BELLVILLE – Shawn Woerlein encourages a vision as Gold Rush Days approaches in Bellville this weekend.
Woerlein, a member of the Ohio Buckeye Chapter of the Gold Prospectors Association of America, is offering attendees a chance to enjoy the great outdoors — and maybe go home with a nugget in their pocket.
“Youth nowadays, they’re more geared towards being indoors, video games, computer games, whatnot,” Woerlein said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. I get that.
“At the same time, this is an opportunity for them to get out, enjoy the outdoors, enjoy what Ohio has to offer (and) breathe in a little fresh air.”
The chapter is celebrating its 30th year of gold prospecting with Gold Rush Days on Saturday and Sunday at the Clear Fork River, specifically the GPAA Swank Claim at 1099 Cutnaw Road, with activities for treasure hunters of all ages.
Gold Rush Days’ events include common digs where participants can try to take home Ohio gold and more kid-focused activities throughout the weekend.
Food trucks, vendors, duck races, demonstrations, competitions and more are among the activities visitors can expect to see.
The event also highlights several charities. Proceeds go to the Bellville Neighborhood Outreach Center (BNOC), the Scouts of America and more.
“Every year, we take a portion of the funds we raise throughout the year and we cut a check to Belleville Neighborhood Outreach Center,” Woerlein said. “This year we’re doing the same thing, but we’re having a corn hole tournament.
“As for Boy Scouts, we have a Scoutmaster, Tony Ledford. He was actually one of our past presidents, and he spent a few years on (the TV show) Bering Sea Gold.”
Ledford brings down a Scouts of America troop – “sometimes it’s seven people, sometimes it’s 25 to 30,” Woerlein said – and teaches them how to mine for gold during the weekend.
Ohio’s history of gold rushes is less well known than that in other parts of the country. After gold was found in San Francisco in 1848, prospectors flocked west. That city’s population jumped 25-fold in the next two years.
The wealth of prospectors soon outweighed the wealth of gold for some, including several from Ohio. Some prospectors headed home – back to Richland County – after failing to find gold in California.
“Gold isn’t native to Ohio,” Woerlein said. “Glaciers carried (it) down from Canada. As those glaciers pushed across quartz and gold-bearing seams, it broke loose.
“(The glaciers) pushed it down, deposited it in our soils here in Ohio … and then, through erosion, that material worked its way into rivers and streams. The prospectors were able to go down with a pan and collect the gold.”
Reviving prospecting as a hobby is one of the reasons the Ohio Buckeye Chapter of the Gold Prospectors Association of America hosts Gold Rush Days. Not only is it inexpensive, but it gets people of all ages outside and comes with some education on land rights.
The chapter has worked with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources on demonstrations, teaching people how to pan. In turn, ODNR works with the chapter on permits, expanding the areas where prospecting is allowed.
“That is still limited,” Woerlein said. “We just try to be respectful. We try to teach people about land rights – what they can or cannot do.
“The last thing we want is to send someone out to a state park and they start digging in a creek somewhere.”
