Local Puxico resident and Malden fifth grade science teacher Diana Lowe Wilkerson recently has brought a new form of entertainment to Puxico. Puxico Rocks is providing art, hunting, and overall fun for many residents in the small community who have taken up the event of painting rocks, hiding them, and then hunting for rocks that others have hidden.
Wilkerson received the idea from a coworker who created the Greenwave Rocks group in Malden. Other communities such as Poplar Bluff, Dexter, Advance, and Cape Girardeau are also participating.
"Cities in Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado have also recently started participating in the form of entertainment and have proven to the skeptics that this isn't just a Missouri 'thing,' stated Wilkerson. "People are connecting face to face and I feel like this really is fostering community. It also is providing physical activity in a fun way.
Wilkerson, who will be traveling to San Diego in a few weeks, said, she is going to hide several Puxico Rocks within the Metropolitan area. She is encouraging the almost 100 participants to hide them where ever they go including in Puxico but also across state lines.
"I painted three rocks and hid them within the city limits to get the activity started," stated Wilkerson. "Since then they have been found and rehidden."
This activity is good for all ages. Rocks can have any form of art on them whether they are painted or drawn on with sharpies. Clues to where the rocks are hidden can be found on the Facebook page, Puxico Rocks. Clues can include photos, poems, scavenger hunts, or any form of artistically formed clue as long as it is rated P.G. Participants are asked to get permission from businesses before hiding them on business property and all rocks must be hidden outside. They must also be on public property and trespassing is strictly prohibited. Participants are also encouraged to hide rocks without placing them in the way of mowers.
"Children are starting to grow up without a sense of history in this town because they are so active with technology," stated Wilkerson. "Growing up as a child, my grandma would walk me down the street and tell me that this old building use to be that and that empty parking lot use to host this. I am hoping parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and others will start bringing the kids out to search for rocks and start picking up the habit of promoting history in our town to these young kids. Our town has a complex history that should be shared for generations to come."