Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 24, 1995 TAG: 9507250008
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHLEEN WILSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But not Judy Stinnett's husband, Wayne.
Wayne brought turtles.
``He'd find them on the road on the way home from work and bring them to me,'' she recalls with a smile. ``And I'd write exactly where he found them on each one's shell.''
Wayne knows the way to Judy's heart.
She was 16 when they married. He was 18. They've been married for 36 years and have five children.
Five children, 39 birds, five fish, four dogs, two iguanas and a guinea pig.
They've also got two lava lamps, four walking sticks, two gumball machines, two Redskins clocks and about 70 bells.
``I don't collect bells,'' says Judy, emphatically. ``Someone just gave me one once and everyone figured I was collecting bells so they kept giving them to me. But I don't collect bells.''
What Judy does collect are all God's creatures, great and small.
Chez Stinnett in Vinton is one of the area's best kept secrets.
It's like a branch of Mill Mountain Zoo and a museum of kitsch all rolled into one average split-level home.
And if you think Judy's hands are full, you're wrong.
``Could you please put in your article that if anyone has any animals that need homes they can call me?'' she asks. ``Also, if anyone has a big fish aquarium they'd like to donate. I'm getting into fish now.''
Mill Mountain Zoo has Judy's phone number on its Rolodex. When people want to donate animals the zoo can't accept, they are referred to her.
The zoo usually can't risk exposing its population to unknown animals, said executive director Beth Poff.
``Judy is someone we do recommend,'' she said. ``She's proven over the years that she really does care and animals find a good home with her.''
That's how Judy got Thor, the kitchen iguana.
``A boy who was graduating from Radford [University] couldn't take him home, so he took him to the zoo and they called me,'' explains Judy.
Some of the animals wind up at Judy's as part of trades that are as detailed as those in sports. She got Tiki the Mynah bird from a man whose neighbors were complaining of the noise.
``I traded him two love birds and a cockatiel for Tiki.''
She got Woody the Red-Lorie Amazon Parrot by trading the stud service of one of her shar-peis for pick of the litter, then traded the pup for the parrot
Judy said she sells an animal ``only if I need to in order to buy birdseed.'' The ones she does sell are cockatiels, zebra finches, canaries, and parakeets - not the more exotic ones.
Judy's living room sounds like an aviary. Here you'll find Tiki; Sam, the Sun Conure (``I call it Sam because I don't know if it's a Samuel or a Samantha''); Cass and Cassie, the cockatiels; Scarlett, the Rosella; Woody; and two African Ringlets and four society finches who have no names.
Cockatiels Louise and Lester share the kitchen with Thor the iguana, who is housed in a huge cage with a painting of The Last Supper - one of many throughout the house - displayed prominently above. Perpendicular to Jesus and the Disciples is a ``Men of `Days of Our Lives''' poster.
``The males of are the best looking in every species...except humans,'' Judy says.
Thelma, another iguana, is the first creature to greet you when you enter the Stinnett house. Above its aquarium is an assortment of drawings and paintings of John Wayne. On the lid of the aquarium are a Bible, an outhouse music box from which a hand reaches out for toilet paper, and a plaque that reads, ``The opinions expressed by the husband of this house are not necessarily those of the management.''
On the bathroom door there's a pin-up of ``Baywatch's'' David Hasselhof with only two strategically placed shar-pei puppies to keep the image rated PG.
As Judy perches on the sofa, she is surrounded by a menagerie of stuffed animals. Family photos cover the walls; a picture of a grandchild is tucked inside the fold of a lampshade.
``Look,'' she says pointing to a photo on the wall. ``Didn't my husband look just like Tony Curtis?''
On the window sill behind her are two lava lamps. Fluttering outside is a big parrot banner.
``See that Siamese?'' she asks, pointing to a stuffed cat atop the sofa. ``When my mother was 66, she was sitting in that chair over there and she said, `Judy, that cat hasn't moved in 20 minutes. Are you sure it's all right?'
``Bless her heart. She's 76 now.''
She points to a shar-pei statue below the television. When one of her grandchildren first touched it, ``she jumped a mile because it didn't move. Just about everything else in this house does.''
Despite the huge animal population of the Stinnett household, make no mistake about Judy's top priority.
``I love my family,'' she says, choking up a bit. ``I live for my children...Them and the Redskins, the New York Yankees and the Boston Celtics.''
She points a finger upward. You think she's indicating the heavens. But no. Hanging from the ceiling are tassels from the high school graduation caps of four of her five children.
``And when Adam graduates from high school next year, he will be the fifth,'' says Judy, pulling out the prom pictures.
She regards her house as a fun place. But there's melancholy in her voice when she says her children - aged 33 to 16 - are embarrassed by the home they grew up in.
``But their friends still enjoy it,'' she says. ``And so do their children.''
And so do Judy and Wayne and their 39 birds, five fish, four dogs, two iguanas and one guinea pig.
To hear what the inside of Judy Stinnett's house sounds like, call InfoLine at 981-0100 in Roanoke or 382-0200 in the New River Valley. Enter InfoLine code 7810.
by CNB