Andrew McKeough and other Students take pride in collecting items, preserving memories

The Spoke – December 19^th, 2012:

 

Andrew McKeough and other Students take pride in collecting items, preserving memories

 

By Patrick Nicholson, Staff Reporter

Autographed pictures. Presidential chocolates. An Air Force One jacket. A White House hand towel. For most people, obtaining any single one of these items would be an impressive feat. For sophomore Andrew McKeough, however, these items consist of a mere fraction of his entire collection.

Since middle school, McKeough has been collecting various items of presidential memorabilia, ranging from presidential letters to Oval Office M&M’s. Nowadays, McKeough’s collection is large enough to be displayed at libraries and schools around the district.

“Overall I’d say I have over 100 items in the collection, and about a quarter of the collection is traveling around the district,” McKeough said.

McKeough’s collection has been featured at Valley Forge Middle School, the Conestoga library and the Tredyffrin and Easttown libraries. Obtaining such a large and valuable collection was not easy—McKeough’s family connections with the White House helped him build his collection. However, McKeough obtained his most prized items in his collection from the President himself.

President Obama “has written me two letters. One time he just wrote me because my cousin, [who works in the state department], asked if he would. The second time, he heard about the relief efforts I was doing for Bascome Fire Relief, and he wrote me a letter commending me on my efforts,” McKeough said.

Unlike McKeough’s collection, the items in junior Talia Borofsky’s collection were not hard to obtain, but were instead difficult to create. Borofsky collects sewing patterns, and for the past year she has been using them to create various articles of clothing. Borofsky’s favorite patterns are her vintage ones.

Andrew McKeough working on his collection at Valley Forge Middle School
Jenna Spoont | The Spoke

“I got these vintage ones online, these two 1960s ones,” Borofsky said. “Vintage patterns are beautiful when you look at the covers, and they’re just totally different from nowadays’ patterns.”

In total, Borofsky says she has nearly 30 sewing patterns and has made 10 articles of clothing from them. However, Borofsky feels that learning to create her own patterns would allow her to make an even wider variety of clothing.

“The ’20s are my favorite fashion period, and I dream about getting a flapper pattern from the ’20s, except [it’s] very expensive. That’s why I want to learn to make patterns, that way I could make one,” Borofsky said.

Like Borofsky’s sewing patterns, freshman Jack Edgarton’s pocket knives are more than just collectibles—they’re useful items. Edgarton, whose Boy Scout experiences inspired him to start his collection, still brings his knives with him on his monthly camping trips.

“I bring two or three on a campout,” Edgarton said. “I sharpen them a lot, because they always get dull from me using them, cutting up logs [and] shaving points for s’mores sticks.”

For Edgarton, pocket knives are appealing collectibles because of their many uses and unique designs.

“None of them have the same personality. Some are very tight and they’re hard to open, while others slide right open. Some of them are more useful, some are rugged, and others are just to show off,” Edgarton said.

Senior Juliana Suplee’s interest for theater mirrors Edgarton’s passion for knives. Since she was 8 years old, Suplee has been collecting Playbills from the various theater productions she has attended. She says her passion for theater led her to start collecting.

“I collect because I love theater, and I think collecting makes me love theater more,” Suplee said. “I guess Playbills are like what baseball cards are to guys. I don’t feel like I have to have every Playbill there is, but if I see the show, it’s a special memento I like to hold on to.”

Suplee prizes her 14 Broadway Playbills, many of which contain autographs from cast members. These Playbills serve as keepsakes that preserve the memories of her favorite theater experiences.

“The ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Playbill is probably one of my favorite ones, because it was my first Broadway Playbill, the first Broadway show I ever saw,” Suplee said. “I was 8, and I got Christy Carlson Romano’s autograph, and that was really cool.”

Unlike Suplee, McKeough said he values and cherishes his collection mostly because of the rarity of the items.

“It’s just having these things, saying you have an invitation for lunch with the President or one to the inauguration, I think that’s just [cool],” McKeough said. It’s “like a one-of-a-kind piece that no one else except you can get.”

Patrick Nicholson can be reached at pnicholson@stoganews.com.