Meet theTEAm

maRk dOnsELaR is an administrator for Michigan Rockhounds and has been with us for about 2 years now. He spends an inordinate amount of time keeping the group looking clean and safe from would-be scammers— and helping ensure that everyone plays nice. He finds the endless work rewarding, though.

Mark’s love of rocks goes back to his youth, when he used to get “a talking to” about lagging behind as he picked up stones. That interest faded as an adult until he rediscovered it during the pandemic when social distancing made walking beach and farmlands a perfect hobby. His wife, Diane, is also a Rockhound; they have lived in Grand Haven together for 39 years now— and she joins him on most of his hunts except those on farmland. He loves to find gravel pits in county and state parks and particularly enjoys the beach at Pilgrim Haven, for which he wrote a Beach Spotlight in this issue!

He loves cutting his rocks, but most of his uncut finds end up surrounding his house and around his herb garden. His favorites are puddingstones and really any conglomerate, septarians (lightning stones), and pretty much anything yellow or green in color.

A retired roofing contractor, Mark loves being outdoors and is always looking for a new place to hound. On that note, if you have a farm field with rocks you don’t want, he kindly asks that you let him know!