Find a rock, cheer a heart

When Cadence and Haley Winkler looked down as they walked out of a Jefferson City store, they were delighted to find painted rocks laying there.

That was the opportunity for their mother, Tasha, to show them the Facebook page JC Rocks, where thousands of residents post painted rocks they have made or discovered in the area.

When the Winklers returned to their California home, their dining table - which usually is immaculate - was covered with rocks and paint. Cadence, 11, prefers to be creative whereas Haley, 10, is more interested in the discovery surprise.

And then Tasha started the Cali Mo X-treme Rocks Facebook group page.

"Within a week, (my phone) was filled up every day," she said of the frequent posts by California rock painters/seekers. "I thought that was so neat."

In the first week, the group grew to nearly 500 followers. And as of Monday, there were nearly 1,200.

One of the posts to the California Extreme Rocks group page was the original story of how this international trend started.

An Oregon couple lost their two daughters in 2013, when they were hit by a car in front of their house. In April 2014, the couple launched the Love Rocks Facebook page to honor their memory with heart-decorated rocks, similar to how the couple had decorated their wedding.

"I felt where they were coming from," Winkler said. "They were trying to do something positive amongst something terrible."

Just like the California group was born from seeing the trend in Jefferson City, so it has spread across the nation and around the world, she said.

In California, church youth groups plan to do rock painting as a project and many families have spent time together.

As for the Winklers, their motivation is simply to make someone else's day better, she said.

"A lot of groups have rules; we don't," Winkler said. "We just want people to have fun."

However, the Winklers have been painting the Facebook logo on the bottom of their rocks, to send the finders to the group's page.

Some families have taken evenings to go rock hunting in California. And then the next night, they hide the rocks in new locations, Winkler said.

The closest to a rule for the group is if one finds a rock and likes it, take it home and replace it with another painted rock. Otherwise, hid that rock somewhere else.

Most people have been posting to the group page rocks they have found or rocks they have painted.

"When I put out a rock, I feel like I'm going make someone's day," Cadence said.

She likes to watch the group page to see the reaction of the person who found it, Cadence said.

"Did they like it enough to keep it? Did they make a new one?" she said.

Of the more than three dozen rocks the Winklers have made so far, Cadence's favorite is a jellyfish.

Several times the jellyfish was found and hid again. However, recently a boy posted that he took the it home.

"I hope they put a smile on someone's face after a rough day," Cadence said. "That's what they're there for."

On the web: www.facebook.com/groups/1720601484861209/

On the web: www.love-rocks.org/#!about/cg9i