Having experienced personal tragedy before, Scott Stimell is trying to put the events of earlier this week in perspective. Last weekend’s torrential rains, which caused severe flooding in Suffolk County, have put his livelihood – his sports memorabilia business, a 30-year-old business in Commack – in jeopardy.
“There are so many unknowns for me right now,” Stimell said Friday as he stood amid his damaged Cardboard Memories store in the Peppertree Commons Mall, his place of business since 2008.
“I don’t want that to define me. I’ve been part of this community for 32.5 years and I’m confident that the community will support me no matter where I go or what I do,” he said.
When heavy rain fell Sunday into Monday, Stimell, 57, of Melville, worried about whether it would affect his shop, which he described as a “treasure trove” of memorabilia. He said he has been collecting for more than 40 years and has amassed a wide range of sports-related items.
“I was concerned just because of the amount of rain we had,” he said.
When he arrived on Monday morning, he found that “my entire store was destroyed.”
“I’m talking about water that came up 30 meters high, from the back of my store to the front,” he said, covering an area of about 185 square meters.
“Because of the amount of memorabilia I have, most of it was on the floor,” Stimell said.
The water, he said, “tore up thousands and thousands of memorabilia, cards – whatever.”
There are also insurance issues to contend with. Stimell said he hasn’t yet catalogued his losses but suspects they could be $1 million or more.
Iconic images, faded autographs
His collection ranges from signed football balls and helmets of football stars to iconic jerseys and cleats to signed artwork by famous artists and photographers and the sports icons depicted in them. There are also baseball cards, World Series programs and more.
He held up a large original black and white photo “from a negative” of the Yankees The great Mickey Mantle and manager Casey Stengel, both signed. Stimell noted that the water “softened” the autographs.
“Mickey Mantle signed this in 1956 when he won the Triple Crown. This is a real teak frame. … It’s damp and basically destroyed,” Stimell said.
He pointed to mold spreading along the edges of a painting of legendary San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana.
There is also a painting of basketball star Michael Jordan by famous artist LeRoy Neiman, whose signature “melts out of the water,” Stimell said.
Also damaged was an original black-and-white photograph of the New York Knicks starting lineup – “I think it’s from 1973,” Stimell said – signed by Madison Square Garden’s official photographer, George Kalinsky.
The picture includes Bill Bradley, Phil Jackson, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and Jerry Lucas. “You can see the ripples of the water” marring the photo, Stimell said.
He had some intact materials hanging on the walls. The shop’s wet carpet had been ripped out and large fans ventilated the space, although the smell of mold hung in the air.
Stimell said he believes the flood damage will “displace me and change my life. I don’t know.”
The doors of Stimell’s store were open on Friday with the fan running.
As he spoke, a woman came in wanting to have jerseys framed for her son as a birthday present. She happened to say that her house in Commack had also been flooded. She declined to give her name.
Stimell tried to help her.
“I’m going to rely on my friends and family to figure out what to do. Right now I’m still in shock at the devastation and overwhelmed… I’m going to have to try and dig deep. I’ve been through a lot in my life.”
His father, Herbert Stimell, was killed when he was hit by a car when Scott was 19. Scott’s young daughter Hannah died of a rare disease in 2005 at the age of 14 months, he said.
“I’m trying to put it all in perspective,” Stimell said of the damage to his business. “It’s very overwhelming for me. But I’ve lost a lot more in my life, and I know a lot of other people have, and I just need to get to the point where I can get through this.”
