Eggshelland is a unique Easter Display, presented by Ron and Betty
Manolio of Lyndhurst, Ohio.  This will be (our 51st year). The entire front yard
is transformed into different eggshell mosaic designs each year, always including a 50ft. Cross and our mascot, the Easter Bunny.
     The display has grown from 750 shells in 1957.  We use 24 brilliant colors
of 1Shot, Outdoor Sign Paint enamel to paint the shells. As far as we know,  it
is the only display of it's kind in the world. The idea came from Ron's Mother, who placed dyed eggshells on bushes in front of her home.
     This is a family project.  We used to save our shells. We now get our
 eggshells from the Sidewalk Cafe, who use fresh eggs.  Without them the 
display would not continue, as other restaurants use liquid eggs.  Ron makes
 a hole the size of a dime in the egg  and Betty shakes out the contents.  The shells are then washed and the edges of the hole trimmed.  After painting, the shells are stored by color in  boxes, with 250 in each box.  They are used over and over again each year, and repainted, if necessary, in the proper colors.
     Our average handling breakage is 1500 shells.  We have had five natural
disasters.  In 1998,  a hail storm destroyed 10,238 shells. In 2002, an ice storm on 6 inches of snow broke 11,941,  in 2005, 6 inches of  snow smashed  5,633 shells, and in 2007 16 inches of snow on Easter morning broke 14,176. In 2008, for the first time, we were not able to put pegs in the lawn, because the ground was frozen.  Our Display consisted of 6,223 eggshells, using the five figures we have on Styrofoam, usually standing in the background.
     The theme this year is Zoo's Who .  The display includes; Lions, Tigers,
Bears and More with 13,660 shells,  Peacock  with 6,746 shells, and Parrot
with 4,310 shells.  
     We always receive excellent local coverage, and in 2000,  we appeared on the Montel Williams Show, and were also featured on Extreme Cuisine, and the Agri-Country Network.  We have  been featured on "Ripley's Believe it or Not," and a photo was sent out by Associated Press that reached as far as the front page of an English language newspaper in Japan.  We were on the "Today Show" Easter morning 2006, and CNN in 2007.
     A documentary on Eggshelland, which has taken 4 years to complete, will have it's World Premiere at the Cedar-Lee Theater, in Cleveland Heights, on April 17&18, 2009.  The display is lit at night, and will be up from April 5th  thru April 20th.   
Happy Easter!

Ron and Betty Manolio                                                            NEW EGGSHELLS
1031 Linden Lane                                                                                  Courtesy of
Lyndhurst, Ohio 44124                                            Sidewalk Cafe - Painesville
(440) 442-6061                                                                  Sidewalk Cafe - Euclid
Creative Eggshell Displays  - Lectures                                        Nick J. Sarris

Directions: From intersection of Richmond Road and Ridgebury - make three left turns on Roland, Ashwood and Linden Lane.

---

Webcam at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
A view of Wade Hall at Waterfowl Lake, one of the oldest
zoo buildings in North America, constructed in 1884.

---

  Someone told me
Its all happening at the zoo.

I do believe it,
I do believe its true.

Its a light and tumble journey
From the east side to the park;
Just a fine and fancy ramble
To the zoo.

But you can take the crosstown bus
If its raining or its cold,
And the animals will love it
If you do.

Something tells me
Its all happening at the zoo.

Simon And Garfunkel lyrics

 
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
 Cleveland Metroparks Zoo & The RainForest are open all year except January 1 and December 25. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo improves the future for wildlife by exhibiting animals and plants and providing education and conservation programs which encourage respect and stewardship of the natural world and a better understanding of our place within it.
The Cleveland Zoological Society partners with the Zoo to improve the future for wildlife. Enjoy the benefits of membership, Adopt-an-Animal, or explore the advantages of corporate partnerships.
 

Lincoln Park Zoo - 2200 North Cannon Dr., Chicago, at Lake Shore Drive and Fullerton Parkway; FAST FACT: Marlin Perkins served as director of the Lincoln Park Zoo from 1944 to 1961. Perkins put television and natural sciences together, first with his series "Zoo Parade" -- filmed live at Lincoln Park each week -- and later with "Wild Kingdom."

Zoo Atlanta - 800 Cherokee Ave. S.E., Atlanta;
FAST FACT: One of Zoo Atlanta's popular residents is 15-year-old African elephant Starlet O'Hara -- who is known for her painting abilities. She prefers watercolors, and her works are for sale at the zoo's gift shop.

Philadelphia Zoo - 3400 West Girard Ave., Philadelphia;
FAST FACT: Admission to the Philly Zoo, which opened on July 1, 1874, was a quarter for adults and a dime for children -- for the zoo's first 50 years.

San Diego Zoo -  2920 Zoo Dr., San Diego; Wild Animal Park: 15500 San Pasqual Valley Rd., Escondido; FAST FACT: The San Diego Zoo's first keeper was a one-armed man named Army, hired by zoo founder Dr. Harry Wegeforth. Army's one arm, it was said, "was all he needed."


National Zoological Park - National Zoological Park 
3001 Connecticut Ave., Washington; FAST FACT: The National Zoo's first animals were a pair of elephants named Dunk and Gold Dust, obtained in 1891 -- two years after President Grover Cleveland signed the bill establishing the zoo.
 
Columbus Zoo - 9990 Riverside Dr., Powell, Ohio; FAST FACT: "Jungle Jack" Hanna -- host of TV's "Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures" and author of several animal books -- turned the Columbus Zoo into a world-class operation during his tenure as director beginning in the late 1970s. Hanna is now "director emeritus" of the zoo.

Audubon Zoological Garden  6500 Magazine St., New Orleans; FAST FACT: Zoo features rare white alligators, found in a Louisiana swamp. The 'gators are not albinos -- they are actually white -- and have blue eyes.