I find people's collections interesting no matter what they are. Now almost everyone in his childhood had a special cigar box filled with marbles, or a bird's feather, or a vacation memento that we'd take out every couple of weeks to just look at.

I personally have graduated from a cigar box to 12 rooms full of collections. I guess the difference between a hoarder and a collector is that the collector puts his cool stuff nicely on display. My old college roommate told me "one is an item; two is the start of a collection." I sometimes think I perhaps took her too seriously as I have about 10 collections that range from the Century of Progress to Radio Orphan Annie items.

Years ago I got to meet Shirley Bell Cole, the original Radio Orphan Annie, and got her autograph! I was amazed how young she is. She told me that when she was doing the radio show in the 1930s that she used to drive herself to the studio from the south side of Chicago where she lived when she was only 12 or 13 years old. She said they didn't need a driver's license back then. In addition to being Annie, she also did the barking for Sandy and ironically Ovaltine was not one of her favorite drinks.

I have collected all the Orphan Annie decoders too so if you're ever in need of figuring out her "secret message," just give me a call.

Now if you're a collector of Enesco's Cherished Teddies, then this Saturday you'll want to be at Chrislove here in Whiting. It's your opportunity to actually meet Priscilla and Glenn Hillman, the internationally known artists of the Teddies. The last time I went to one of Chrislove's events, there were even people from Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio there waiting to have their Cherished Teddies signed by the artists. The Hillmans have also created an exclusive Cherished Teddy that you'll only find at Chrislove, one of Whiting's oldest establishments.

There's a gentleman in our town who has a wonderful collection of old movies and he's always been generous in sharing his collection for events for kids. But this year there's a really special viewing of his collection happening on Dec. 6 that I'm very excited about.

From 5:45 to 6:45 at our beautiful Hoosier Theatre, the Lions Club is presenting such Christmas classic short films as "Suzy Snowflake," "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and what I've always thought one of the spookiest of all animated films, "Hardrock, Coco, and Jo." There will be an hour's worth of these great old holiday films. In addition there will be a piano player to lead the audience in a carol sing-a-long. And it's all free, compliments of Whiting's Lions Club.

Then you walk outside and down the street to see our lovely Illuminated Christmas parade and the city's lighting of the tree. Add a few snowflakes in there (Suzy or otherwise) and what more could one ask to start everyone's favorite holiday season?

The opinions expressed are the author's own. Reach her at puccini99@aol.com.