Grabowski rocks on in retirement

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This article was published 26/07/2018 (2810 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SOURIS — One of the most-recognized attractions in Souris is headed by a man whose efforts can be considered volunteer, despite it being set up as a for-profit business.

Frank Grabowski purchased The Rock Shop approximately 10 years ago was a means of both keeping the longtime business running and to provide him with a constructive means of passing the time.

He said that its previous owners decide to leave after failing to produce a decent income out of it, which he said wasn’t a concern of his, with The Rock Shop “strictly a hobby.”

Retired from the military as a result of getting “crippled up” and unable to work, Grabowski took on the business as a retirement project.

“I’m a tinkerer, so instead of sitting at home in front of the TV, this gives me something to do,” he said. “I needed hands-on things to do, so figured it was a perfect fit.”

What has spurred him on the most is the business’s ability to inspire children who visit the shop, he said, adding that he also tries to rope his own daughters, aged 13 and 15, into the fold as much as possible.

Although unique rocks and trinkets are among the first things visitors see upon entering The Rock Shop, after store mascot Tanner the mutt welcomes them at the front door, Grabowski said that it’s the back of the shop that makes it unique.

When kids come in, Grabowski leans down on his cane next to them an asks; “Hey, want to see something cool? Follow the creepy old man to the back,” which he said elicits laughs from the parents and intrigue from children.

The back room is full of minerals of all shapes and sizes, which were all discovered at a nearby quarry.

The most interesting part about it, Grabowski said, is that none of them actually originated in the area.

Glacial flows deposited them in Westman, with pieces originating throughout much of North America, except for the north, since it appears as though glaciers did not flow into Westman from that area.

Among the more unique finds that kids and adults alike get a kick from include a partial woolly mammoth’s tooth and a sabre-toothed cat claw, which have both been verified.

The shop also includes a collection of cephalopod fossils —small marine mammals that lived some 300 to 400 million years ago.

There’s also a “special box” in the back of the shop that kids can peer into, whose interior is lit by a black light that brings out the fluorescent colours of certain rocks.

While various rocks are for sale, Grabowski said that people get the greatest kick out of finding them for themselves at the nearby quarry, for which he sells permits at $22.60 per carload of people.

Grabowski also takes on school groups, and provides them with a lecture on geology prior to taking them out to the rock quarry where he helps them identify minerals.

“Every class, you find three or four decent fossils and some jasper and agates,” he said, adding that kids are free to take whatever they find.

“I won’t take a fossil from a kid,” he said. “If it sparks something, we could have future scientists.”

Once taking on as many as 60 school groups per season, things dropped off significantly around the time of the 2011 flood event.

As keen as ever to feed youths’ passion for geology, Grabowski said that he’s eager to take on more classrooms than the approximately 20 he currently gets.

Although the first several years were touch and go as a result of a dispute with Veterans Affairs Canada, Grabowski said that things ended up working out and he’s now found an equilibrium with The Rock Shop that he’s intent on maintaining.

“We’re in a good position, and it will be here as long as I’m alive.”

Open from May to the end of September, Grabowski said that he posts his phone number on the door and is always keen to pop by to accommodate visitors whenever he happens to be around.

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB