Cap collection welcomes visitors to Sunny Point - That's all, folks - Brief Article

Translog: Journal of Military Transportation Management, Jan-Feb, 2001

Judy Jones, Security Clerk at the Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point, N.C., has amassed a collection of more than 1,000 baseball caps. She proudly displays her collection of caps in her office at the Welcome Center, where she has worked since 1988.

It all began nine years ago, when a trucker for one of the companies dropping off a shipment at MOTSU gave Jones an extra cap he had in his truck.

"After that, Col. (Charles E.) Zakszeski gave me a Desert Shield cap," Jones said. "Before I knew it, more and more people were giving me caps."

To date, Jones has received 1,021 caps from individuals representing organizations from military units to truck and freight companies. Among her caps are two from Air Force One (one each from the presidential administrations of George Bush and Bill Clinton) and another cap that plays the Star-Spangled Banner.

Jones, a 28-year MOTSU employee, said her collection of ball caps grows weekly, with people dropping new ones off and others mailing them to her.

"I don't ask for them. People walk in and see the caps, then offer to bring one in or mail it. The only thing I do is display them," said the petite clerk, who thought about what she would do with the caps after retiring.

"I hope to retire before I run out of space for more caps," she said, chuckling. "I'll leave most of the caps here. I feel they belong to the Welcome Center."

"Besides," she laughed, "I don't wear caps."