By Kathryn Skelton,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – When her 20-year-old grandson Chris was a little boy he tried counting all the bears in Kay Koss’ house.

Chris got into the hundreds. “He said to me, Meme, that’s too many.’ Now, if he ever came over and started counting them, oh my gosh,” Koss said.

What started as a hobby 30 years ago has been, well, bearly contained.

Koss has bear soap. Bear coasters, signs, clocks and blocks. She has bear-printed plates and plates shaped like bears. Her living room and two guest bedrooms have rows and rows and rows of teddies.

Her bears are plush, porcelain, crystal and wood.

“Bears? Don’t mention bears to me,” joked her husband, Lionel. “I told her, soon I’ll have to build an extension just for myself.”

Koss, 74, says something about the bear just appeals to her. Some of hers are serious and lifelike. Most aren’t.

One fluffy tan bear that sits on the back of her couch has a different sweater for each month. She changes it accordingly. He sits next to another fellow who wears sunglasses and holds a watering can.

A bear in one bedroom wears a beret. A pair in the bathroom have little towels wrapped around their bodies and folded, turban-style, over their heads, as if they just stepped out of the shower.

“I’ve got some that are so soft and cuddly,” Koss said. “Some of the faces are so cute.”

She tries to display as many as possible. Right now, Valentine’s Day and Christmas bears are in the closet.

At Christmas, she’ll hang dozens from hooks in the basement ceiling. The look is topped off with an all-bear-ornament tree.

She’s gotten lots of bears as gifts – “it gives me a nice feeling” – and found others at dollar stores and in catalogs.

“When I fly and I’m in the airports, I’ll check the gift shops,” Koss said. “I tell you, I’ve got bears everywhere.”

Know a collector we ought to profile? Contact Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com

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