“Once you start hunting for rocks to paint you’ll never look at them the same again!” Mari McGuire said laughing. “You look for what you can see in them – LL Bean boots and lady slippers – and never in the same spot.”

Rocks have been the canvas for McGuire and her whole family, from her siblings to the grandchildren and great grandchildren for 11 years. Everyone gets involved: The non-painters are the gatherers, some of whom evolve to base layer coaters.

“From an 18-month-old baby (then) to a 95-year-old aunt sitting next to a 10-year-old sitting side by side at a picnic table on the rocks at our camp, it’s an incredible thing it’s morphed into,” said McGuire. “Great-great uncles, aunts, parents … get to spend time together. My picnic tables all have a patina now!”

Over the years, designs have included turtles, owls, tic-tac-toe turtles (a hot commodity); ladybugs, butterflies, honey bees, professional sports teams or sports, hobbit doors, princess slippers, tigers, puffins, the Milky Way, suns; poet rocks (rocks with lines of poetry on them); “Jaws,” Steller eagle, the VW bus, cartoon characters, floral gardens; peace rocks; seasonal rocks: veteran’s holidays, Fourth of July, Nurses Week; and during COVID-19, Dr. Nirav Shaw – masked, of course. Those flew off the rock table. Maguire sent one to Shaw at the Center for Disease Control. The CDC said he loved it. It was a fairly good sized boulder. Other designs have included inspirational sayings; rock rocks have included Pink Floyd (“The Wall” and “Dark Side of the Moon”) and Jimmy Buffet (a large shaker of salt); currently, McGuire is working on a request: The Beatles, circa “Yellow Submarine” complete with a yellow submarine.

The song lyrics rocks bring a fun story: Last summer, a woman out walking stopped to check out the rocks. McGuire came out and the two talked briefly. “She said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but I’m Art Garfunkel’s son’s girlfriend. I’m getting this ‘Feelin groovy’ turtle rock for him because (the phrase is) in one of his father’s songs. I can’t wait to give it to him in England.”

From the poetry rock stories: “One woman started crying,” McGuire said. “She didn’t see a rock her dad had from here that was used for his eulogy when his ashes were scattered. It was one of the poetry rocks … so I made her another one – and one for each of her sisters, too.”

McGuire said there are many stories after 11 years, like the cancer survivor who had to have 20 tiger rocks to put around in her garden.

Thank you notes are not uncommon in the “donations” mailbox. “Love the rocks, we come every year;” and when the Steller eagle was here a young girl wrote McGuire saying her grammy didn’t get to see it when it was here, so McGuire painted Steller eagle rocks. “The girl wrote again to say her grandmother loved her Steller rock ... and she passed a short time later,” recalled McGuire

Just last week, a note fashioned like a lollipop read: “Thank you for making beautiful art pieces to share with the community. Enjoy some elderberry tea. XO, Allie, team MA”

Any donations, or rocks – yes, sometimes people leave a blank rock to replace one they wanted; are donated to Ocean Point Casino, the new playground going up, something for someone in need; or to take the children in the family on a boat ride.

This incredible rock story evolved on a Fourth of July weekend from a place of love, hope and faith 11 years ago. McGuire’s granddaughter Maddy had been released from Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital for a few days – a break from the intensive treatment for a stage 4 brain tumor – to spend with her family at their Ocean Point camp.

Maddy was sad she couldn’t play with her cousins out on the rocks or move around very much. So Maguire suggested they paint rocks. Maddie – artistic like her grandmother – really got into it, as did her gran.

“We painted pink ribbons, sunshine for joy, tigers for courage, rocks that said HOPE and JOY; you couldn’t get her down even then; that’s who she is,” McGuire recounted. “She had to go back to the hospital before we could get them all out on the rock table, but they sold out! Maddy loved painting rocks so much she did it in the hospital.”

When the rocks disappeared, people started asking for more – and a tradition was born.

McGuire is very happy to report her granddaughter has been in remission for 10 years and recently celebrated her 21st birthday. She said Maddie is still positive and happy. The young woman works at a Shaw’s market and has taken some college courses.

“It’s been such a positive thing,” said McGuire. “One last story: My bedroom faces the driveway and in the early morning hours, 5-6 a.m. you hear people howling over sayings on the rocks. One of my favorites is ‘Three things that tell the truth: small children, drunks and yoga pants,’” she said laughing.

“I think painted rocks just attract happy people.”