ANTIQUES, COLLECTIBLES BENEFIT SHOW

Shoppers browsed through rows of tables filled with a variety of antiques and collectibles Sunday at the A.C. Brase Arena Building.

Sunday's show was sponsored by the Community Counseling Center Foundation. Gate receipts and proceeds from booth space rental will go toward networking the computer system in the main office with the outlying county systems.

The Center is a not-for-profit provider of mental health care serving Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Madison, Ste. Genevieve and Perry counties.

A wide display of merchandise was available Sunday, including glassware, furniture, jewelry, dolls, toys, tools and Beanie Babies.

For those with a piece of merchandise they had always wondered about, a large array of books were available that cataloged and priced almost everything imaginable.

Brandon Suchman, a Central Junior High School ninth-grader, found a set of plates with a nautical theme to add to his growing collection.

"I probably have 115 antique pieces," he said. His collection includes a little bit of everything, but began with a gift from his grandfather.

Suchman's collection started with one of Thomas Edison's inventions, a 1910 circa phonograph that used a cylinder.

"Mine plays and I have about 15 cylinders," said Suchman.

Some shoppers searched for specifics while others just waited for that "something special" to reach out and grab them.

Ken Carron of Jackson wasn't sure exactly what he had purchased but knew that he liked it. As it turned out, Carron had found a 1940s to 1950s wall pocket set. The bottom piece is for live plants. The top piece holds water. The spigot at the base actually turns and was used to water the plants below.

"It just caught my eye," he said.

Don and Sue Stevson of Sedalia have gone into the antiques and collectibles business full time.

In an attempt to spend more time with his ailing father, Don Stevson decided to retire from his dental laboratory after 40 years in the business.

The couple travels around the country participating in antique shows.

"What we have here is about a 10- to 15-year collection," said Sue Stevson. "When you decide to go into the antique business full time you have to be either a collector or a dealer; you can't be both."

The couple occasionally buys for personal enjoyment but mostly for resale.

"You have to be up at 4 a.m. and ready to hit the sales," said Sue Stevson. "If a sale starts at 7 a.m., I'm there at 6 with a flashlight."

Larry Essner, director of development for the Community Counseling Center Foundation, was pleased with the vendor turnout and the attendance that had climbed into the 800s by midafternoon. The foundation intends to make the antique and collectibles show a semiannual event.