By Alex Akel

This year, the San Francisco Gem & Mineral Society (SFGMS), located at Judah Street near 47th Avenue, is celebrating its 90th birthday.

The society was founded in 1935 by 16 college professors interested in the educational study of minerals. Ever since purchasing a former bookstore in 1957 near Ocean Beach – which they renamed the “Clubhouse” – the society has grown to a vibrant community of more than 300 members and serves as a hub for rock and mineral lovers, welders and artists alike.

One of the society’s proudest achievements is not the Jade Clock (which is a notable societal project) or the shiny metals or the impressive gem collection, but its passionate community, whose deep bonds and dedication have kept it thriving for decades.

“We’ve been here 90 years and we’re all united by a love of rocks,” said member Amanda Ganong who is working on refining her collection of rocks she has found all over the Bay Area.

“What you have here is an amazing mixing pot of skills where people are able to teach each other and benefit from everybody else’s experience,” member Daniel Black said.

The society is open every day, offering multiple instructional classes in lapidary arts, jewelry making, silversmithing and gem carving and design, with member-instructors providing one-on-one support.

“Very little of what I have here today has not been informed by somebody else at the club and their skill. The club feeds its knowledge into itself and we are all better for it,” said Black, who also teaches beginner and intermediate metal working classes.

Lyle Schoeff, a veteran member, is currently working on a brass model of a lighthouse.

The society is home to members who have a diverse field of interests and groups of people all coming together over a common passion.

“There are so many people here with so much expertise,’ Ganong said. “We’re all bouncing off each other and getting into something new and different and exciting we didn’t know about before.”

Members each pay a monthly membership fee and additional amounts to use the available materials and machines. Many members said their love of the work make this fee feel inexpensive.

“This community is very important to me and if it wasn’t here, I would really miss it and I think a lot of people would,” Schoeff said.

The community’s knowledge also feeds itself.

“We are fundamentally a community organization, and we thrive because of the knowledge and the interests of the people who come here. It is fundamentally focused on the interests of the community,” Black said.

Member Liz Lopez has been coming to the society for 10 years.

“This is just a wonderful place for the community to come out to explore their creativity with other people who love rocks, geology and crystals,” Lopez said.

The SFGMS is located at 4134 Judah St. For more information, visit sf-gms.org.