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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Old-fashioned fun with Tower MN Rocks

Families are hiding, finding painted rocks in the outdoors

Jodi Summit
Posted 9/8/17

TOWER- Combine some youthful energy, a plentiful supply of small rocks, and some paint, and what you get is a new summer pastime.

“We started doing this last winter,” said Desirae Larson, who …

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Old-fashioned fun with Tower MN Rocks

Families are hiding, finding painted rocks in the outdoors

Posted

TOWER- Combine some youthful energy, a plentiful supply of small rocks, and some paint, and what you get is a new summer pastime.

“We started doing this last winter,” said Desirae Larson, who has a houseful of busy children at her home in Tower. Her nine-year-old daughter Elsie seemed to start the trend.

“I asked Sabrina [my older sister] for rock stuff or art stuff for my birthday,” Elsie said. “She got me a book with lots of ideas for painting on rocks.”

Desirae said her kids started painting rocks, at first using up a stash of old nail polish.

“When the snow melted, we decided to put some out around town,” she said. The family often takes walks and bike rides around town and on the paved bike trails, which left them with lots of fun hiding places for their ever-growing painted rock collection.

“At first,” she said, “we kept quiet about it to see if anyone noticed.”

But one day, another daughter decided to put her name on a rock, and a neighbor found it and tried to return it to her. When she explained that the rock was his to keep, he got excited.

At that point the proverbial cat was out of the bag, and another neighbor with young children decided to join the fun. In early July, a local public facebook page, titled Tower MN Rocks, was formed, which invited families to either join the fun or try to search out the painted rocks, and then post photos of their finds. The only rules are to respect private property, and to write “Tower MN Rocks fb” on the bottom of the rock, which then brings rock-finders to the group.

People who find a painted rock can take a photo and post it to the facebook page, can take the rock and then leave it somewhere else, or can even take the rock home.

“We saw the idea and thought it looked so fun,” said Valerie Turnbull, who is planning on painting rocks with her three sons. “It is so happy and uplifting, and something kids can do.”

Over 30 families have joined the fun.

A quick survey of fourth-graders at Tower-Soudan Elementary found that most of them had seen the brightly-painted rocks at many locations around Tower and were curious about the game.

An online search will show that this trend is taking off all around the country, getting families to make art and play outdoors.

Some area adults are also joining in.

Mary Shedd, a Tower-Soudan Historical Society volunteer at the Tower Depot, found a box of painted rocks she had made as a child, and has been adding them to some favorite spots. Several that she had hidden in the depot and mini-park area have been found by tourists, who then have posted photos on the facebook group, and even decided to begin the trend in their own hometown.

Everyone is invited to join in on the fun. The Larson family often leaves rocks on their regular walk to the post office on Tower’s Main Street, the playground, as well as on the bike trail between Tower and Soudan. People are free to take a rock, but are urged to return the favor by leaving their own painted rock somewhere nearby. And a quick google of “painting rock ideas” will keep you busy for hours, if you can’t think of any ideas by yourself.

“Painting rocks is an awesome thing to do on a rainy day,” said Desirae. “It keeps them busy for hours.” She estimated her crew has painted and released about 100 rocks so far this year.

There is also an active group in Ely, “Ely – Minnesota Rocks.”