NEW GLOUCESTER – People drive through Stacey Chesties’ tollbooth just to see her.

Petite and bubbly, the nighttime toll taker is known for wearing a neon vest covered with buttons and pins that have been given to her by truckers, nurses and other people just passing through.

“I’m quite a conversation piece,” said Chesties, 33.

She said she’s known as the “Pin Lady” or “Turtle Lady.”

Chesties worked at the York toll plaza for four years and, down there, had permission to hang a turtle flag in front of her booth. That way, regulars could spot her lane from a hundred yards away.

She showed up to work one day with two of her own pins on her vest, one of them a turtle. When a driver spotted it, he gave her another. It snowballed from there. People have given more than 170, enough to nearly fill up front and back.

The Maine Turnpike Authority requires collectors to wear their vests when walking outside the booths. Hers, which she keeps on even while working, weighs at least five pounds.

There are airline wings, state symbols, silly sayings, even a button from the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union of Salem, Mass.

One Colorado man, up here visiting, was so taken by the idea he promised to send one from home. He mailed it to his sister in New Hampshire; she drove up to Chesties’ tollbooth to deliver it.

“I’m like, ‘Oh my god,'” Chesties said.

It’s not unusual to be out in public and hear “That’s my toll collector!”

“I have met families, I have met wives, I have met tons of people and made friends,” she said. Working nights, “I have time to get to know my patrons. I have time for a relationship with them.”

As for her vest: “Some workplaces may be drab in the morning. I bring all the dazzle with me.”

Chesties has worked at the New Gloucester tolls for the past year. She’s aware her hobby might be in jeopardy because of an upcoming change in dress code. (The buttons cover reflective safety strips, which may make her vest a workplace safety violation, according to an MTA spokesman.)

She’s already given it some thought. If her button-filled vest is ruled a hazard, she may wear a second, unadorned vest over it, but only when walking near traffic.