MANKATO, Minn. – Some of the old-timers in Bruce Birkemeyer’s rock collecting club weren’t exactly encouraging when he wondered if he should enter his “Lord of the Rings” display in a regional competition. The problem was that Birkemeyer had literally thought outside the box. The competitions sponsored by mineralogical societies consist pretty much exclusively of rock hounds displaying their most interesting finds in a 3-foot by 4-foot display box. [More]