Clubs allow angel collectors to share their passion

I was working on my latest writing project, a book about angels, and having strong doubts. It was August, 1991, and there hadn’t been much national interest in angels in many years. I had some heavenly stories to share, but would anyone want to read them?

The doorbell rang and the mailman handed me a small package marked “Fragile.” It was from a fellow author in Canada, which seemed strange, since we only wrote at Christmas, and never exchanged gifts. Her card read, “I think God wants you to have this.” I opened the box and stared at a little angel figurine in a red dress. No one knew about my writing project, yet my friend followed a heavenly nudge to encourage me: “Keep going!” Where Angels Walk ended up on the New York Times bestseller list.

It didn’t take long before readers began sending me angels. Statues, of course, but also angel soap, picture frames, pins, shawls…with the growing interest in angels, crafters were finding new outlets for their designs and stores dedicated to angels were opening. “It used to be that angels were only available at Christmas,” one woman wrote, “but now they’re becoming an industry!” 

I soon discovered the national Angel Collectors Club of America (ACCA), founded in 1976, which celebrates angels. A second club, Angels of the World International (AWI), similar in focus, was getting started, and I joined both. In addition to a bi-yearly convention, both organizations also created smaller regional groups with more frequent meetings. 

Many collectors began as I did, receiving a gift of an angel, then wanting another, and another… But it’s not uncommon to meet people who have been collecting since childhood. These enthusiasts, if not restrained by their families, would build additional rooms for angel display! Occasionally featured in local newspapers surrounded by their heavenly hosts, these super-collectors often inspire new members to join.

There are so many forms of angels that everyone can find something to enjoy. Some members focus primarily on specific types of angels, such as the birthday series (one statue per month) or a popular set of boy angels, each playing a different sport. One woman collects angels with red hair, while another concentrates on frog angels. In addition to figurines, specialty collectors look for vintage angel cards, buttons, cookie tins and jewelry. The thrill is in the hunt.

Most club members, however, have eclectic collections. In my office, I have two angel mobiles, some framed art, a Victorian lady and a doll from Kansas whose wings are made out of straw. My shelves are filled with angel books, as well as glass and paper ornaments for decorating at Christmas. 

Julie Henrickson, ACCA’s current activities chairperson, brings out angels according to the holiday. “I have angels for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween and Thanksgiving,” she says. “There’s enough to be always putting different ones out.” Sue Vecchiarelli, vice-president of AWI, keeps her collection permanently displayed in a “huge curio bursting at the seams,” as she describes it.

Members share poetry, book reviews, recipes, and garden tips, and search for items needed to complete a project. I recently met a collector who had bought yards of angel-embossed lace. “I couldn’t resist it even though I don’t sew,” she said. She felt certain she’d meet a fellow collector who would want it.

Club members provide mutual support in other ways. Through ACCA’s Halo newsletter, which features angel-related events and new products, members will post information about who need prayers and get well cards. Also, club members often hold fundraisers for their designated charity, The Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

I probably should have kept an orderly record and description of each angel as it joined the others in my house, as a true collector does. But no matter how many I have, that first little sculpture from my earth angel in Canada will always have the place of honor. Like the heavenly messengers, it changed my life.

For more information:

ACCA 
$20 annual dues
Pauline Neff, VP
mandpneff@q.com

AWI 
$10 annual dues
Sue Vecchiarelli, VP
suzvecang@yahoo.com

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Find more blogs and articles by Joan Wester Anderson.

One of the nicest things our baby received for his first birthday was a cloth book entitled Your Friend Jesus. Brightly illustrated, it was a welcome addition to his library, but more important, it started me thinking, Just how old did a child have to be before a parent introduced him to Jesus and the angels?

I hadn’t given the idea much thought until we received that book. If other habits could be launched at an early age, like teeth-brushing and sitting still at meals, wasn’t it just as important that his spiritual awareness be formed long before he was really aware of what it meant to be a Christian?

So every day, along with the ABC and Sesame Street books, we read about Jesus. I am sure our son received no scholarly education (and probably was most interested in the animals at the manger scene) but somewhere along the way, he also picked up the idea that Jesus was a nice baby (just like him) and grew into a very special man (just like Daddy). For a toddler, this was a start.

