By Jef Rietsma
Last May, South County News issued a call to area residents to invite us to feature their collections.
We were fortunate to get a solid response, starting with Jeremy Winkworth. The Portage resident shared his broad collection of Upjohn memorabilia and artifacts, which were featured in the June edition.
In July, less than a year before she passed, Queen Elizabeth was the center of an impressive collection assembled by Schoolcraft resident Marilyn Jones.
Our August edition showcased Colleen Simpson and her unusual assortment of teapots. That was followed by Portage resident Nita Wolf, who shared with us her longtime love for – and collection of – Snowbabies figurines.
October was a special month, as “The Crazy Hat Lady,” Joyce Guetschow memorably walked us through her collection of nearly 200 hats. The Vicksburg-area resident said she was initially reluctant to contact South County News, but we’re so grateful she did.
Dale Sult and his impressive collection of Oliver tractors were featured in November before we ended the year taking a look at a unique collection of pencils accumulated by Schoolcraft-area resident Don VanderRoest. At the time, he had about 950 unique, unsharpened pencils and was hoping to eventually have 1,000 in hand.
We traveled to Van Buren County and took a step back in time with Phil Horton. The Lawton-area resident has spent decades collecting and meticulously preserving covers and advertisements from old magazines. His collection was featured in January.
Next up, Scott Macfarlane was featured in February. He shared his collection of photographs featuring post offices throughout the United States. Like VanderRoest, Macfarlane’s collection was closing in on 1,000 items.
That brings us to March and, we’re sorry to report our cupboard is bare. We’re waiting on a collector to return from Florida as well as a Vicksburg man who has promised to share his collection of Boy Scout patches.
Nonetheless, we’re issuing another call-out in hopes area collectors will respond and consider letting us feature your collection. A common response we hear is “I didn’t think my collection was complete enough,” or, “I didn’t think it was interesting enough.” There are no rules for collections, so please consider letting us know what you have to share. No matter the size, regardless if it is an item already profiled, it doesn’t matter how odd.
Please let us know what you have to offer. We hope to return in April and for several months that follow.
Contact kforsythesouthcountynews@gmail.com.
