Playing a numbers game — Family history on the back of your car

Wyoming native Collin Townsend has maintained a connection to his roots by collecting Wyoming license plates for over 10 years, but the hobby has also allowed him to forge new connections with other collectors and even provides links to his own family and heritage.

Townsend began collecting plates for his own personal collection and enjoyment, but he has also contributed to the Weston County Courthouse collection and recently helped finish that collection — which is displayed in the County Treasurer’s Office — with the addition of a 1950 license plate. That year represented the last missing piece to the puzzle of plates that adorn the  courthouse wall.

While he was excited to share the valuable plate that completed the collection seen by so many, Townsend was even more excited when a piece missing from his own collection was secured with the help of Newcastle resident Loa Dickinson.

Dickinson and her husband, Lonnie, collected license plates for over 20 years. After Lonnie passed away in April, Loa decided to go through some of their old belongings. While going through the contents of the storage unit, she stumbled upon their license plate collection.

“It was both of our collection, and we collected together for a lot of years,” Dickinson said. “We both really like history, and that’s part of history, and that was one of the things that we could do.”

Townsend said he had spoken with Lonnie about the possibility of trading some of their plates in order to fill the holes in each of their collections, but Lonnie had never been up to the idea. As she examined the collection she built with her husband, however, Loa decided to fulfill Townsend’s wish for the plates and she reached out to see if he maintained his previous interest in their collection.

“I figured he could use them. It is Weston County stuff and he grew up here, and he had asked about them before,” Dickinson said.

Townsend was still interested, especially after he stopped to view the Dickinson collection during a visit to Weston County and discovered in its midst a license plate that was very special to the Townsend family.

Collin explained that during the Second World War, men were drafted to fight in the war by using ping-pong balls that contained birthdays and a corresponding number. The Secretary of Defense gave the ping-pong balls to the president, and the draft was done by drawing ping pong balls out of a basket one by one.

Townsend said the first number President Franklin D. Roosevelt drew was 158, which meant that all men with the registration number 158 had to report for processing and be considered for service in the military.

Townsend’s grandfather, Bill Townsend, was holding 158 when the first number of the draft was called. However, because he was an oil producer, the government exempted him from registering as active duty for the war. In essence, the government decided that it would be more beneficial for the Townsend patriarch to stay in Newcastle and produce oil for the war rather than fighting in it.

After hearing the news, Collin said, Bill went to the courthouse and got 158 put on his license plate and had that number on his vehicle until he passed away. After Bill Townsend’s death, Collin’s dad, Chuck Townsend, got number 158 for his license plate. The former state senator drove with that plate until his death, and Collin said the tradition has continued and the number is still being used by the family.

“My mother still has 158 on her car,” Townsend said.

When Dickinson reached out to Townsend about selling her and Lonnie’s collection, he had no idea that hidden gem would be included, but when they arrived at the storage unit, all the license plates were on a wooden board, and right in the middle was a 1952 license plate with the number 158.

Townsend immediately knew he had to have the collection, and Dickinson felt even better about the transaction because of the personal connection the buyer had for that particular relic.

“That was pretty cool for me too, because I knew his grandparents,” Dickinson said. “That was some of the first people my mom and dad met when we moved here, and they were pretty special people.”

It was a remarkable experience and opportunity for both parties, particularly for Townsend, who was able to add to his collection of 158 license plates in honor of his grandfather.

“I’ll buy everything so I can get my grandpa’s license plate and put it in my collection,” Townsend confirmed, noting that he has loved all that he has learned by collecting and has grown to enjoy the history and sense of community the hobby provides.

Townsend has discovered through his years of collecting that this is the same reason a lot of other collectors get into the hobby.

“The number association with them is far greater than I ever realized,” he said. “It is more than just a number on your car. I’ve come to find out that those numbers mean something, and that is just one tiny story of the millions I’ve heard.”

After years of collecting, Townsend has come into possession of thousands of duplicate plates, and after becoming aware of the draw of family history associated with the license plates, he wants to share some of his collection with others in the community. This year he has posted on his Facebook account that he is selling some of the extra plates, and he has gotten a number of responses.

“I thought it would be a cool Christmas idea,” he said.

Townsend would like the collection to do even more good for the community, and during this summer’s All School Reunion he intends to bring his extra license plates back to Weston County and offer them to other residents who are celebrating their hometown and heritage that weekend.

It is important to him to keep the plates in Weston County — or with those who are associated with it — and he encourages community members to prepare themselves to take advantage of the opportunity when it arrives on July 4th weekend.

“Research your family history, know your license plate numbers,” Townsend said, noting that proceeds from the license plate sale will go toward Newcastle schools and students.