This dad rocks: Man's agate collection on display
By Taleiza Calloway, St. Cloud Times
Sauk Rapids, Minn. (AP) - For Lyndon Johnson, treasures can be found anywhere - one just has to train his or her eye.
"I know when to look and where, and where to look when," Johnson said with a smile.
Johnson has been collecting agates, fossilized coral and quartz for about 17 years, a hobby inspired by his daughters Patience and Chrystal. When they were younger, Johnson would take them for walks and discover the semi-precious gemstones along the way - something the trio still does occasionally.
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"It's kind of a tradition on Father's Day," Chrystal Johnson said. "It's fun when you find one. When you don't, it's like, 'Let's find one already."'
Lyndon Johnson is sharing his collection with more than his daughters these days. It is on display at the Benton County Historical Society and Museum. The display will be open until Nov. 26.
Mary Ostby, executive director of the museum, said the display is part of a community effort to show local collections.
When asked how large the collection is, Johnson said it is hard to determine because it is so large.
"It's beyond counting," Lyndon Johnson said.
Construction sites, gravel pits and rivers are just some of the areas that yielded his collection. The 45-year-old said it takes time, but when you find something it can be exciting.
"You can walk for miles and miles and miles and then stumble on something," Johnson said. "It hits you and you're like, 'Wow!' It's an addiction."
About 98 percent of his collection was found in Benton County, including a rare arrowhead agate found on the outskirts of Sauk Rapids - one of two that have been reported. While it is hard to pick a favorite, Johnson likes one agate he calls the "peeled heart" because of its shape and texture.
Sometimes the rocks find him.
Seven years ago, while tubing down the Platte River with his cousin, he was dragging his hand in the water and picked up what he thought was an average rock. But it was a rare agate.
"He called me the Agate Magnet after that," Johnson said.
While that was a somewhat easy find, it has become a little harder to find agates because many gravel pits are not as open for searching as they once were. But that doesn't discourage him.
Although Johnson enjoys the rare finds, the self-taught geologist never lets it be forgotten that collecting was something that started with spending time with his children.
"They were my inspiration for it," he said.
Patience Johnson, 20, calls it "good bonding time."
She remembers finding a large agate when she was 6 years old that she was determined to keep.
Her father told her, "If you want to keep it, you have to carry it home," she remembered.
"It looked like a model car. We used it as a door stop," Patience Johnson said.
Lyndon Johnson's collection is believed to be one of the largest agate collections in the world.
He has contacted the Guinness Book of World Records to see what he has to do make it official.
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Information from: St. Cloud Times
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
