Clayton County Rocks spreads kindness and smiles one painted rock at a time

By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register

About a month ago, give or take a year for the sake of this story, a rock with a bunny rabbit made its way to the kitchen table, given to my wife by a middle school student who thought she might enjoy it given her propensity for collecting crystals and the collection of colorful stones that adorn her classroom. 

It didn’t really make an impact until a few days later, when a rock with a lizard—at least she thinks it’s a lizard—also found its way into our home. Again, a middle school student thought it was cool and wanted his English teacher to add it to her expanding collection. 

This time, the parade of rocks did not go unnoticed. I picked it up and, indeed, it was a rock, carefully painted and coated with a clear glaze to protect the design. But on the back, there was a sticker embedded in the glaze. This was not just any old, ordinary rock. It was a “Kindness Rock” created by Clayton County Rocks (Iowa), so as not to be confused with that other Clayton County in Georgia. But who was that?

It’s a Facebook group that currently numbers almost 2,000 members, most of whom post and share stories about the rocks they’ve found, where they’ve found them and what they intend to do with the rocks—either keeping or re-hiding. It’s a totally personal choice. 

Digging a little deeper, mostly clicking on the “about” tab and finding the group admins and moderators, I slowly stumbled upon the creative minds behind the group. I picked one at random to message, to find out more to write this story. 

That eventually led me to Stacie Friederick, the creator of Clayton County Rocks. Stacie is a Clayton County native, with her hometown being McGregor. During those years, living in the “gorgeous area” surrounded by nature, she’d come across random acts of kindness. That developed into the notion that the “world needs more selfless people.” 

It was also an act of kindness that inspired her to start Clayton County Rocks in March 2022, after a walk on the Pony Hollow Trail, where she came upon a rock with a smiley face painted on it. There was no tag or instructions, but it made her smile. 

It made her smile so much she started painting her own rocks to leave behind—to “make random strangers smile.” 

Joining her on this adventure of kindness are her four sons and daughter-in-law, who have all contributed in some way to spreading kindness. One of them is Hunter, who talked about a shared enjoyment with his mom of going on walks on the trails in Elkader and finding “cool looking rocks,” and how they would frequently do other creative activities like drawing or Pictionary.

“When my mom had this idea to begin painting rocks and hide them like Easter eggs, everyone was excited to start,” Hunter said. 

When the initiative started, Hunter expected it to be an occasional activity enjoyed as a family, but it blossomed into much more. Before he knew it, he was making 10 to 12 rocks a week, including painting the cover of the book “Green Eggs and Ham,” one of his favorite books as a kid. It turned out so well he actually kept it, and now, when his mom comes to visit, she asks to see it.

Though his contributions have slowed the last year due to having a nearly nine-month-old daughter, Kaylyn Jade, acts of kindness remain just as poignant. So does the time spent with family because of the rocks, and it’s moments like that he hopes to one day share with Kaylyn Jade. 

“Painting rocks with the family isn’t about how well or artistic your creations can be. It’s about the time we spend together and encouraging everyone’s rock,” Hunter said. 

As for the kindness the rocks inspire, he added that “People tell about how it makes their days and the messages left on the rocks can say so little but mean so much, and all the comments and shares are filled with kindness.”

Another helper is Landon, who started assisting his mom because he “really likes seeing a lot of the cool things” she paints. There’s also the family element, as Landon touched on the fact it brought them “closer together.” Landon doesn’t paint though, stating he is “not much of an artist,” so he takes care of monitoring the Facebook group and helping mom hide rocks around town, usually between five or 10 at a time. Among his favorites are the ones where his mom painted Nigel Thornberry’s face on different characters, especially one with a mermaid.  

“I was surprised how fast people were joining the group at first. It seemed like she had over 500 members after just a few months. It makes me happy to see people posting to the group because she works hard on all the rocks she paints,” Landon said. 

Stacie estimates only about 3 percent of all the rocks she’s painted and hid—which numbers in the thousands—have been posted to the group. However, those “random acts of kindness” left in random places throughout Clayton County, which have been shared, are responsible for an endless amount of joy. 

For instance, Marry Farrow believes the rocks are “an amazing way to spread love, kindness and make someone smile.” She recounted that, on their way home to Kentucky from North Dakota, the family stopped off at a gas station in Waterloo, and as her husband started to pump, their son Bryce looked over and found a rock with a can of whip cream and “watch me whip” painted on it. 

“The sheer joy you feel from the surprise of stumbling across one of these rocks is one of life’s greatest free, yet priceless moments. We got more SMILES per gallon than we did miles per gallon at that gas station that day,” Marry said. 

A fellow kindness rock painter, Brandi Rene, who also started a page called Pine Lake Rocks during Covid, found her Halloween-themed rock in Prairie du Chien and intends to re-hide it. 

“Kindness is free,” she said. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re 5 years old or 65 years old. Everybody loves to find a pretty rock.”

Joshua Gates found his rock on his birthday on Aug. 25, at The Annex in Platteville, Wis. He eventually took it on a fishing trip to northern Wisconsin and hid it near Fifield, Wis. 

“Kindness begets kindness and happiness for both one’s self and his/her fellow man,” he said. 

Finding rocks can also be a family tradition. Such is the case with Dani Gentz and her family, who found a rock at Pikes Peak State Park on an annual Labor Day family camping trip. Every year, her children search the area to find and re-hide rocks. She posted a Beavis and Butt-Head rock she found and plans to hide it near her home in Northwood. 

“Kindness is the easiest gift to give others. Whether it’s a smile, a painted rock or even a hug, kindness can brighten someone’s day,” Dani said. 

Brenda Hamilton found a rock at the Guttenberg overlook while visiting the area from Pennsylvania. She was blown away by the views and took the rock back to Pennsylvania, hiding it by a local post office, where she hopes it will be found and make another appearance in the group. 

“Kindness is very important in today’s world. It’s a cruel place to live, so anything that puts a smile on someone’s face is just amazing. I love these little rocks, and always participate when I find one,” Brenda said. 

The reach of Clayton County Rocks’s kindness extends beyond the borders of Iowa, and has traveled to places like Arizona, Minnesota, Wyoming and Mt. Rushmore. Kindness knows no boundaries, and the work of a selfless few has put smiles on faces even across the Atlantic, in countries like Denmark, where a student took a class trip. 

Though the premise is simple, in a world so filled with worry and stress, an act of kindness, even “something as simple as a painted kindness rock, can cheer a person up.”

“I love to see when a rock is found and someone says that it made their day or they share a picture of a smiling child with the rock. If it encourages them to spread kindness in their own way, even better,” Stacie said.