“Rockin Round Fullerton” is an online community aimed at Fullerton residents where members decorate rocks to hide around the city for others to find. Members use markers, paint, and other arts and crafts supplies to decorate these rocks or write messages on them.

“As natives of Fullerton, we created this group to spread joy and positivity. If you find a rock please post it for all to see! You can choose to keep it or re-hide it. To join the fun… you can even make a rock of your own!” the Facebook group description states.

A common theme as of recent has been Halloween-themed rocks, while other designs may display messages meant to brighten the finder’s day such as “Hope” or “Rock on!” Many members choose to re-hide the rocks they find after posting an image of it. Oftentimes the post is a selfie of the member holding the rock with a bright smile on their face.

When 28-year-old Fullerton native Bree Duff started the Facebook page just over two months ago, she certainly hadn’t imagined that the online community would expand as quickly as it did.

The founder shared that due to COVID-19 putting her schooling and internship on hold, to keep herself occupied she took a gig babysitting for a family in Yorba Linda.

During a morning walk with the children, the group found painted rocks scattered all around the neighborhood. Duff discovered that these rocks were from a Yorba Linda Girl Scouts troop, and she absolutely adored the concept.

“I thought, gosh, what a great idea. So I brought it home and you know I was telling my family about it how excited I was when I brought one of the rocks home, and then to see and like, wow, it’s a really cute idea. So I told them, I think I’m gonna make a rock page for Fullerton,” Duff explained.

After picking out the name “Rockin Round Fullerton”, Duff created the Facebook group starting with about 12 members from her family.

Remembering the joy that finding the rocks in Yorba Linda initially brought her, she shared the page through some other Facebook platforms. Duff now feels as if it sort of blew up overnight, with a current count of just under 700 members.

“I grew up in Fullerton and my whole life I’ve lived here, so I thought it’d be nice to start something for the neighborhood and bring joy to everybody’s life,” Duff said.

There is no exact protocol for where you can hide a rock. However, a lot of members choose to hide them at parks or in their own neighborhoods. Duff herself has hidden 20 rocks in Acacia Park. A common practice to help people find rocks is dropping hints of their whereabouts on the Facebook page.

Duff expressed that some kids especially really enjoy being able to leave each other rocks in the neighborhood as a way to interact despite social distancing guidelines. Many members have shared images of excited kids holding a rock they found.

Rockin Round Fullerton member Tanya Dang Wu and her family of five have taken many walks since moving to Fullerton. Wu shares that they have experienced plenty of joy since adding the act of painting, hiding and finding rocks to their family exercise routine.

As for the decoration of rocks itself, there are no rules. Some members have recommended using river rocks from an art supply store, and it seems to be a universal practice to cover the design with a protectant, such as clear spray paint.

While there are no rules, Duff prefers everything to stay positive with the goal of uplifting one another in mind. Politics are not recommended to avoid conflict, although Duff shared that she observed a “Biden” rock; but expressed that as long as everything stays in line with the goal to bring joy, all forms of creativity are welcome. Rocks and their posts that don’t stay in line with that goal will be removed to avoid conflict.

“I’ve had a couple of people reach out to me, you know, with kind of sad stories. Someone’s mother had cancer and their children would often play outside, so we would drop off rocks for them. And you know, it’s just awesome how much joy this has brought to people’s lives.” Duff shared.

The group is an uplifting community for Fullerton locals to participate in, and new members are certainly welcome. To view or join visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/1308823609458040/.