There is
still
much work to do in getting the lawn ready for Easter, but Ron and Betty
Manolio
vow their Linden Lane home will become Eggshelland by April
17. There will be 40,000 eggshells
in varying colors decorating the
landscape when the display is complete.
Filmmaker Christopher Noice
was taken by a friend in 2003 to see
Eggshelland, the internationally-known Lyndhurst Easter display. ...
Noice said he not only shot what would become an 87-minute
documentary that since 2009 has been shown at film festivals
everywhere
from Orlando, Fla., to Utah, and parts in between, but he made new
friends.
A refreshing couple
Ron and Betty Manolio are the couple who have decorated their
front lawn nearly every year at Easter since 1957.
They are refreshing, Noice said of the Manolios. They do
this with such a genuine love of it, and of their community. They are
such nice people, and that was a great help to me in making this movie.
We had never met before, and they took me right in and helped
me, said Noice, whose day job has been making training and public
relations films for the state of California since moving to that state
in 2005. ...
How it is done
Betty draws up plans for each display, with a theme. The theme
for this years 53rd edition is based on Up, Up and Away, a Disney
Channel original movie that debuted in 2000.
The display will feature characters from the movie and
balloons, all made up of real, not plastic, egg shells.
Today, the Manolios use outdoor enamel paint to color the eggs
to be used. Using Bettys plans, the couples grown children return to
their parents home to place the eggs on the small sticks, or pegs, that
hold them in the shape of characters and designs.
Those children include Mark, of Twinsburg; Marybeth Pannitto,
of Sagamore Hills; Matthew, of Chester; and Melissa Harvey, of
Northfield. In addition, daughter Mona Bolander returns from her
Pittsburgh home just before Easter to help finish the job. The Manolios
also get help from their 10 grandchildren.
Known throughout the world
The displays renown has grown to include coverage by local TV
stations, national networks, newswire services and newspapers.
In 2000, the Manolios were flown to New York City to be guests
on The Montel Williams Show to talk about their display. To
commemorate the event, they depicted on their lawn that year Williams
head in eggshells.
He was very excited to be an egghead, Betty said. ...
With all that coverage, the idea of a movie about Eggshelland
may not have come as too much of a shock to the Manolios. Noices
movie, Eggshelland debuted locally in 2009 at the Cedar Lee Theatre
in Cleveland Heights.
Betty said it is a surprise at how much attention
Eggshelland has received.
The couple enjoys the hoopla that goes on around their house
each spring, setting up a table by their garage so Ron, a former
Channel 3 cameraman who worked on the old Mike Douglas Show, can show
visitors his classic antique cars and photos of past Eggshelland
designs.
The Manolios say the tradition will go when they go.
When we are gone, the kids
are not going to keep doing it,
said Betty, 77. They do not have the time. They enjoy it, but they have
too much going on in their own lives.
Gathering eggs
In order to continue adding to their egg collection, the
Manolios have worked out a deal with the Sidewalk Caf in Euclid. The
Manolios remove the insides from the eggs, which are then used by the
restaurant, and are permitted to take home the shells. They usually
start performing this task, which takes a couple of months, sometime
after Thanksgiving.
Their homes basement is
filled with boxes of eggs stored by
their colors. As Easter approaches, boxes of eggs can be found
in the
homes vestibule, along with pegs for planting the eggs, and other
tools that are used to make up the display.
When asked what he gets out of keeping up the tradition, Ron,
80, said, Just meeting the people. Making people happy. For the
enjoyment, but not for me.
The Up, Up & Away display, the Manolios 53rd, is
expected to be ready April 17. It will contain about 40,000 shells in
24 colors.
The award-winning documentary Eggshelland will be shown
at 7 p.m. from April 22-28 at The Chagrin Cinemas, 8200 Washington St.
in Chagrin Falls. Call (440) 543-5775. The documentary
interweaves bits of Clevelands television past with the story of
Eggshelland, including footage of former local personalities Barnaby,
Woodrow the Woodsman, Mr. Jingeling and others.
The Eggshelland DVD, at $19.95, is 99 minutes long and
features 20 minutes of bonus content. It is available at Eggshelland.com.