WOODSTOCK — His mother had always wanted to go to Israel, but never made the trip. A month before she died in August, Tim Buck brought over his favorite rock, from Israel, picked her feet up, rested them down and told his mom she'd put her feet on Israeli soil.

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Jose Leiva/Sun Journal

Jose Leiva/Sun Journal

Tim and Fran Buck, owners of the Mollyockett Motel on Route 26 in Woodstock, are pictured by their fireplace that is made up of stones from 32 states, 15 countries and five continents. The Bucks say each stone has a story.

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Jose Leiva/Sun Journal

Jose Leiva/Sun Journal

Tim Buck's favorite stone in his fireplace at Mollyocket Motel and Conference Center in Woodstock is one that came from the Sea of Galilee in Israel. It's encased in a special place behind lock and key.

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"(It came) from the Sea of Galilee where Jesus actually walked," Buck said. "She was tickled by it."

That rock has an honored spot, the only one behind glass, in a 758-rock fireplace where every stone has a story.

"I made a little cave. I thought, I can't just mortar this in with all the common rocks," Buck said.

He and his wife, Fran, bought the Mollyocket Motel seven years ago and opened the new Crosstone Restaurant and Conference Center next to it last year. He built the 13- by 8-foot gas fireplace in the restaurant over nine months.

"Out of all the minerals in the world, one-third of the variety of minerals can be found in Oxford County," Buck said.

So building in stone seemed natural. And why not make it extra special?

He planned, his wife worked the phones. She called state geological societies in all 50 states asking if they'd send a stone for their fireplace. Thirty-two states came through.

Wyoming sent a wide piece of sandstone with fish fossils, New Jersey florescent rocks that glow red and green under black light. A Petoskey stone fossil came from the banks of Lake Michigan.

As word got out, motel guests started sending stones from their travels to Israel, China, Ireland, Greece and Vietnam. There's a geode, fool's gold and a vial of ash from Mount St. Helens. Many others, like tourmaline, are local.

Their daughter brought back a 25-pound lava teardrop from a trip to Arizona only to get a few second glances at the airport and a warning that if she wanted to take it on the flight, there would be a surcharge.

"She said look, ‘I carried the fool thing four miles, if you think $25 is going to discourage me, you're sadly mistaken,'" Buck said. "She paid the $25 and brought it home."

It has a spot right under the mantle. Though most are laid out at random, a few of the rocks are arranged in the shape of two crosses and spelled out a short Biblical reference.

"I think God's creativity, it shouldn't be amazing, but it is amazing," Buck said.

Now that the fireplace is finished, but with rocks still coming in, he's finding himself the reluctant owner of a second stone collection.

"With all the other rocks people are giving us, my wife said, ‘Ah, what can I have you build now?' I'm not encouraging it," he said, laughing.

Know a collection that rocks? We're always looking for ideas. Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com