Don Hunter is a collector of disappearing sounds. Steam locomotives? He's got 'em. Ever wonder what a door-to-door wood cutter's saw once sounded like in Eugene? He can play you the tape. When dial telephones arrived in town, Hunter thought to call up the operator and record her saying, "Number, please."

Now 89 years old, Hunter made his first sound recordings seven decades ago when he was a senior at Eugene High School. He was, then, the kid who ran the school public address system, a bright kid fascinated by a new technology. He soon had his own public address equipment and went into the sound business part time. Before he even hit college, Hunter had built his own acetate disc recording machine from an old phonograph. He would later own the first reel-to-reel tape recorder seen in Eugene.

He also worked for a neon sign maker in Eugene, prompting a lifetime fascination with neon. Step into Hunter's house and you find the hallway is lit by a white neon tube that runs along the ceiling, in place of the usual incandescent lights. So is the kitchen. Hanging in the front window is one of a rotating seasonal display of neon art; spring is a bunch of flowers.