The annual Collectors Show was held at the Highland Falls Library this past weekend.
For those who aren’t familiar with the library, take a minute to read this:
The library has a big entry way, a large ‘community room’ in the front, overlooking Main St. Then throughout the circulation area there is the Victorian Room, and the large open area near the checkout counter. Downstairs is the children’s area, and beyond that is a new, very large, multi-purpose room.
Back to the story about the show. On Saturday, that show filled up the library!
When it started several years ago it encompassed mostly just the community room. This year, as usual, that room was filled, as was the hallway, the circulation area and the multi-purpose room. And all day, the library was filled with men, women and children roaming around to the various displays, taking in the many, many different types of collections.
For instance, there were: glass bottles, car memorabilia, hammers, figurines, matchbooks (including a Highlands Supervisor Bob Livsey campaign matchbook from the 1990’s), classic toys, postcards, milk bottles, handcuffs, license plates, coins (we’ll talk more about those in a minute), sand from beaches around the world in glass bottles (so cool!), $2 bill origami, old household items, Emmett Kelly Jr figurines, lanterns, bricks, wood toys, arrowheads, rifles …. and on and on.
When the show first began, it was deemed a ‘men’s collectibles’ event. It’s grown to include female collectors as well as kid collectors.
Emily Hager, the granddaughter of organizer Clayton Hager, a Cornwall resident, was one of the first kids to show her wares several years ago, her Shopkins collection. This year she was back with tiny, intricate clay sculptures she has made.
She’s 10, but she wasn’t the youngest at the show.
Across the multi-purpose room, five-year-old Michael Gessel, Jr. of Pine Bush was showing, for the first time ever, his coin collection. Michael is a big fan of the US ‘state’ quarters, and his mom says he’s been learning about the various states from his collection. On Saturday, he was fascinated by several 1943 steel pennies in his collection, showing how they stick to a large magnet. Michael was also giving away quarters to youth who attended the show, in the hopes, his mom said, of attracting other kids to the hobby.
“He just started last summer,” she said, “when we started giving him some money for an allowance. He started to become aware of how each coin is different, and really developed an interest.”
Michael — wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Coin collecting, a cents-ible hobby’ –was at the show with his parents and grandparents. When he wasn’t standing at his table talking to spectators, he was back across the room at a table manned by Emily’s dad (former Town of Highlands Building Inspector John Hager) where there was a remote control racetrack set up. Michael very much enjoyed racing the cars.
Several tables down, many older visitors to the show were enthralled by a large model drive-in movie theater, complete with a movie showing, cars and a playground, set up.
It appeared that most of those who came to the show stayed for a long time, the collectors were deep in conversation with guests most of the time. When they weren’t explaining their items, they were comparing them with other collectors. And when they weren’t doing that, they were eating pizza that Hager had brought in … it was a very good day!
(Editor’s note: For those interested, there were flyers at the show for two upcoming shows — the 32nd annual glass bottle show on Sunday, Aug. 19 at Elks Lodge 275 in Poughkeepsie, and the eighth annual racing vehicles show on Sunday, July 21 at the Whortlekill Gun Club in Hopewell Junction.)