Claresholm Rocks spreading positive message of hope, joy

By Rob Vogt, Local Press Writer
You may have seen them around town, or people looking for them.
They are rocks with a positive message, hidden everywhere from churches and local businesses, to the fire hall, library, museum, Legion and dozens of other places.
They are all part of “Claresholm Rocks”.
It is an initiative of two women in town who found each other by chance, then joined forces with a simple purpose – to spread as much positivity as possible.
Umeko Van de Wetering started painting rocks with her mother-in-law, when they got together over the summer.
Then, she found a painted rock in Lacombe, which led her to the Facebook page, “Lacombe Rocks.”
“I realized there’s this whole community of people who painted rocks,” Van de Wetering said. “I thought this could take off in Claresholm.”
She felt this joy when she found a rock and wanted to share that.
“Spreading smiles – I think that’s exactly why I started to do it,” she said.
If someone finds one, and it brightens someone’s day, or they are having a bad day, it is worth it.
So Van de Wetering started the Facebook group, “Claresholm Rocks.”
Meanwhile, Marcella Snell has been painting rocks with her children and hiding them the past 13 years.
Usually, it was while they were camping, so they left them where they camped.
Recently, she has found another benefit in painting rocks – it is very therapeutic for her, especially when she is not feeling well.
She never thought of tagging and tracking rocks until she saw “Claresholm Rocks.”
Then Snell saw that Van de Wetering found one of her rocks.
“So we put it together,” Snell said.
Coincidentally, they are neighbours.
From that, they combined forces.
“We are a pretty good team,” Van de Wetering said.
They paint and hide rocks regularly.
“I hope it enhances someone’s day,” Snell said.
The reason Van de Wetering and Snell “are going public” is because they do not want finding out who is behind “Claresholm Rocks” to become more important than the message of spreading positivity.
What people do once they find a rock is entirely up to them. They can keep them or hide them for someone else to find.
“If you want to make a collection,” Snell said. “I’m going to keep putting them out.”
Van de Wetering and Snell hope people will start painting rocks of their own and hiding them as well.
“We’re both focused on making this a positive thing,” Van de Wetering said.
The Facebook group has grown to 146 members.
They are also running a contest with the prize being a basket of paint and brushes, all purchased locally.
“We buy nothing out of town,” Snell said.
Anyone who finds a rock is encouraged to post a photo, and if they do, they will be entered in the contest.
“I want to spread random moments of joy,” Snell said. “I want to pay this forward.”
“I’d like to see other people’s art work too,” Van de Wetering said.
They also paint rocks to spread messages and information. Recently they put out rocks with “Thank a firefighter” and Remembrance Day messages.
Rocks are also painted along themes such as Halloween, cartoon characters, and Remembrance Day.
Since starting, Van de Wetering and Snell have begun to discover what effect “Claresholm Rocks” is having.
A little girl, a classmate of Van de Wetering’s daughter, was shy and not having a good day.
“Do you want a ‘brave’ rock?” Van de Wetering asked her.
“So I did one for her.”
Now, that girl is not so shy.
Rocks have made it to Granum and Stavely, and as far away as Idaho and Utah.
It is rewarding, they both say, to see children excited hunting for rocks then finding them.
“The smiles on some of the kids’ faces,” Van de Wetering said. “It makes my day.”
Ultimately, they would like their message to spread across Canada, one rock at a time from community to community.
“Spreading the joy is the goal,” Snell said.

PHOTO
Claresholm Rocks – From left are Marcella Snell and Umeko Van de Wettering, who are behind “Claresholm Rocks”. Their goal is to spread joy and hope by painting positive messages on rocks and hiding them around town for people to find. Photo by Rob Vogt