Frank absolutely loved collecting scale model tractors.  They were his passion in the later years.  He originally started out just wanting a model of each of the tractors he had owned in real life.  Yeah, that didn't last long...  Eventually the collection grew to over 500 models of tractors, implements, trucks and anything farm associated.  And he knew the story of each one.  what was unique about the model, the real version, the history, the value, where he had gotten it and whether there was a box for it.   There were high quality precision versions, cheap versions you you give a toddler, rough cast antiques...  You name it, if there was a model he didn't have he wanted it.  Poor Helen had to put up with road trips that stopped at every implement dealer they passed, just to check what they had in stock.  and those road trips were to toy tractor conventions and museums.  Helen was a saint. 
                                   
His greatest joy was showing it off.  He had a room built in their house that was basically floor to ceiling shelves on all four walls.  Frank would bring guests in to see the collection and he could spend hours talking about it.  I remember more than once coming in the door and asking Helen who he was visiting with.  The answer, often as not, "Oh, just some guy he met at the coffee shop." 
                                 
After he passed, the bulk of the collection went to his daughter Paulette and her husband, Troy mainly because they had space to display it.  Through the years, it was finally decided that the collection belonged where it could be seen by everyone. Paulette and Paula began working with the museum in Frank's home of Lea County New Mexico.  It finally came to pass that the collection went to it's new home where the public can now enjoy it too.  Frank would be tickled. 

What follows is an article that was published in The Lovington (NM) Daily Leader about the opening of the exhibit.  It was extracted from a PDF scan of the newspaper and converted to text by GrokAi.

Museum Opening New Tractor Exhibit

New Tractor Exhibit This Weekend

The Lea County Museum is formally opening the Frank Parson Toy Tractor Exhibit this Saturday, March 30. Members of the Frank Parson’s family are inviting friends and Lea County residents to the opening.

From 10 a.m. until noon there will be a brief ceremony, much time for visiting, and refreshments for residents, relatives, and friends.

The public is invited, and just about anyone who attends will enjoy some of the hundreds of beautifully crafted toys that the late Frank Parson collected during his life.

Last November Frank Parson’s daughters Paula and Paulette worked to put together their father’s exhibit of toy tractors at the Lea County Museum.

The Parson family owned a grocery store and a furniture store in the decades they lived in Lovington. The family moved to Lovington in 1950. Frank had been advised by his Oklahoma doctor to go west for his health, and in October of 1950 he visited Lovington, having never before seen the town.

Frank bought a small grocery store at 119 West Avenue L and moved the family out to their new town the next month. They lived in the back of the store for some time, then over the years the family lived in several other Lovington houses until they settled for many years in their home on West Ave. J.

Frank changed his store from a grocery to a furniture and appliance store in 1968. Frank and Helen Elizabeth had three daughters and two sons. Frank passed away in 2003 and Helen in 2006.

Today the Parson family is spread from New Mexico to Texas, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. Many of the family members will be in attendance for the opening ceremonies.
               

The Toy Tractor exhibit is located in the Lea County Museum’s 1918 Commercial Hotel, located at 103 S. Love in Lovington.   

Over his many years of collecting, Parson said that his love for the toys came from the fact that he had grown up on a farm. His remarkable collection is something young and old, men, women, and children will enjoy.

Men who never got over the fun of playing with toys feel at home in the exhibit. Anyone who ever owned a toy as a child will love the experience of being surrounded by the beautifully crafted works in the Parson Collection.

Frank Parson first came to Lea County and Lovington for his health, but during his decades here, he brought good health to the community with his businesses, his family, and now with his toy permanent tractor collection given to the town and the county.
             

There are no charges for admittance or programs at the Lea County Museum.