By Kim Palmer
CLEVELAND | Sat Mar 30, 2013 11:47am EDT
CLEVELAND (Reuters) -
After more than 50 years, loyal fans have one last chance to visit the
Easter bunny and other Easter-themed mosaics made of thousands of
brightly colored eggs on a lawn in an eastern suburb of Cleveland.
The displays have drawn thousands of visitors each year to
the sprawling lawn of Betty and Ron Manolio in Lyndhurst, Ohio, but the
55th annual event this year will be the last.
Eggshelland was created by Ron Manolio, 80, who died in
August. This final display is dominated by a 16-foot by 15-foot
portrait of the man who each year spent months hollowing out and
hand-painting anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 eggs. A message below the
picture reads "thank you all, and goodbye."
This year, Manolio's children and grandchildren set up the
21,630 eggs in 24 colors in a display entitled "A Labor of Love" in
tribute to their grandfather. The egg mosaics depict a 45-foot cross,
an Easter bunny and an EGGSHELLAND sign propped up in front of the
couple's house.
"Our children did this their entire lives. They thought
everyone does this," Betty Manolio told Reuters. But the months it
takes to design and two to three weekends for installation are too much
for the family to keep up.
Egg mosaics in past years have depicted characters from
Sesame Street, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Harry Potter and spring scenes.
Manolio said that because her husband was the creative
force behind project, it would be too difficult to continue Eggshelland
without him.
"Actually, I was amazed we were doing it for 55 years,"
she said. "If he (Ron) was still around I think we would do it until we
both died. I'm going to miss it next year."
Others will miss Eggshelland too. On a typical day, cars
line up on their street and around the corner to catch a glimpse the
display that began with a mere 750 eggs saved over the course of a year
in 1957. At Eggshelland's peak in the 1970s local police were called to
direct traffic.
Local and national media have described Eggshelland as a
childhood fantasy land but in truth the phenomena has quite an adult
following including a website dedicated to its 55-year history and its
creators (eggshellandeaster.tripod.com), and a 2004
award-winning documentary on their efforts.
Eggshelland will be up until April 5th. After that,
Manolio hasn't yet decided what will happen to the eggs. Previously,
they stored the eggs for the year and replaced those that had broken.
"We haven't decided what to do with them. We've gotten
some calls," Manolio said. "My grandchildren, of course, told me to put
them on eBay."
Kimberly Key of Wickliffe has
her photo taken Saturday with her children, Brooklynn, 21 months, and
Julianna, 4. The children's
grandmother, Judy Tsiros, snaps the picture in front of the Manolio
family's Eggshelland tableau in Lyndhurst
It's sunset for brilliantly hued
Eggshelland
James Ewinger, The Plain Dealer
March 30, 2013
LYNDHURST, Ohio -- Some came for their first look at
Eggshelland Saturday. Others were there because they come every year.
But all of them knew it was the last Easter weekend to take in this
grand tradition.
The display of 21,630 painted eggs was the first in more
than 50 years not shaped by Ron Manolio, who passed away in August.
The exhibition in Manolio's front yard grew from a modest
750 eggs in 1957. Some years had 40,000 to 50,000 eggs, family members
said.
Every Eggshelland iteration has sported a dazzling array
of colors. This is the first year for flesh color, because the tableau
includes a giant portrait of Manolio.
Betty, his widow, said she began drawing up this year's
edition in January and worked for an entire month until she got it just
right.
One reason the display is being discontinued, she said, is
that "it would take my husband hours and hours to paint and they [the
five children and 10 grandchildren] just don't have that kind of time."
Matt Manolio, one of the grown children said, "The hearts
of the children and grandchildren just are not in it because it's not
the same without him."
This year's theme is "Labor of Love," Matt said, because
"it was a labor of love [for his dad], cracking eggs, cleaning them and
painting them all year long."
Sarah Peck of Shaker Heights said Saturday that she has
been coming to Eggshelland "my whole life." The 32-year-old said, "Now
it's a must for any potential boyfriend."
Near noon, people lined the sidewalk along Linden Lane,
all the way to Ashwood Drive. Melissa Harvey, a Manolio adult daughter,
said that by mid-afternoon, the line stretched around the corner and
ran down Ashwood to the stop sign at Roland Road.
It's the first time for such a throng since 1973, the year
they honored the Wizard of Oz, she said.
Among the spectators were Phillip and Mary Howard of
Macedonia. "We brought our kids here 20 to 25 years ago," Phillip said.
"I love the neighborhood. They allow this. The neighbors put up with
all the traffic. That's a neat statement in itself."
The Manolios have learned to live with a bare tree lawn
because of the hordes that walk on it as they gaze at the display.
"It usually bounces back," Matt said. "I don't recall my
dad ever replanting."
Isaac Breitzmann, an unusually articulate 4-year-old, held
forth Saturday about how he liked the giant Easter bunny sketched in
with hundreds of eggs. He came last year too, and knows there will not
be a next year. He said he does not know what to think about that.
His mother, Meghan Breitzmann, and her sister Missy
Sorohan, are now in their 30s and have come continually.
Their mother, Martha Sorohan of Ashtabula said she and her
twin sister Mary Jane Skala have been coming "since the beginning."
The Manolios began the displays when they lived on
Mayfield Road near Brainard Road. "And we lived around the corner on
Ford," said Skala, a former senior editor with the Sun newspapers. When
the Manolios moved to Linden Lane, the twins followed.
The Eggshelland tradition will continue until Friday. The
Manolios posted a sign stating that because of recent colder weather,
it will remain up until then.
(~photo courtesy of Mark Manolio)
Thanks to the Manolio children and grandchildren who cleared and shoveled the snow, Eggshelland was
finished, opened to the public and enjoyed by a constant stream of
visitors today,
Palm Sunday, March 24, 2013.
Eggshelland ~ Palm
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Eggshelland ~ Palm
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Eggshelland ~ Palm
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Eggshelland ~ Palm
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Eggshelland ~ Palm
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Eggshelland ~ Palm
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Eggshelland ~ Palm
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Eggshelland ~ Palm
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Eggshelland ~ Palm Sunday, March 24, 2013
Eggshelland ~ Palm Sunday, March 24, 2013
Eggshelland ~ Palm Sunday, March 24, 2013
Brandon Harvey, grandson of
the late Ron Manolio, adds eggshells to the mosaic portrait of his
grandfather,
at Eggshelland, his
grandparents annual Eggshelland display in Lyndhurst, Ohio, on
Saturday, March 23, 2013.
Two weeks before Easter:
Another year
Another snow
Another hurdle for the
Manolios
But their devotion to
celebrate a life did not deter them.
Live weather camera images from:
Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, OH 44114.
