COLORADO SPRINGS — Members of the Olympin collector group traveled to Colorado Springs for their annual collectors festival. The enthusiastic memorabilia owners like to buy, trade, sell, and even bargain for some of their favorite items.
"They're small, they're pretty, you can have a lot of them and they don't take up a lot of space," said Olympin board member Pat Litz.
Litz has been collecting pins since her first Olympic Games in 1984 in Los Angeles. Her collection has only grown since then. She likes to reminisce about the memories they bring.
"They're a little harder to get, and I love to travel, so they remind me again of places I've been and people I've met," continued Litz.
When he's not busy running the city, even Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers likes to collect the memorabilia.
"I've collected a gold, silver, and bronze pin for each of the Summer and Winter Olympic games," said Suthers.
For the first time in over 30 years, the Olympin collectors met in Colorado Springs. To him, it's indicative of the city's commitment to the Olympic Games.
"To have Olympic pin collectors come here, just kinds of adds to that ambiance of us being Olympic City USA," he continued.
For Edwin Schnieder Jr., the joy in collecting these pins lies in the joy they can spread to others.
"You learn different cultures, different languages, and you learn how they are and what makes them happy," said Schnieder Jr.
He even likes to pass the torch onto a younger generation whenever he can.
"If I see a little kid there, I will just give him a pin. And I always tell them 'you can't trade it with anybody else, it's my gift to you'. And to see the smile light up their face... priceless".
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