From the Email Inbox: World's largest penny

From:DH

Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 9:34 PM

Hello,

 

I grew up in Woodruff, Wisconsin and was too young to remember the penny drive but my mother used to have a booklet about it.  She told me they collected the pennies on the gym floor and that the floor actually sagged some even though it was on street level.  The penny sits in the same spot it has occupied since it was put up and the block used to hold the Arbor Vitae-Woodruff High School, later grade school.  I don't know when the school came down but I do remember very fondly, attending classes there until we moved to Tomahawk, Wisconsin in 1963.  Now, there is a housing complex for senior adults on the site of the school.  I remember Doctor Kate and I surely remember many snowy days and our own doctor making house calls to give us shots.  My husband, a coin collector, got a look at this giant coin last year when we traveled to Wisconsin to see family members.  He was impressed with the size and with the story.

 

Thanks for talking about the penny. 

 

Sincerely,

 

DH

Alabama

Thank you, Debbie, for writing in!  The penny is popular with a BUNCH of people, because it is such a great story.  I like the story you've shared about the gymnasium floor - it really puts it into perspective.  It's one of the greatest stories behind the building of a World's Largest Thing, I think...

 

Thanks again for sharing your story!

-Erika Nelson, Director

World's Largest Things, Inc.