Buffalo Grove resident Teri Anderson owns hundreds of Disney-themed items, a collection that can be seen from her front and back yards, and on her garage door.
The 71-year-old resident said she grew up a Disney fan but started collecting items in 1996 to give her first grandson, who was 2 at the time, something to play with when he came over.
In the 20 years since, her home sports Disney-themed rugs, clocks, televisions, computers, lava lamps, photo frames, cookie jars, license plates, flower pots and more.
When she retired from First Midwest Bank, her coworkers gave her a plaque that thanked her for her years of service with Mickey engraved into it.
She even put two of her sons in charge of getting her into the Guinness Book of World Records. But it never materialized after they realized the effort required various paperwork, photographs and authentication.
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Q: There are plenty of systems of colorful characters out there. What is the appeal of Disney? Why not DC superheroes? Why not the Looney Tunes?
A: Oh, don’t mention those other characters. This just makes me happy. I love coming into my house. I like visiting with other people who pass by. People will stop and take pictures, or come up and ask me about what I have. It started with the Mickey Mouse Club March, the Mouseketeers. I never collected them because they were worth a lot of money. I collected them because I liked them.
Q: You started this for Christopher, but he’s 22 now. Is he ever like, “Grandma, stop”?
A: No, he likes it, and he gets me stuff from Disney. He still goes to the Disney park in Orlando, but he goes with his girlfriend now. He invited me to go with him in November. And his girlfriend, she has a job that does parties with the Disney princesses, so she dresses up like Ariel. She wasn’t a Disney princess when they met, but she looks like one. She’s a beautiful girl.
Q: The grandkids are going to all be grown up someday, and you’ll have a bit more time to yourself. Do you think about taking a real swing at the Guinness record?
A: I need more grandkids. I don’t know what I’m going to do when they grow up. But, like I say, that would be a real challenge. A lot of my stuff is put away because I don’t have room for it. I think I’d be in contention for it, though. I did look at the rules once, but I can’t remember what it says. Do you count clothes?
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Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer