Andrew McKeough takes pride in collecting items, preserving Presidential memories...

excerpt from The Spoke published on December 19th, 2012:

Andrew McKeough takes pride in collecting items, preserving Presidential memories...

By Patrick Nicholson, Staff Reporter, The Spoke

McKeough with his collection at Valley Forge Middle School
Jenna Spoont | The Spoke

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.

Jenna Spoont | The Spoke

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.

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.