Salt and pepper shaker collection rife with revelations

If you are a private person, maybe you better not let others see the kinds of things you collect. They may be quite revealing. That is the case with Betty DeMarco’s delightful collection of salt and pepper shakers now on display in the Community Collection’s Showcase in the lobby of the Goshen Public Library.

Betty, a longtime resident of Chester, began her collection over 40 years ago with two miniature stagecoaches — she had an interest in the American Frontier and the West, and the stagecoaches spoke to her. So did two shakers that looked like jukeboxes. (If you don’t know what they were, ask your grandmother.) You can almost hear the voice of Chubby Checkers singing “Let’s do the twist.” And then there are two James Dean shakers; he was a heart throb, a1950s movie star who tragically died at a young age. (We won’t ask Betty why she had to have them.)

There are many animals on one shelf and since Betty was a wildlife rehabilitator, that makes sense. She once nurtured two baby squirrels she discovered in a hole in a tree that had been cut down in her yard. (Yup, there are squirrel shakers in her collection.) And she raised two baby birds that had fallen out of their nest. When her car pulled into the driveway, they would begin to “peep peep” as if their real mother was there with a treat. Her family also has a small lake house upstate where she enjoys all the wildlife like the shakers in the showcase.

On one shelf there are many items one would see in a kitchen. Does that suggest Betty likes to cook? One can only guess.

Betty was also an active member of the charitable group “Women in Motion.” They raised funds for many community projects in Chester. For example, they supported an annual Easter Egg Hunt. In the collection there are eggs and rabbits as well.

So, if you go to the Goshen Library and examine all the salt and pepper shakers, be a bit of a detective or psychologist and ask yourself this question: “Why did that pair of shakers speak to her?” Betty may have revealed more about herself than she intended!

If you have a collection you are willing to share with our community, contact Jim Tarvin at jtarvin@hvc.rr.com.