Tammy took pictures with all of her main suppliers, and Louie introduced himself to everyone they told him to. They picked out their favorite gems for the store, and they were not shy at all, Neuroth said. ![]() Last year, when Louie came along, he and Tammy hit the ground running. “They are wonderful people they’re basically family.” “Patti had mentors, and she has introduced me to the vendors that we use, and these are vendors that we trust that the rock shop has been dealing with for decades,” Tammy said. Neuroth isn’t sure she will do the long and exhausting trip to Tucson this year, but she made sure to pass on all of her knowledge and connections, and she hopes to make more local shows with them. Every one of them got between 20 seconds to a minute of human attention before being put into the cart.” “The overwhelming majority of the rocks in that shop are hand-selected,” he said. Last year, Louie went to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show with both Neuroth and Tammy, and he saw first-hand how much time and energy they put into making sure each piece is perfect for the shop. Geologists and metaphysical people get in there and have a great time with it.” “One of the things that is so amazing about the rock shop to me is that we’re open to all. “We don’t just assume and go off on it being a metaphysical thing,” she said. There is no bias or judgment when people come in, she said. It’s just a natural thing that usually happens with them.” “Their parents are always trying to hold their kids back, and for the most part, they are so respectful. ![]() “The kids are amazing to watch,” Tammy said. Tammy and Louie wish to keep those aspects alive. “But, guess what? It’s in here (pointing to her heart).” “People really need hope, and so sometimes they want us to answer their questions,” Neuroth said. The store does have some unique concepts like encouraging people to find what calls for them to find the answers in themselves, and encouraging people, even little ones, to feel free touching the stones when they come in. Tammy Girardot, Patti “Rock Star” Neuroth and Louie Girardot pose with the famous seven-pointed star geode. People have told her they are relieved to hear she and Louie bought it. When people hear the store sold, they are happy to see a familiar face when they come in, Tammy said. Whether through Louie’s band, Louie and the Lizards, or even from knowing Tammy at the gem shop, they are no strangers to the town. Years later, they are still known by many throughout town. Moving just a little up the alley, as Tammy put it, they used to own a restaurant called the Avalon Cafe inside of the King Mall on Grand Avenue in the 1990s. Tammy and Louie have been as much a part of the Glenwood Springs community as Neuroth, and this is not their first time running a business downtown. “The good thing about this is they’re a team,” Neuroth said. Though many attribute the geode to the local “Rock Star,” Neuroth decided that it will always belong to the shop, and it continues to sit next to the register for families and gem and mineral lovers to appreciate. The way crystals form a seven-pointed star inside of a geode is a very rare find. But then, years later, she came across a collector who happened to show her a naturally-created, seven-pointed star inside of a geode, and she knew there was no other place in the world it belonged to than in the High Country Gems and Minerals shop. Painting a seven-pointed star was challenging to get just right, Neuroth said. The stars really did seem to align.Īfter she bought the store, she decided to paint a seven-pointed star on the sidewalk in front of the shop. She joked that she found it strange, but she was delighted to buy it. ![]() ![]() ‘Besides, that’s what I was supposed to do.'” “‘It’s been yours for a long time,’ he said to her. “He said, ‘Patti, it’s yours,'” she recalled. The store was passed down to Neuroth almost as a point of legacy, with the previous owners, Matt and Anita McQueen, insisting she buy the store from them after working in the shop for them for eight years. Lady, one High Country Gems and Minerals employee’s dog stands at the front of the store to greet guests.
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