Did you find a painted rock? Here's where it may be from
Ever see a painted rock somewhere in town or maybe along a hiking path in the mountains and wonder where it came from?
Now, you'll know.
The Hendersonville-based Facebook group called HVL Rocks hides painted rocks, with finders having the option of re-hiding the rocks or keeping them. It all began in the spring of 2017, when Hendersonville's Joy Moore and her husband, Danny, had a family member tell them something that inspired them — something that the family member said had happened in Vero Beach, Florida.
"People were painting rocks and hiding them in random places for people to find to brighten their day," Joy Moore told the Times-News on Oct. 30.
The Moores thought it was such a great idea that they decided to see if any such group existed in Western North Carolina. They took to Facebook and found a group in North Carolina, Joy Moore said.
"We thought we found one but one approval took a while ... it was a few months. We got tired of waiting so we decided to create our own," she said.
Joy Moore said when she was doing research about painted rocks, she learned about the Kindness Rocks Project (https://www.thekindnessrocksproject.com/ ).
"I found out that this is nationwide," she said.
In order to be sure the rocks are from members of HVL Rocks, on the back of the rocks, HVL Rocks is always labeled, she said.
The first rock
For the past six years, there have been thousands of rocks painted, hid and re-hidden by HVL Rocks, but Danny Moore will always hold the status of the first rock ever hidden.
"The first rock that was hidden was painted by my husband. It has a silly face on it. If I remember correctly, it was hidden in downtown Hendersonville," Joy Moore said.
To this day, the Moores have no clue where that rock ended up.
Instead of being labeled like most of the rocks are today, her husband painted on the back of the rock about the HVL Rocks Facebook group and the instructions to post a photo of the rock to the group ... but to no avail so far, she said.
"Whatever happened to it, I have no idea," Joy Moore said.
A special delivery
One of the group's members, Lisa Patterson, is making a special delivery on Halloween to the Veterans Healing Farm in Hendersonville, and just in time for a special visitor to the farm — the Traveling Memorial Vietnam Wall.
The wall travels all over the country and is making a stop at the Veterans Healing Farm from Nov. 9-12, including Veterans Day on Nov. 11. Patterson and her husband, Chris, delivered rocks last year to the farm, she said, and this year will be even more special with the wall there for rocks to be placed at it.
Lisa Patterson said she posted on the HVL Rocks page about a paint day, where everyone could have a chance to paint rocks for the veterans.
"We have a few people who served in the military ourselves so they will be joining me when I deliver the rocks on to the Veterans Healing Farm. I have rocks at home some people have already given me. My husband also made a rock to display with a small flag," she said. "I also have a group of ladies that go with me to a local nursing home once a month for the last year and paint rocks with the residents. When we went this month the residents at Valley Hill Health and Rehab made lots of rocks for the veterans."
Over 9,000 and still growing
Since its inception in March 2017, the group has grown to 9,300 members and is still growing, Joy Moore said.
"The majority of our active members are here in Hendersonville. The members we have that are not from here join the group to post their rocks that they found from the group," she said. "Oour users are awesome. They host a few painting meetups and hiding meetups. If it wasn't for the users, this group would have died before it started."
What started out as just a fun thing to do around Hendersonville has now spanned all over the country and even overseas, Joy Moore said.
"Rocks have traveled all over the U.S. I do remember rocks that have been found in Ireland, England and Jamaica," she said.
Anyone can request to join the group at this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1243180469133372. Once admitted, any group member is encouraged to paint and hide rocks.
The sole purpose of the group is centered around having fun and enjoying the outdoors (no rocks should be hidden inside, especially in stores). This is a quote from the group's guidelines: "The goal is to get lots of people across our communities painting so that there are lots of rocks to be found out there. You might find yourself rediscovering parts of our community you haven't appreciated in a while. Get out and enjoy yourself."
Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Sharing kindness: Facebook group's painted rocks are spreading smiles
