The stone for the 2025 Tumbling Contest was Craig Gulch Picture Jasper from Oregon.

The Feather River Lapidary & Mineral Society, Inc. would like to congratulate the top 3 winners of our tumbling contest.

• • 1st place winner: Adam Rittenhouse of Orchard Park, New York

• • 2nd place winner: Steven Smith of Uniontown, Pennsylvania

• • 3rd place winner: Stefan Wawrzynski of Holland, New York

Well, well, well.  Here we are again, and ya’ll have blown my mind with your tumbling skills once again.  I haven’t seen this great of work in a long while.  As the finished stones came to me and I had to unwrap them all, I just kept shaking my head and mumbling to myself, “the judges are going to have a very tough time deciding first, second and third place”.   And I was right!  It was a long day at the club’s rock shop.  There was much discussion between them and trips out to the sunshine while scoring these little beauties.  But at the end of the day the four of them came to agreement on the top three winners. We will send you three your winnings shortly after our annual show at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico,  September 20 & 21.   We have a yearly display at said show of all of the returned stones.  It is always a big attraction for us.  Thank you all. I would also like to thank you tumblers for joining in on this yearly endeavor.  I have enjoyed emailing with you and phone conversations every once in a while.   Sadly though, due to my physical abilities, I am confidently handing over this competition to two fellow rock hounds:  Jim and Tami.  I’m counting on all of you to be as kind and generous to the two of them as you have been with me.   Good luck to you in the future.  I will be checking with them as often as I can. The judges wanted you to know that this year’s contest came down to the most minute of fractures, pits and a bit of polish left in those cracks.  My suggestion to you is take the rough and hammer off any end cracks or obvious pits where you can.  For those of you that have a grinder, take it off immediately.   While going through the stages of polish, look at your stones dry and in the sun.   And if possible, buy the very best grit and polish that is available to you. I would like to thank the 4 judges for this year’s contest.  It was not easy for them, but they quietly stuck it out till the end – Mike, Susi, Erin, and Kim – hats off to you! I would also like to give a big thank you to those club members out there finding, hauling and crushing all the rough rock.  Not an easy task.  Many long hours behind the wheel and gathering it all is a heavy lift in itself.  I would also like to thank our new President, Doug Elliott, for trusting me with this contest throughout the year. Keep an eye on the FRLMS website and facebook pages for the 2026 contest information and application.  It should be posted some time in November.  The sooner you join the sooner you will receive your rough. Many thanks to all the tumblers from the past and those yet to come.   I took a look at next year’s rough and it’s a fabulous specimen.  It’s going to be stunning.  Good luck to you all! Lori Millard, Tumbling chair, FRLMS 2025

Here are the points scored by the top 10 contestants on the returned stone for the World Wide Rock Tumbling Contest, 2025. Contestants with the same score are listed in no specific order. There may be more than 10 listed because of identical scores.

Here are the points scored:  1 being poor and 5 being the best for each of 5 categories (Finish, Chips, Polish left on rock, Grinding marks, and Overall appearance).  I then add each of the four judge’s total scores together to get your final score, the highest being 100 points.  I do want to apologize in advance for any misspellings. If you are not in the list you may contact the current tumbling contest chair for your score.

At 100 points and the contest winner is Alan Rittenhouse, Uniontown PA

With 99 point and the 2^nd place winner is Steve Smith, Orchard Park, NY

With 98 points and the third place winner is Stefan Wawrzynski, Holland NY

97 points: Larry Sevich, Chagrin Falls OH; Jackie Pariseau, Kasson MN; Mary Davidson, Reno NV; Matthew Wolff, Yorkville IL; Terry Knight, Creston IA

96 points: Austin Sandifer, Alvin TX; Jason Wing, McKinney TX