If Charlie Brown had gotten a rock that said he was an ace on the pitching mound, he might not have minded finding it in his trick-or-treat bag.
Fans of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" Halloween television special will remember the scene when Charlie's friends compare the sweet bounty they've amassed, while he laments after stopping at every house, "I got a rock." He obviously wasn't as lucky as the man who found a stone left outside a Mexican restaurant in Hagerstown by Vickie Quackenbos.
A former local resident found the rock, painted with a star and bearing the words "rock star." Now a songwriter in Los Angeles, his discovery seemed serendipitous.
"The rock was meant for him," said Quackenbos, 62, of Hancock. "He's got it now and he's not giving it up."
The stone's placement was random and its recipient unplanned. But Quackenbos' intention was to spread some goodwill.
She created the Hancock Rocks Facebook page as part of a nationwide movement called The Kindness Rocks Project.
Quackenbos discovered information about the project in May while researching Brevard County, Fla., where her daughter and three of her grandchildren were moving a month later. She discovered Brevard County Rocks on Facebook and decided to join in the fun. Through it, she learned about The Kindness Rocks Project, a happiness-spreading endeavor started by Megan Murphy of Cape Cod, Mass.
In a video on The Kindness Rocks Project website, Murphy describes how she struggled when her parents died when she was in her early 20s. She walked a beach every day, seeking guidance from them in various situations. A heart-shaped rock was a sign from her father and sea glass represented her mom's input. As she saw others meandering along the sand looking contemplative, she realized they might need some insight, too.
She grabbed a permanent marker one day on her way out for a stroll and used it to write messages on rocks along the way. She dropped five that first day, and that evening, she got a text message from a friend who found one, she says in the video. The friend wondered if Murphy had left it — perhaps she recognized the handwriting — but Murphy didn't fess up. Then her friend said, "If you did drop this rock, it made my day. I was having a rough day and the message just meant so much." At that point, something clicked.
"I thought, OK, I have something here," said Murphy, a life coach.
At the suggestion of one of her three daughters, Murphy started social-media pages in March 2015, on which people could post photographs of the painted rocks they found and share their reactions.
"I didn't have a plan," said Murphy, 49, in a telephone interview.
But she did have a concept that touched a lot of people, and it spread like sea foam on a beach. People come to Cape Cod to vacation from all over the world, so word spread quickly about the rocks, Murphy said. Facebook pages have sprouted all over the country, with groups writing encouraging messages or drawing images on rocks, signing them with the name of their Facebook group so people can post photos and reactions when they find one.
The miniature pieces of art are dropped at parks, outside business and on benches, among countless other sites. Members of Facebook groups also can post pictures of rocks they've placed so people can search for them.
"This project has touched so many," said Murphy, who also creates inspiration gardens, from which passers-by can pick up a rock whose message or artwork touches them and/or leave one to inspire others.
"Maybe that would be their heart-shaped rock," Murphy said, referring to the stones that comforted her.
Kin spreading kindness
Performing such random acts of kindness appealed to Quackenbos. So did the opportunity to do something meaningful with all six of her grandchildren, not just the three who were moving to Palm Bay, Fla.
"My idea was to get the grandkids involved," she said.
Using acrylic paints, permanent markers and paint pens, Quackenbos and her six grandchildren — who range in age from 4 to 12 — started decorating stones and setting them in all sorts of places to be discovered. They even dropped them at places they stopped on their way to Tennessee.
She looks at other Kindness Rocks-related pages for decorating ideas, but at times the stones speak for themselves.
"Sometimes, the shape of the rock tells you what it has to be," Quackenbos said, recalling ones she's found that are shaped like pigs or dogs.
While her intent is to spread encouragement and hope, some people view rock collecting as a motivator to keep walking outside or as a fun mission.
"It's become more like a game for people, kind of like Pokemon," said Quackenbos, whose husband, Gary, 65, sometimes distributes her creations when he's heading to the post office.
A touch of civility
Cindy Dwyer sees The Kindness Rocks Project as a way to bring some civility to a troubled world.
"It just makes their day," said Dwyer, 62, who created the Hager Rocks Facebook page. "It's a little way to spread a little kindness in a world that needs that right now."
Hager Rocks now boasts more than 3,500 members.
"I'm just amazed at how much it's grown," said Dwyer, who has lived all of her life in Washington County.
She said some group members gather occasionally for painting parties, and a few painted a total of 125 for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. They were delivered at the end of September to Breast Cancer Awareness — Cumberland Valley in Hagerstown.
To help people facing creative roadblocks, Dwyer posted a theme for each day in October.
"It's an outlet for people," Dwyer said of transforming stones into colorful sources of support. "Some say it's an addiction — a good addiction."
Rock fundamentals
While spreading joy seemingly should have no limits, there are boundaries to dispersing rocks of kindness.
First, leave nature's rocks alone. Dwyer does not encourage people to collect them along creeks and rivers, for instance.
Instead, she suggests buying them from gardening and landscaping centers, even construction-related businesses.
Murphy said departments of public works, when asked, sometimes let people take rocks for free.
She said it's important to be respectful of the environment and be conscious of people's safety when placing rocks. Nontoxic paints and markers should be used to beautify the rocks, not too many should be laid in one place, and permission should be sought before setting any down, according to TheKindnessRocksProject.com.
"I find great responsibility now because of the great number of people who are following my lead," said Murphy, adding that she's working on a video about following Leave No Trace Principles when collecting and leaving rocks.
To learn more:
Other groups from the Tri-State area on Facebook:
• Hager Rocks, Hagerstown Rocks #hagerrocks
• Rockin' it in WACO-MD
• Hancock Rocks
• Eastern Panhandle WV Rocks!
• Franklin County, PA "Rocks"
• Fulton Pa Rocks!
