Who: Colleen Menth, 45, of Greenhills, a police dispatcher for Springfield Township who owns a flock of nearly 1,000 flamingos.

Colleen Menth and part of her flamingo collection (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        On display: Hot-pink flamingo items including: a mailbox, stuffed animals, a toilet brush holder, toilet seat, soap dispenser, cups, refrigerator magnets, candles and a lawn sprinkler. Mrs. Menth also owns flamingo sunglasses, a batik pillow, wind chimes, a “Flamingo Crossing” sign, a handmade metal sculpture and a wardrobe of flamingo theme clothing.

        Where: Throughout the home she shares with her husband, Bob, a Sharonville police officer; and their “furry children,” two mixed-breed dogs named Buddy & B.J.

        What came first: Mrs. Menth's interest in flamingos began in 1987 when a friend gave her a print from Summerfair.

        “It is an original by R. Halsey called Transformation,” she says of the series of nine photos that start out as a watermelon and turn into a flamingo. “I love it.”

        Hatchery: That first piece of artwork wasn't lonely for long. Mrs. Menth soon purchased flamingos for her yard, and family and friends got into the act. Now her lawn holds at least 50 (“They're spread out,” she reminds us), and they have taken over a downstairs half-bath to the point where a friend once claimed he couldn't use it, claiming: “They are all looking at me.”

        Peaceable kingdom: But this doesn't mean that her collection has turned the household into Hialeah. Her husband, who turned her in for this story, says that it is “tactfully done.”

        “He has tried to put a limit on it,” she giggles.

        “He says, 'We can't put them everywhere,' she continues in a mock-gruff voice, “but there are strays in every room. ”

        Simply irresistible: Don't the family dogs want to take a bite out of the collectibles?

        “N-o-o-o,” she replies, laughing. “Somebody bought me a flamingo balloon last week and they just about lost their minds. They were afraid of it.”

        Nice to come home to: Without her flamingos, Mrs. Menth believes, life would be dull.

        “They make me smile,” she says. “And sometimes with the job I have, you don't get many laughs.

        “Everybody needs something whimsical,” she reflects, “especially nowadays.”

        Share your prize possessions with Marsie Hall Newbold by mail: c/o The Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202, e-mail: marsolete@aol.com. Please include a daytime telephone number.

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