Greenbush man honors veterans with massive hat collection – WABI

GREENBUSH Maine (WABI) – There’s something unexpected behind one couple’s garage doors in Greenbush.
It’s not cars, but hundreds of hats that hang inside.
And each and every one has a story.
“For me to buy a hat now, it has to be really, really special because I have more hats than I have room,” said Steve Johnston.
Johnston has roughly 2,000 hats. There’s just one problem.
Only one head!
Johnston has been collecting caps for more than 20 years.
“This is a Smokey Bear hat, with Smokey Bear wearing his hat,” said Johnston, pointing out one of his favorite hats.
Some, like Smokey, are novelty while others have a more special origin story.
“That right there was given to me by Susan Collins, our senator,” said Johnston. “I said to her at the Hunter’s Breakfast last year, ‘How many other senators do you know that have sent a constituent a hat for their own personal hat collection?’ And she said, ‘None that I know.’ And I said, ‘Well doesn’t that make us special?’”
Along with the hat, Sen. Collins also sent Johnston a letter thanking him for his work with the Old Town Rotary Club.
The USS Virginia hat from Collins has its own place in the garage. It’s part of the section most meaningful to Johnston: the ships hats.
“Ships hats are very hard to get. People that have them, they value them. Either they were on the ship or their father or grandfather was on the ship,” said Johnston.
So, how did he manage to get almost 200 of them?
“I beg and borrow. I’ve never stolen any…yet,” laughed Johnston. “I chase them all around the Walmarts and everything else. I give them one of my cards, ‘Collector of Ships Hats.’ All the information is right on the card. I have actually had two or three people, gentlemen, take the hats off their heads and give it to me.”
Johnston doesn’t wear ships hats out anymore because he says people kept thanking him for his service.
“I felt guilty because I’m not a veteran,” said Johnston.
But he has great respect for those who are. He says veterans are what keep him and his collection going.
“A lot of our veterans are passing. Most of them are gone, regrettably, the Greatest Generation. I hate the thought of somebody throwing away a ships hat. Because the veterans are why we’re here now, why we have the country that we have. I get real sentimental,” said Johnston.
Steve is always looking for more ships hats that are in need of a good home.
If you’d like to get in touch with him, you can email him at stevemjohnston1950@gmail.com.
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