Coca-Cola ornaments adorn Rio Communities home, life Written by Brent Ruffner/News-Bulletin
Saturday, 19 December 2009 06:00
Santa ornaments, hats, clocks and cookie tins fill Renee Baldonado's Rio Communities home.
But the decorative keepsakes seem to have one theme in common -Coca-Cola.
Baldonado, along with her husband, Jose, have been collecting Coca-Cola memorabilia for the last 25 years, and decided to put their hobby into their holiday spirit by decorating their Christmas tree with nothing but the bright red and white Coca-Cola decor.
Coke bottles and cans and other cola ornaments hang from the tree that Kris Kringle could have decorated himself in a room that would be worthy of the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, Ga.
Baldonado, who is deaf, said she decided to decorate the tree to commemorate a quarter-century of collecting memorabilia.
"This time of year is perfect to do something like this," Baldonado said through an interpreter. "I always wanted to do something like this before - to have a Coke Christmas."
Coke drinkers would probably consider the Baldonado's couch a haven with Coke cushions and a Coke blanket with the blue blanket stamped with the red and white circular logo.
Baldonado even has a few holiday wreaths and stockings just in case someone forgets her beverage of choice. The couple said they remember spending 5 cents on the bottled beverage they got from the old-time Coke machines in the 40s and 50s.
Baldonado is on dialysis and can longer drink the beverage the couple has loved through the years.
Baldonado said her family doesn't have to worry about what to get her for the Christmas holiday.
"(Coke) is a good gift," Baldonado said. "You never know, my family could manage to surprise me and come across something special."
The Rio Communities resident said she likes to receive anything Coke related as a gift, but vows to never give any part of her collection away.
The beverage has even become part of her home with Coca-Cola wallpaper on her kitchen wall.
"I have everything Coke," Baldonado said. "I want to keep it that way. I would cry if I had to give any of this stuff away."
The 62-year-old has everything from a Coca-Cola cookie jar to a bobble head of Orbit, the mascot of the Albuquerque Isotopes holding a Coke bottle. She said she prefers bottles to cans, and that she needs an old-time Coca-Cola machine to complete her collection.
"I drop hints every year," Baldonado said of her passion.
Baldonado's eyes' light up like a kid on Christmas when she talks about her keepsakes. Her Coke keepsakes bring back memories of different parts of her life.
She has a set of cards for eras that date back to the 20s and 30s, and the years that have followed.
"I look at the cards and the dates," Baldonado said. "I remember what I was doing."
The Coke lover vows never to possess anything having to do with Pepsi Cola. But Baldonado seems to be willing to share a Coke, which is in her refrigerator at all times, with anybody who asks.
She said her Coke Christmas will truly be a family event.
"My two daughters buy me Coke stuff every year, and my grandkids love to talk about it," she said.
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