gary said. \u201cIt could lead to all of this.\u201d<\/p>

Prairie Agate Rock Shop is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, seven days a week from 10 a.m. \u2013 5 p.m. However, during the off-season, a phone number is posted on the gate, and they are willing to open upon request.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kerri Rempp Discover Northwest Nebraska From a 9-year-old on Cloud Nine after finding two Fairburn Agates to women in their 20s searching for quartz or crystals and fossil hunters from around the globe, a must-see stop in Northwest Nebraska is Prairie Agate Rock Shop. Owned by Gary and Valerie Homrighausen, the shop, located along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/IMG_6756b.jpg?fit=900%2C489&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgf0HI-1Ed","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6337"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6346,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6337\/revisions\/6346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}