Joomla Login LightBox powered by WowJoomla.com

Bluebirds, bells, seashells, rocks, roosters, and salt and pepper shakers.

Each piece of each collection holds a special place in the lives of Linda and Roy Thomas.

And collectively, the collections played an important role in bringing the two together 22 years ago.

“Our education background brought us together, and then so many things kept us together — our collecting has definitely been one of those,” Linda Thomas said.

The couple’s Smithville home holds 1,961 pairs of salt and pepper shakers.

“And I probably have more rocks than salt and pepper shakers. And more shells than rocks,” Roy Thomas said.

From miniature rabbits to pieces of blue glass, their collections run the gamut.

Some of the collection items remind them of milestones in their children’s lives. He had six children, and she had three.

Many of the items relate to work trips or gifts from family and friends.

Coincidentally, Linda and Roy each spent 42 years in education.

She spent much of her career in North Carolina. She worked in dropout prevention and oversaw school district programs for gifted and special-needs children. Serving as an advocate for special needs children was a highlight.

He spent 19 years in Smithville as a vocational agriculture teacher, counselor and football coach before moving on to West Virginia as a state research coordinator for vocational education. One of his proudest accomplishments was writing the proposal for the first computer network in the nation. The network connected high school vocational centers in West Virginia.

Roy collected his first rock and pair of salt and pepper shakers in 1946 while stationed in Austria in the Army. While climbing a mountain, he picked up a rock the size of his hand and was hooked. Now, his rocks include pieces of all but one of the six famous rock formations listed by World Book.

Linda bought a couch and lamp with bluebird designs in the late 1970s. Roy was also picking up bluebird items here and there at the time.

About 10 years later, the two met while attending an education conference in Nashville, Tenn.

Today, the couch and lamp sit in their living room along with bluebird bells and bluebird pictures they’ve collected together.

Their seashell collection continues to grow.

“We love the beach,” she said. “We both collected shells and merged them together.”

Perhaps the most rapidly expanding collection is Roy’s walking stick collection. He finds wood and other items and turns them into sticks. He sells the sticks at area festivals, including Smithville’s Octoberfest.

The bell collection sits in a glass case in their living room. They picked up many of them while traveling. Some represent states, some represent places. One represents Nashville.

“Each one has a story,” Linda said, smiling as she thought back to Nashville, where she met Roy and their lives forever changed.

LINDA AND ROY THOMAS: THE COLLECTOR NEIGHBORS

Why they like Smithville: Roy worked in the Smithville R-II School District from 1951 to 1970. Following retirement, he and Linda moved to Smithville within the past few years because one of his daughters and three grandsons live in town.

Smithville Editor Nancy Hull Rigdon can be reached at 532-4444 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

...
written by TENA RHODES, July 31, 2010

DAD & LINDA:

WHAT A SURPRISE! WHAT A GOOD ARTICLE... I AM SO PROUD. IT MADE ME FEEL THE WAY I FELT BEFORE WE MOVED FROM SMITHVILLE ON ROY THOMAS DAY!

DADDY THAT IS A GOOD PICTUE OF YOU & YOUR ROCKS. IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN EVEN IF IT IS JUST A PICTURE.

LINDA I FINALLY GET TO SEE SOME OF YOUR SHOE COLLECTION. IT'S BEAUTIFUL!

I MISS YOU BOTH. LINDA, PLEASE BE SURE TO SHOW DADDY THE COMMENT. I KNOW HE'S PROUD TOO!
LOVE YOU MORE,
TENA

• 
• +0
• 
•