Orrville collector plans new museum space

About 40 years ago, Mark Gryniewski started buying some Orrville-related things — postcards mainly. Now, as he says, he’s filling up a building.

Step two — or whatever number he might be on now — is getting a new building.

As owner, curator and everything on down to janitor of the Orrville, Ohio History & Information Center, Gryniewski sought and received nonprofit status in August 2023 and is officially a charitable organization.

In collector’s parlance, the OOHIC is now a museum — or will be once that new building thing is solved.

“It’s in a building now,” Gryniewski said. “It’s just not conducive to showing to the public.”

Gryniewski, who works with former city council member and one-time mayoral candidate Darrell Mosley II, among others, wants a storefront presence. He wants to show it to the public.

His collection, after all, is enough to fill a museum, so a museum he’s going to have. With what he estimates is 15,000 items, all Orrville-related artifacts, valued at more than $100,000 all told, it’s enough to fill a good-sized store.

Gryniewski, though, only wants a storefront so people can come and view it. Very little if any will be for sale. Sometimes he has multiples of items.

“I’ve got items that I have four or five of, and I’ll still buy the next one I see,” he said, and while he might sell an extra or two, that’s not why he’s in the game.

A resident of Orrville since he was 5 or so, Gryniewski simply loves the town and all its history, which is rich. His hope is to one day be able to share, free of charge, all he has with the rest of Orrville and anyone beyond the borders who might have an interest.

His crème de la crème, most prized possession, is the first Smucker’s sign. Gryniewski bought that at an online auction after about a month of negotiations.

“We went back and forth, and I finally got it,” Gryniewski said. “It was a guy that had to have had some connection to Smucker’s. Nobody else would have had that sign.”

The sign is one of countless items Gryniewski has from Orrville’s most famous name.

“I own more Smucker props than Smucker’s has,” he said. “Apple Butter’s crocks labels? I have seven of them. They have a couple.”

It was about 10 years into his collecting days that things really started to take off for Gryniewski. He said he got a little out of control, where buying and searching for rare items was concerned. His collection grew to where he needed a building, then a bigger one, and a bigger one.

“My wife’s still getting used to it,” he said. “If it’s Orrville-related, I’m bidding on it. It’s an obsession.”

He tries to keep things organized, but it’s not easy. Once in a while, he’ll open a big tote full of stuff he forgot he even had. An information technology pro by day, Gryniewski has built his collection with personal funds.

“I’m picking up donations every day,” he said. “I just went and picked up a bottle from 1800.”

He shares some characteristics with the Orrville Historical Society, with the biggest difference being Gryniewski wants to have 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours with a volunteer staff, a place people can visit without an appointment, like most museums.

He recently gave a presentation at the Exchange Club, which Gryniewski said was attended by the president of the historical society. The two aren’t adversarial, but they do keep their eyes on each other.

“They’ve got a ton of supporters, but we’re separate entities,” he said. “We’re not on bad terms; we’re just different entities.”

Gryniewski started his collection way back when because he really just liked the community. He said another resident had a similar but smaller collection that inspired him to start hunting and gathering his own artifacts.

He’ll add anything to his collection as long as it follows one rule.

“My stuff has to say it’s from Orrville,” Gryniewski said. “It’s got to have proof it’s from Orrville.”

Growing the collection now isn’t easy. Gryniewski already has most of what there is. He’ll come across smaller items from time to time. Those are easy to add; they don’t cost much. Sometimes people just give him things. He’s always happy to accept donations.

On the other end of that spectrum are the bigger gets. They’re rare, but sometimes he stumbles onto something. As he says, nobody is going to donate a $5,000 item or, as he points out, a house — which Gryniewski said the historical society received as a donation.

He’s always looking for that rare piece he doesn’t have. A few times a year, Gryniewski will find something he never knew existed, but normally, that happens with smaller items, things he would need to lay out $10-$100 for.

He always has his eyes open for the bigger things, like letters from the 1850s, when Orrville was just digging out of swamps, letters to and from the city’s founders.

“I’m looking for something that’s going to cost a fortune,” Gryniewski said.

And when he does make a discovery, it’s like a prospector finding gold.

“It’s just adrenaline, man,” he said. “Then I’ve got to go get it. I’ll try to knock down the price if I see something rare.”

The search can get frustrating. It hearkens scenes from "The Big Bang Theory" when the main characters would mine the bins at the comic book store for a nugget none of them already had.

“Every time I look for something at physical auctions, online auctions and private sales, all I say is, ‘Got that, got that, got that, got that,’” Gryniewski said. “It’s rare to find something I don’t have.”

For those who want to learn more about Gryniewski’s collection or just Orrville in general, visit www.Orrvillehistory.org or the Orrville, Ohio History & Information Center on Facebook.