Im jamie colby, heading into the town of hastingsonhudson, new york, a suburb about 18 miles north of manhattan. Im on my way to meet a woman who wrote to me about her strange inheritance a piece of musical history with the most improbable tale of how she came to own it. My names Marlene Piturro. When my husband died, he left me a musical treasure along with clear marching orders on what he wanted done with it. [ gongs chiming ] hi, marlene. Hi, jamie. Come on in. Its so nice to meet you. As we settle in, marlene tells me about her harmonious first meeting with her husband, howard, a concert percussionist. It was love at first sight. Really . He was 63, and he had these twinkly blue eyes. He went to work every day in his gig suit and his tuxedo with his white shirt and bow tie. Howard van hyning, born in 1936 in central florida, inherits an interest in percussion from his greatgrandfather, a drummer boy in the civil war. Howard had his drumsticks, and he practiced quite a bit, mostly w
Im jamie colby in western pennsylvania, turning into the village of reduction. Im here because a viewer wrote me to say this whole place is his strange inheritance. My name is David Stawovy. When my parents passed away, my siblings and i inherited a town. Hi, david. Im jamie colby. Hello, jamie. Welcome to the town of reduction. You wrote me you inherited a town . This is it . This is part of it. David and his three siblings inheritance encompasses 75 acres of hills, farmland, and forest nestled along the youghiogheny river. The town, population 60, stretches out along reduction road, which leads into reduction circle, and an area called the village, a collection of 19 houses. And the house right in front of me is the house that my father decided to purchase, and thats where i lived when i was one year old. He wanted only one, but the people that was selling it asked him if he wanted to buy them all. So he ended up buying them all. Your dad bought the whole neighborhood . Yes, the whol
[ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] im jamie colby in tucson, arizona. Wagon trains used to pass right through here on their way to california during the gold rush, and one of the roughandready pioneers who helped settle this area left behind a very strange inheritance. Im here to get the skinny on it. My names jock taylor. In 2009, i inherited a wooden trunk full of family heirlooms going back more than a century. Now im told i could pocket a small fortune. I meet jock, a 60yearold electrical engineer, at his home here in tucson. Hi, im jamie. Im jock. I heard you have something very unusual from your greatgreat grandfather. I certainly do. Come on in. Jock shows me that inheritance an old trunk thats been passed down through the family for more than a century. The trunk contained the family bible, a very ornate saddle blanket, a pair of old jeans jeans . Who keeps jeans . Theyve been in the trunk for so long, i dont think that my mother really knew what else to do with them. According
Im jamie colby driving through dallas, texas. What do you get when you couple a onetrack mind to a boxcar full of bucks . A strange inheritance that im told is just the ticket. My name is jane sanders. My husband, steve, was always into his model trains. But when he got sick, they became much more than a hobby. They took him on the trip of a lifetime. I meet jane at her home here in dallas. She leads me upstairs, and i am transported to a railroad wonderland. [ train whistle blows ] oh, my goodness. Unbelievable. Its massive, 2,000 square feet, taking up an entire wing of janes house. Oh, my gosh. Thats so fantastic the locomotives drive past hundreds of handcrafted figurines and intricate details. Theres two men sharing lunch on the stairs, a blonde bombshell hitchhiker, a 1950s gas station. Theyre cleaning the windshield like the good, old days. Yes. And a scene from main street, usa. Theres the diner with people actually sitting in there eating. Absolutely spectacular, to every deta