Fire Destroys Merrick Resident's Sports Memorabilia Collection

Three autographed hockey sticks and a box of hockey cards are all Anthony Merlo has left to show for a lifetime of sports memorabilia collecting.

His world was set ablaze when his Merrick home on Arms Avenue went on fire due to an electrical shortage from old wiring.

Merlo, 46, his wife and baby daughter were awoken by a smoke alarm at 1:30 a.m. about two weeks ago. They called 911 and watched as their life’s possessions faded fast.

“I’m thinking, ‘oh my God, my life is burning,’” he said. “It comes rushing back to you, the human instinct kicks in. We don’t have a lot, but what we have is ours and it’s going up in smoke.”

Now Merlo, a manager at Whole Foods Market in Jericho, has resorted to selling his prized hockey sticks – signed by legends Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux and Islanders great Pierre Turgeon – for money that can help his family. The sticks were tucked away in a lower level and unharmed in the fire.

Merlo said he should be back in his original house in December, but is staying in a home about a mile away in the same town thanks to friends of his family.

Of the myriad of hockey jerseys, autographs, sports cards, comic books and a massive music collection, mainly the music lives on.

“I’m told the music made it out alive,” he said, “which is a big relief. We’re talking thousands of CDs, records and tapes.”

A hockey fan, thanks to the mesmerizing play of Bobby Orr in the 1970s when Merlo watched the Boston Bruin great pulverize teams on a black and white television, his collection has been built since those days.

Amongst the items lost are the original Newsday clippings from when the New York Islanders won four straight Stanley Cups in the early 1980s, every yearbook the Islanders have had since the franchise began, his entire hockey jersey collection, thousands of books and a couple of hundred comic books, including Spiderman No. 2.

The Howe and Lemieux sticks were given to him as gifts by his mother and the Turgeon stick was personally signed when he made an appearance at a local venue.

“I would love to put them on a wall somewhere, but if I could get some money that would be great,” said Merlo. “Anything would help right now.”

Still, Merlo, who has been preaching for days about the benefit of smoke detectors, has endured an enlightening experience in terms of material objects.

“Material things can be replaced,” he said, “people can’t.”

To inquire about purchasing the autographed hockey sticks from Merlo, email him at Slater64@aol.com or contact Patch.com Regional Sports Editor, Chris Vaccaro, at Chris@Patch.com.