Since that time (and having cuddled several more children and now grandchildren), I believe that the primary goal in beginning religion is simply to make Jesus a natural part of a young child’s life, as predictable and pleasant as meals or hugs. No formal expertise is really necessary; instead, parents can utilize the many ordinary moments of life to enrich a toddler’s perception of Jesus, and what it means to pray to him. Such as:

• Since a baby learns through his senses, visual aids are a great beginning. Picture and coloring books including the life of Christ should be standard fare, but interspersed with other books, not set aside as a religion lesson. Make reading time a cuddly experience, and your baby will begin to associate Jesus with warmth and love.

• A picture of the Christ child and/or a guardian angel in a baby’s room can help establish a routine. Carried in your arms, your toddler will say goodnight to the moon, to bunny and to his angel, all a part of his ever-widening world.

• Add some awe. If the toddler stops to look at something “pretty,” you can add, “Yes, pretty. God made it.” (At this stage, “God” and “Jesus” can be used interchangeably to mean the same thing: “Jesus was God” is usually sufficient.)

• Baking a birthday cake for Jesus is a fun project if your child understands the ritual (and you have enough time in December).

As a child grows, parents can teach her simple prayers. As in other areas, a child will learn best by example. As her family bows their heads before a meal, Mom or Dad can casually reach over and fold their toddler’s hands. Some families hold hands as they pray before the children’s bedtimes. 

And of course many little ones enjoy the church nursery where stories of Jesus are presented. Even though a child may not grasp the implications, she knows she’s part of a loving group and it all has something to do with God. Soon, when you least expect it, she’s lisping her way through the blessing.

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I “met” Joann Cayce in the pages of a woman’s magazine in the early 1990s. She had just won a national award for her 30 years of volunteer service to those who lived in the impoverished Arkansas delta area, near her home in Thornton. 

She not only distributed food and clothes to the families, I read, but found school supplies, a dentist appointment or a court order when needed.

I wanted to help, and Joann’s daughter, Joannie, told me that they always needed children's shoes “so kids can get to school in the cold weather.” 

It was hard for me to believe that some children in our country had no shoes, but that was one of the differences between the city poor and the rural poor, the women explained.

Those who lived in low population areas tended to get lost in the government red tape. What they had, for the most part, was what people like the Cayce family provided.

As years passed, I shopped garage sales, regularly shipping gently used shoes, clothes and toys to Arkansas. On Thanksgiving 2002 the Cayces fed more than a thousand families, but they were exhausted and discouraged by the unending need. Would Christmas come to Thornton this year? How could I help?

I turned to my website subscribers. I write books and post stories about angels, the heavenly kind. But surely people were meant to be earth angels, especially at Christmas. We could send socks, I thought, they were affordable and comforting.

My subscribers responded immediately. As packages from strangers around the world began to arrive, Joann’s enthusiasm returned.

The boxes contained more than socks. People sent sweaters and clothes, encouraging notes and cash for Christmas dinners. There were miracles in those boxes too: 

• On December 23, teenagers from Elk Grove, Illinois, filled a truck with donated toys, and their church leaders drove all night to Arkansas. They pulled into the Cayce driveway the very moment Joannie had given away the last toy.

• A few hours later, local Boy Scouts left a food basket and socks for a destitute family. When the mother saw the pile, she counted out 50 precious cents and walked a mile to a pay phone. “Someone left some socks at our house,” she told Joann. “They can't be ours—we've never had socks.”

“You do now,” Joann assured her. “Someone who cares about you sent them.” The woman wept.

• Joannie put a batch of men’s white tube socks aside. Months later, when she took snacks to the high school football team before the first game, she noticed that none of the players were wearing socks. “The school provides uniforms but not socks,” the coach told Joannie. “The boys can’t afford them, so we often have to forfeit the games because we don't have complete uniforms.” Joannie knew just where to look.

Before the 2002 holidays had ended, 25,000 pairs of socks had found their way to Thornton.

