Rankin Museum Fossil Fair 9-2013
North Carolina Fossil Club members, Ruffin Tucker, Richard Chandler, Joy Herrington, James Bain and Mary Boulton visited the Rankin Museum's during their annual fossil fair in Ellerbe, NC on September 21, 2013 to assist the Rankin Museum staff and volunteers in another successful and fun-filled day of fossil collecting. Children with adult supervision were admitted to the dirt pile in waves where they each received a sieve of reject quarry dirt which could be washed down and then searched for fossils. Volunteers were on hand to wrap favorite teeth for necklaces for a $1 donation. Judging from the length of the line waiting to get a tooth made into a necklace, and the many items put before us for identification, many handsome teeth were proudly worn away that day. An Alopias was probably the rarest tooth found but size is still king and those who found large (1-2") teeth were the loudest. This event has grown out of Ruffin Tucker's efforts to show fossils at the Museum, which, by the way is filled with fossils along with modern animals, Native-American artifacts, and various cultural elements. The Rankin Museum is the only place in NC where a long ivory tooth from a narwhal has been found. Put this place on your to-see list.