Everyday Rock Stars

Renee Furzland, Contributor

In Spring 2020 when COVID-19 became a serious situation and had us sheltering in place, my “mom brain” automatically went into thinking, "What am I going to do with my kids?"

A friend of mine mentioned that she was helping coordinate a “rock group” in her neighborhood on Facebook. I had never heard of this before, so I looked it up, and sure enough, I found one in our area called "McHenry Rocks.”

How it works is people all over the McHenry area paint rocks and leave them places for people to find. Some people find them and leave them for others to enjoy, some people rehide them in another spot and others keep them for their own collection.

About McHenry Rocks: McHenry Rocks began with the sole purpose of spreading joy, kindness and a sense of community through creativity and was inspired by the various "rocks" Facebook groups.

My son loves rocks he's always finding good ones to bring home so we already had some to paint. I quickly joined the group and we began hiding and finding rocks. The art painted on the rocks range from kids to adult artists. Some of the paintings include animals, holidays, inspirational quotes and much more.

There are some very talented people in this group. It became such a joy during a difficult time to get out of the house on nice days and go rock hunting. Places to find these beautiful treasures range from parks to store fronts to little libraries. The most popular spot is all along the charming McHenry Riverwalk.

It became such a joy during a difficult time to get out of the house on nice days and go rock hunting.

If you don't know about these groups and are interested, I highly suggest going on Facebook and finding one to join in your area. These groups are in most towns and counties. We have even had the experience of spotting them out of town and other states, too. I would have never guessed that painting/finding rocks with my family would be such an uplifting experience and something we will continue to enjoy!