Today, many people have adopted this little town as their own, and are probably busy right now putting together a box. However small or modest, its helps. After all, isn’t that the work of angels?

The Cayces take anything usable, all year around:

Joann Cayce Charities
403 South Second Street
Thornton, AR 71766

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Angel collecting is a heavenly pastime.

When the resurgence of angel interest happened in 1992, one of the most unique responses came from crafters and artisans. To follow the trend, they began making angels of all kinds, and in response, many people opened boutiques dedicated to angel merchandise. 

At its highest point, over 250 independent stores in the United States were devoted completely to angel products. With this welcoming market, crafters were able to make enough of a profit to continue something they loved to do. Some items were shoddy and faddish, but the majority of the pieces were as exquisite as the angels themselves. 

But long before the resurgence in angel interest, the Angel Collectors Club of America (ACCA) was going strong. Today, the ACCA has over 600 members and 20 chapters. 

The club, which recently celebrated its 28th anniversary, is composed of people who love to collect angels, in any form. Members enjoy a quarterly newsletter, Halo Everybody, and information on unique angels, exchanges, connection to other angels collectors, and a convention every other year.

Membership dues are $20 a year ($25 for foreign members), and you can join by sending your check to:

Joyce Smith
Treasurer
234 Granite Creek Road
Santa Cruz, CA 95065.

It’s fun!

A smaller national club is Angels of the World International, or AWI, also made up of people who collect angels. If you would like to receive six bulletins per year, a one-time membership pin and other goodies, please contact Suzanne Vecchiarelli at suzvecang@yahoo.com for more info. Dues are a modest $10 a year.

In other collecting news, ACCA-member Joyce Berg, of Beloit, Wisconsin, decided to donate her angel collection, believed to be the largest in the country (an estimated 12,000). But where? Coincidentally (and we angel believers know there’s no such thing), a Beloit church needed to be restored, and through fundraising, an Angel Museum was created. Among the unique pieces there are 600 black angels, donated by Oprah Winfrey.

For information on hours and directions, call 608-362-9099.

Wonder what the angels will think of next!

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"Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you.." That’s the beautiful Biblical passage I heard on Sunday. 

The only missing link yesterday was Brian Fife, our choir's piano accompanist. Brian is one of those gifted musicians who not only transfers written score to keyboard with flawless ability, but also ad-libs, filling in the music with extra notes only he can hear.

I have grown used to watching his seemingly effortless delivery, and marveling at his humble attitude toward his own talent. (Did I mention that he’s also a composer?) But Brian wasn’t there.

I hated to be disappointed. Touching heaven doesn’t depend on anyone but Him and me. But even the angels sing during holy times, and music adds so much to the act of worship. And Brian was always there, always faithful. I hoped nothing had happened.

But something had. At the end of the service, our pastor announced that Brian Fife was absent because he and his wife had just adopted a baby girl, and they were getting acquainted. “His life,” our pastor said, smiling, “has forever changed.” The congregation burst into applause.

Amelia Hope, announced Brian’s Facebook page. I thought of the woman who had given up this tiny bundle of humanity, the courage and generosity she displayed. How I hope she hears music for the rest of her life. 

Amelia certainly will.

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Recognizing miracles just takes practice.

I once read of a primitive tribe in Africa who sends each teenager out to live in the jungle alone for a certain time period.

While there, the kids’ main purpose is to commune with tribal spirits, and then to bring back advice and perspectives to the elders. The clan expects this interaction, and it happens. 

In our more “sophisticated” society, such events as angel sightings or miracles aren’t as readily expected. I think we miss a lot of signs from heaven not because they aren’t there, but because we aren’t conditioned to watch for them. We expect miracles in epic proportions.

But I think miracles are more often very subtle. They’re intimate signals from God that happen every day to people of all faiths, small touches that often go unnoticed. We would more readily recognize these glimmers if we were aware of their possibility.

During this week, it might be fun to take note of how many times we ask God for little things: a parking place, healing a child’s cough, that the milk lasts through dinner—and see how many are quietly addressed.

These marvels won’t be covered by the press. It’ll be you, communing with the Spirit.

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