Thousands of people in NKY are bonding over...painted rocks

If you see one of the thousands of brightly colored rocks strategically placed around town, it's not just some natural phenomenon. NKY Hidden Rocks encourages its members to paint rocks with characters, pictures or messages of encouragement and then hide them for others to find. A tiny sticker on the back of each one directs people to their Facebook page where they can report their findings or give clues to where they’ve re-hidden the treasures. The local chapter is approaching 15,000 members and is linked to similar rock-painting groups throughout the country and the world. NKY Hidden Rock founder Jo Craven said she got the idea to start the group locally after seeing a news story about the positive impact a group had in Northeast Ohio. She said following the inauguration, social media became so negative she was looking for a way to change direction. She said she stayed up late one night in February creating a Facebook page and painting three rocks -- an airplane, the Florence water tower and a butterfly.