Page 13 - Leisure Living Magazine June 2019

Discovering Beach Glass And Other
Hidden Lake Erie Treasures
Before opening Crystal’s Treasure Box six years ago, Crystal Nevedale, 37, worked as a nurse for 11 years. Ini- tially, she planned to con- tinue her nursing career and have the shop, too, but that proved to be overwhelming. So, she followed her passion and dream.
Located in downtown Vermilion, a stone’s throw from Lake Erie, Nevedale designs jewelry and other “beachy” home accessories.
As a young girl, Crystal
began collecting periwin-
kle shells near her grand-
mother’s home in the Elberta
Beach area of town. Today,
she combs beaches and coves
all year long, searching for
her treasures. Not willing
to share secrets, Crystal has
been known to scale cliffs
and explore coves search-
ing for unusual shapes and
colors. She has even begun
kayaking to scour remote,
undiscovered spots. A life-
long resident of Vermilion,
she says “I am more of an
explorer, that’s where the fun
is because no one else will go
there.” She has four special beaches, citing winter before the lake freezes and when visitors aren’t frequenting the city, as popular months for col- lecting. Crystal ventures out at least three times a week, then spends one day a week in the “lab” designing.
She calls the colorful, smooth pieces beach glass emphasizing the difference between the different types of glass. “Beach glass comes from the lake, while sea glass comes from the oceans.”
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Beach glass fans will love Crystal’s Treasure Box in downtown Ver- milion, owned by Crystal Nevedale.
Washed ashore by wave action, the glass tum- bles over and over, rubbing on sand and pebbles, smoothing the fragments in the water before coming to rest on shore.
Bits and pieces are formed from broken bot- tles, dishes and containers from sunken ships or items cast overboard by passengers on boats. Some pieces can be hundreds of years old as there are thousands of sunken ships.
Continued on page 14
By JD Noll, Feature Writer
June 2019 LeisureLiving | 13