Diane Vogel Ferri’s full-length poetry book is Everything is Rising (Luchador Press). Her latest novel is No Life But This: A Novel of Emily Warren Roebling (Atbosh Media) Her essays have been published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Scene Magazine, and Yellow Arrow Journal, among others. Her poems can be found in numerous journals such as Wend Poetry, Blue Heron Review, Rubbertop Review, and Poet Lore. Her previous publications are Liquid Rubies (poetry), The Volume of Our Incongruity (poetry), and The Desire Path (novel). She has done many poetry readings locally. Diane’s essay, “I Will Sing for You” was featured at the Cleveland Humanities Festival in 2018. A former teacher, she holds an M.Ed from Cleveland State University and is a founding member of Literary Cleveland. Her poem, For You, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of The Net 2023

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Eggshelland



At Eastertime in the northeast Ohio town of Lyndhurst you can visit Eggshelland. It is located about a mile from where I used to live and where I raised my children, so we visited often. Ron and Betty Manolio have put on this free display in their front yard since 1957. Every year there is a new theme to add to the everpresent fifty-foot cross and the Easter bunny. In the beginning they saved their own egg shells by putting a dime-sized hole in the bottom and draining the contents before enameling. Now they get new shells from local restaurants.
The displays often include over 50,000 colorful egg shells, with an annual average breakage loss of 1500. In 1998 a hailstorm destroyed 10,238 and an ice storm and six inches of snow damaged 11,941, but the Manolio's are undeterred.
Imagine how many smiles they have evoked from children and adults over the years.

7 comments:

Cliff said...

Thanks for sharing this Diane. This has to take quite a bit of work and a ton of dedication and caring.

Lena said...

Wow, I have never seen anything like that. It is amazing. What a fun Easter activity!

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

This is quite amazing. I can't believe the amount of work that goes into this.

Jan said...

WOW! That is so amazing.

Cheryl said...

What a gift to the people who get to see this. Wow!!!

Dianne Barbee said...

Diane,

Thnx for sharing this amazing site and Easter event. That's a lot of eggs ... and smiles!

Caro

Janie Vogel said...

I am your sister and lived for most of my life very close by (and still visit often), and have NEVER heard of this place - let alone see it. How very cool! I'd love to see it in person!! I'm always amazed at people who take weeks to set up public displays in their private yards, for the simple joy of making people happy. What a gift! Thanks for sharing.