I want to tell a beautiful story of a boy named Brian Walton who loved the magic of Disney.

Brian had what he called a challenging upbringing in Southern California, so when he was given the opportunity in the early 1970s to go to Disneyland, it was like walking into a clean, fantastic, organized world of imagination. Brian became entranced by the designs, architecture, construction and joy of this wonderful world of Disney.

Brian’s grandparents lived five miles from Disneyland, and he realized when he was only 13 that if he saved up all his money during the year, he could go by himself to Disneyland on school breaks and during the summer. In 1974, he was able to go for 10 days. It was an escape that led Brian to take every item he could from the park to remember his precious moments in this amusement park. He took brochures, advertisements and purchased souvenirs, books, magazines, maps, anything he could get his hands on. He kept them all. In mint condition.

When Brian turned 16 years old, guests began asking him for directions at Disneyland, and he realized that even the “cast members” or employees were also asking for advice. He realized this would be a good job opportunity, so he applied, and got a job in food services. Brian felt that working in merchandise would be more intellectually stimulating for him, so he then landed a job as a Fantasyland Merchandise Host. Brian was a casual seasonal employee and worked there between 1978 and 1980, and again in 1983. He was fortunate enough to be working for Disney on the 25th anniversary year in 1980. Brian loved his job because he said people were predisposed to having a good time, and generally had a very positive experience with the guests at the park. The collection grew.

Brian kept his valuable memorabilia in several file cabinets, labeled by dates, times, events, etc. There became a huge amount of items that were collected up until about five years ago.

Everything changed in Brian’s world when he was told of his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2009. Suddenly, Brian realized he needed to start looking at what was most important. Brian knew that no one else would understand the value of this collection so he started selling it on Ebay. He was able to connect families with memories that were very emotional for them, recalling many stories of how important those family gatherings were. Recently Brian was shocked to realize he had sold these items for over $40,000. There were still many items left that he knew were worth quite a bit, so he contacted a man named Don Morin at Pacific Northwest Mouse Meet.

Mr. Morin organizes this event every summer to celebrate Disney and has had some of the biggest names in the industry attend. Brian decided to donate the rest of his collection to his causes. The first items were gift baskets to benefit Children’s Hospital and the Ryman Arts Foundation that give scholarships to high school students wanting to attend art and animation school.

The rest he had Don put market value dollar amounts on and asked for the items to be sold and donated to the Parkinson’s Foundation. Brian Walton felt very good about this operation to disperse his memories. He felt he had a stewardship to be sure these special items were not overlooked or thrown out somewhere. What a wonderful ending to a magical collection. I think Disney would be very proud of Brian Walton, just like I am.

Amy McOmber is a 22-year resident of the Sammamish plateau.