By Kathryn Skelton,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – When Fern Labbe retires at the end of 2006, he’s got a project: Alphabetize the 10,000 45-singles in his basement.

His full-size albums – about 7,500 of them – are already in perfect order.

Labbe and his wife, Pauline, each came into their marriage in 1962 with record collections.

Over four decades, the hobby has grown to take over the entire downstairs. The bulk have come from garage sales for 50 cents apiece.

“If they ask $1, we’ll say, Nope, not interested’ and walk away,” said Pauline.

“Unless it’s Elvis,” added Fern.

Right, she agreed. “If it’s Elvis, we’ll pay a dollar.”

They enjoy the hunt and uncovering a good bargain. Many of the albums are ’50s-era rock ‘n’ roll.

First stop for each new purchase: the cleaning workshop. Every record gets squirted with Windex, then wiped with a soft cloth. Torn and dog-eared sleeves are spiffed up and taped.

Some records, “I don’t know what people did, they must have eaten hot dogs on them,” Fern said.

The cardboard-sleeve albums have their own place on one wall. The 78s, covered with sleeves as thin as tissue paper, have another wall.

He’s got several hand-cranked players to listen to the 78s, including a 1911 RCA Victrola. Its needles start to wear, distorting sound, after 10 songs, Labbe said. So he’s learned how to resharpen them.

It takes some patience to listen to those older records – each only has one song, about two or three minutes long. You have to stay nearby to keep cranking and keep changing discs.

There are five JVC record players to listen to the modern albums – two record players are used quite a bit, three are backups. They also have a jukebox that grandchildren love to feed quarters into.

The most-played records in the collection are two rows of K-TEL albums, compilations of hits from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s that were sold on TV. They have stars such as Bill Haley and his Comets, Paul Anka, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Everly Brothers.

Fern said he loves to go downstairs and putter while his wife watches TV at night. He rotates: listen to an album, sing karaoke, listen to an album, sing more karaoke.

Pauline can hear him through the floor. “I’ll go down there and tell him how good he sounds.”

They’ve decorated the basement to match their favorite era, the ’50s. There’s her old sorority jacket, Coca-Cola diner-style table and chairs, and old movie posters.

The pair say they can remember, generally, all the thousands of albums they own.

“If I’m in doubt, it’s always good to have two,” said Fern. He swaps spares with other collectors.

He works as a vibration analyst at the SAPPI papermill in Skowhegan and has 22 months to go before tackling those 45s.