Having a hobby you are passionate about is a great gift, and a good example is Grand Manan resident Bill Dickinson. The lifelong Beatles fan opened a collectibles museum in his home in July and has been sharing his passion with islanders and visitors alike. Driving into Seal Cove, it's hard to miss Bill's Beatles Collection: the side of the house is adorned with large silhouettes of the Beatles in their Abbey Road poses. Inside, a room has been filled to the ceiling with every sort of collectible, and Dickinson delights in showing it all off to visitors.
      It all began over 60 years ago in Montreal, where his mother worked at bookseller W.H. Smith. She bought the latest records for him and his sister, and thus he discovered the Beatles. He was "glued to the TV set" on February 9, 1964, for their Ed Sullivan Show appearance. And with that, he was hooked. "Life shifted, and I was enthralled like so many others," he says. He was 14. He attended their Montreal Forum concert that fall and points out that he "saw the Beatles" rather than heard them. The audience's screaming was so loud you couldn't hear anything, "but you could feel the screaming." He recalls the girls on either side pulling at the binoculars around his neck.
      His collection began quite simply, with a 60 cent paperback biography from Woolworth. More books and albums followed. Then there was a white herringbone collarless jacket, bell bottoms and Beatles style boots and haircut. "Girls loved the Beatles," and it drew attention.
      Over the years the collection grew. Living in Fredericton, he got more items as more space became available in the house. Later in Peterborough, Ontario, he displayed the collection for his own enjoyment. He and his wife Colleen moved to Grand Manan two years ago at the urging of her sister, who had been there 20 years. His retiring from Walmart, selling their house and finding one on the island all came together in a few weeks. Finally, for the first time he had room to display almost everything, and, he says, "I decided I wanted to share it, to share the joy they give me and open up my collection for people to see." It took a year to set up the room, and he opened on Canada Day.
      Among the treasures are all the albums, including European releases, posters, magazines, six guitars of the same model and year as the Beatles', a drum set, an antique Phonola record player, mugs, ties, books, pins, T shirts ("you don't see me on the island without a Beatles shirt"), replica cars, Legos, fashions, trading cards, hats, dolls and figures. Their ages range from his father's antique radio to a modern bench his wife found at Winners. A TV plays Beatles movies, and a large capacity CD player cycles through their music, with a few diversions to other artists. Even the curtains are patterned with "All you need is love." Still more pieces are stored away, and he continues to add items, searching collectors' groups, online and thrift shops. He says, "I haven't got a clue" how many pieces there are, noting that while other collectors will share a photo of an item online, "I post a whole corner [of a room]."
      His most prized item is a one of a kind photo someone gave him. It was taken in October 1980 from a bus passing the Dakota Apartments in Manhattan on a tour of celebrity homes. The photographer took a snapshot but then discovered upon blowing it up that John Lennon and Yoko Ono were in it, leaving the building. "You would never find that image [anywhere else]," Dickinson says, adding that the most special items aren't necessarily the costliest ones.
      As to the reason for his love of the band, he says simply, "It's such happy music." He and Colleen attend tribute band concerts, an annual festival in Indiana and conventions where he has showed some of his collection. At one in Ottawa, he set off alarms getting close to the Fab Four's Rolls Royce for a photo: "That was fun." A Corgi diecast replica of that car is his "grail" item - a collectors' term for something hard to find.
      His dream is for Paul McCartney to hear about his collection. "I would like Paul to come and see the 12 string Ovation," and then he could say he had a guitar McCartney had played.
      A yellow submarine cookie jar, he says, "will be my urn. I'll stay with the collection."
      The guest book is filling, with visitors from as far away as Nashville, California, Scotland and Germany. Fans "never see this much stuff in one place," he laughs. "The Beatles are alive and living on Grand Manan in my house."
      Bill's Beatles Collection is open afternoons except Tuesday and Wednesday at 1844 Route 776. Private viewing is available. He sells hats, guitar pick jewelry, Christmas ornaments, Hot Wheels cars and shirts. For information, visit www.beatlescollection.ca.