80-year-old Port Alberni man fills home with more than 270 eclectic nutcrackers
“This is how it all began,” Kenn Whiteman smiles, holding a statue of a regal-looking rodent.
“Turned out to be the Mouse King in ‘The Nutcracker.’”
Kenn happened upon the character 45 years ago, while shopping for something else, and bought it.
The purchase inspired him to the read "The Nutcracker" story and listen to Tchaikovsky’s music.
“I thought, ‘Wow! This is pretty fascinating,” Kenn recalls.
That led to Kenn to start collecting nutcrackers.
“The appeal is the hunt,” he says.
That means Kenn and his wife Linda Whiteman would never walk past a garage sale without stopping.
“He’s got a good eye for these things,” Linda says.
“There’s nothing neater than when you can see a nutcracker at the back of the garage,” Kenn says. “And then the anticipation of getting it.”
There’s also the pleasure of knowing that when you bring it home, there will be no other one like it.
“The elation is finding a nutcracker that you’ve never seen before,” Kenn says.
Kenn’s collection is currently on display in three rooms around their home.
“As you can see,” Linda smiles. “It’s quite overwhelming.”
More than 270 colourful characters greet you in the front entrance and surround you in the living room, before lining the dining room floor, and covering the table.
“I do appreciate the beauty of them,” Linda says.
When you look beyond the quantity of nutcrackers, you notice the diversity of them, ranging from hockey players to Wizard of Oz characters, surfers to RCMP officers.
“The variety is amazing,” Linda says, before moving the mouth of nutcracker that's six feet tall.
When asked why he’s spent more than half his life collecting them, Kenn is initially self-deprecating.
“I was thinking about [going to] therapy,” Kenn laughs. “Nutcracker therapy!”
But if you ask the 80-year-old about how he spent the time between collecting, he’ll tell you about working as a registered psychiatric nurse, clown school instructor, city councillor, and prolific volunteer. And you start to see that both Kenn and the Nutcracker character share a common goal of helping others.
“It’s service above self,” Kenn says. “It’s just being involved in the community.”
Which is why the couple is hoping to sell the Nutcracker collection to someone who can display it publicly.
“Where others could see them,” Linda says. “And enjoy them.”
And like that first nutcracker did for for Kenn, all those years again, spark an enduring sense of wonder.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.