He’s not the honorary mayor or the oldest driver. So how did Joe Malay get the No. 1 license plate?

Weiser resident Joe Malay gets asked a lot of questions about his “No. 1” license plate.
 The questions are usually from strangers. They want to know if he is the mayor. They ask if he’s the oldest driver in the county.
 There is a story behind how Malay, who has lived in Weiser his entire life, acquired the No. 1 license plate in Washington County.
 He’s had it for more than 25 years, but it didn’t always belong to him.
 For many years, the No. 1 license plate in the county went from mayor to mayor by tradition. That is, until it stopped with one mayor.
 Weiser residents Ray and Jackie Jackson were avid golfers and good friends of Malay, who also has been golfing for much of his adult life.
 Ray was a former mayor of Weiser decades ago. When Ray passed away, a relative handling the estate called Malay and told him the license plate was bequeathed to him in the will.
 He said he took the documents down to the DMV office and received the No. 1 license plate. It’s been his ever since.
 “They said that’s all legal until you don’t need it or don’t want it anymore,” said Malay, who has owned the plate since about 1992.
 There are people who would like to buy the number from Malay, but he doesn’t want to part with it, given the sentimental value.
 “I wouldn’t sell it. It means more to me than money,” he said.
 He won’t sell the plate now, but he might someday auction it off to the highest bidder as a way to raise money for the Ho Ho Express, his annual charity that benefits hundreds of kids in the community.
 Malay has been taking Weiser and Annex kids shopping for Christmas gifts on the Ho Ho Express for decades every December to make sure they have a merry Christmas.
 The state of Idaho first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1913.