MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — A Menomonee Falls couple is on a mission to not only set a Guinness Earth History but to save as several cats as attainable whilst performing so.
Shawn Redner and Hilary Siegel-Redner have curated the top cat figurine assortment. They have collected far more than 13,000 cat collectible figurines and pieces of art. They were being all bought 2nd-hand or donated to them. About 50 % of that assortment is on display screen within their dwelling they get in touch with Redner’s Rescued Cat Figurine Mewseum.
“(I) won’t be able to even fathom the quantity of bucks we’ve invested on this place,” Shawn Redner reported.
The number of cats on exhibit has practically doubled from 4,000 in 2020, to 7,000 in July 2022. They reworked their basement to make house for far more collectible figurines. The remaining 5,000 are in storage.
James Groh
Every single weekend the partners cruise to different Goodwill’s, rummage income, and flea markets to uncover new cats to increase to their assortment. There aren’t any duplicates.
“This is all we do. This museum has taken over my lifestyle,” Redner reported.
On each and every third Sunday of the month (or fourth Sunday if there is a vacation), their house is open up to people from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reservations aren’t expected. It prices $5 for adults, and young ones 12 and under are cost-free. If you want to arrive on a different working day, you just have to call them to established up a tour. Send out an e mail to [email protected] or call at (414) 215-4935.
James Groh
All the proceeds are donated to community cat shelters. So significantly, they have lifted all around $2,000 since opening in August of 2020.
“We are supplying again to the neighborhood,” Siegel-Redner explained.
In addition to the inanimate cats, there are 8 stay cats that stay in the residence. They have a specifically manufactured outdoor perform composition that seems like any cat’s dream.
James Groh
But the aim is not just to send out donations to community shelters. The two want to make an even even bigger effect by opening a cat cafe and museum.
“My target is to hopefully move all this into a coffee store the place we can have adoptable cats, so readers can have a cup of coffee, ideally deliver dwelling a cat, and then the museum will be a separate entity to the coffee shop,” Redner stated.
Oddly enough, neither of the two were “cat individuals” developing up. Siegel-Redner failed to even like the thought of putting up cat decorations.
“I was not on board at 1st. I will confess that. I also grew up with canines,” she stated.
James Groh
That was back in the summer of 2018 when they first talked about purchasing the collectible figurines. Even so, just after the initial wall was decorated, she was hooked.
“I’m like, you know, this is special. It is really unique. Folks really do not have this in their property, and how neat is it that we have a collection of unique forms of cats on our wall,” she explained.
From then on, the selection has taken on a everyday living of its individual.
They have been aided by donations from people today locally and throughout the place. Relatives users have shipped the collections of their useless family to the museum or donated them since they can not maintain up the routine maintenance. So whilst this selection may well seem trivial to some, Redner sees it as currently being section of someone’s identity and history.
James Groh
“It can be just a cat figurine museum on the surface, but when you get down to it, it is Anne’s lifetime, and Jan’s everyday living, and Barbara’s life, and Sandra’s lifestyle. This is all component of somebody’s lives. It truly is not just cat figurines. It is them fundamentally,” Redner said.
The names he pointed out are people who have donated large collections. In a feeling, they are curating a collection of people’s memories.
The pair still has a even though to go prior to they break the file. According to Guinness Planet Records, the biggest collection of cat-similar things is 21,321 one of a kind merchandise held by Carmen De Aldana from Guatemala. On the other hand, provided the truth that the two just begun accumulating in 2018, they look to be on a quite good rate to crack that report.
Talking of planet document collections, there are two Wisconsin girls who have the most significant collections of their respective items. Deb Hoffmann of Waukesha has the most significant selection of Winnie the Pooh items in the environment with much more than 20,000 goods. Gerda Scheuers of Ripon holds the history for the largest selection of Smurf goods with 11,455 one of a kind goods.
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