KSBDC - PowerPointing the way to better cash flow

From the first Small Business Development workshop last week, and we're getting ready for two more tomorrow.  Super Extra Bonus - QuickBooks Elements in our packet, and the coordinator just emailed an amazingly complex cash flow projection spreadsheet to get WLT Inc. on the right track - Thank you, Kansas Arts Commission, for the Infrastructure Grant to help us do this!

CCCC/SBDC

Just returned from the first of three Small Business Development Center programs through Cloud County Community College in Concordia Kansas. Two more next week, and we should be well on the way to developing a tighter business plan, financial plan, and marketing strategy for World's Largest Things, Inc.

And, there was a message upon return from our screenprinter - new shirt designs are in and Members will see 'em first! We also got a new batch of the Classic Design on Pebble Gray tees.

World Record Harvest in Kansas

A Record Setting Harvest was done in 2008, in Norton Kansas. 160 acres was harvested with 100 combines and several grain trucks in 10 minutes and 15 seconds.

This record will be entered into the Guinness World Record archives, and proceeds from this harvest will go to a kids camp. That's how we do it in Kansas!

Re: This is not the world's largest rocking chair

Here is a pic, they also have the best bar-b-q.  The chair is the one in the Guinness book of world records

 

 

Here is their web site.

 

http://www.texastwisted.com/attr/staroftexas/

 

From: Worlds Largest Things [mailto:info@worldslargestthings.com]
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 1:43 PM
To: TX Archambeaus
Subject: This is not the world's largest rocking chair

 

Great!  The folks in Fanning are planning to beat it, but it looks like they have a pretty big task - thanks for the pic!

This is not the world's largest rocking chair

From: TX Archambeaus

To: info@worldslargestthings.com

Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 1:02 PM

Subject: This is not

I am sorry, you do not have the largest rocking chair.  The world's largest rocking chair is along US 281 in Texas.  Everything is bigger in TEXAS.

Do you have a pic?  And, the folks in Fanning Missouri are trying for a record, too, certified by Guinness.  There's a lot of competition out there!

 

thanks for the info

 

 

-Erika Nelson, Director

World's Largest Things, Inc.

Walley's hand drill, Mt. Horeb Wisconsin

 

From the Snail Mail Inbox: Crazy Creations from Wisconsin!

 

Got a few pics in the mail from Wally's Eccentric Kreations, in Mount Horeb Wisconsin (home of the Mustard Museum).  These are great!  And, may be a whole new set of World's Largest Things.  Watch out, Minnesota - the Wisconsonites are catching up!!!

Catchup

....or, more appropriately, catching up.

Tees off to California! Postcards off to Texas! NEW T-Shirt design at the printers! (Members will see 'em first - inspired by the 2005 Zippy the Pinhead strip featuring the WLCoWSVoWLT! Emails being replied to! Calls about Upcoming Appearances being made! And, sorting out the big clot o' images and postcards from the past 35 days of intensive travel and Big Things spotting.

Thanks for watching, and there's always more stuff in the pipeline - the Flickr Photo Blog is now caught up to July 27th.

-E

From the Email Inbox: Fanning MO Rocking Chair

From: GG
To: <info@WorldsLargestThings.com>
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 11:32 AM
Subject: worlds largest

Erika, Did you hear about the worlds largest rocking chair in Fanning, MO.? They are going for the Guinness record in a couple weeks. fanning66outpost.com


Also on your list. unfortunately they tore down Noah's Ark in St. Charles on 08-28-2007. To put up what? You guessed it, a shopping mall.

G.

Oooh, didn't hear about the Rocking Chair record - thanks for the tip! And, always sad to see another roadside attraction go, especially for a mall or parking lot or the like... Thanks for keeping me posted on Missouri Big Things!
-Erika Nelson, Director
World's Largest Things, Inc.<

Chicken crosses the road, then abandoned by thief

Why did the chicken cross the road? In the case of Jerry Sleater's 5-foot, 400-pound bright blue rooster, that's apparently as far as whoever was trying to steal it could get it.

When the 76-year-old Eastern Washington man went to get his newspaper Thursday morning, the big bird named Rudy was lying beside the road.

Sleater has kept the metal rooster perched on his property south of Kennewick for two years and says, "Rudy is a family pet. He doesn't go anywhere, but he's part of the family."

Sleater said he thinks that whoever was trying to steal Rudy got spooked after pushing the oversized rooster down a dirt embankment.

He said he purchased Rudy two years ago from a yard ornament store that was going out of business.

From the Email Inbox: world largest egg

From: Kyle Ferguson

To: info@worldslargestthings.com

Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 3:58 PM

Subject: world largest egg

 

you may call those  'world's largest egg' eggs, but they fucking are not.  don't call a fake, wire mesh pretend egg an egg, and compete it for world's largets egg, it is not a fucking egg. It's an egg representation at best, they're completely different things you fucking idiot USA hicks.

 

 

Our reply:  Oh, thanks for clearing that up!  (sarcasm, in case you don't get it)

You can send a reply, too, to our foul-mouthed, humourless friend at tool_aenima_@hotmail.com

From the Email Inbox: IMLS Bookshelf Award

From the Email Inbox as well as snail-mail, we just received notice that WLT Inc. "has been selected to receive the IMLS Connecting to Collections Bookshelf from the second round of applications. Congratulations from all of us at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)." There was an application process, and we will receive an information database, books, and other AV materials to help us plan and care for our collections.

Thanks, IMLS! And Thank You, grantwriters!

(MUCH more interesting email than the egg rant, dontcha' think? They came in together - just shows the wide wide range of our audience!)

Great KHC lecture in Pittsburg

Just back from another Kansas Humanities Council lecture about World's Largest Things as they relate to rural culture... This time, speaking to a crowd at the Kansas Housing Conference, as their breakfast keynote speaker. One of the highlights was receiving a speakers gift, which was purchased at a Kansas Products Only store (Kansas Originals in Wilson), and just happens to be made by one of my neighbors. Funny - I could have walked over there and asked for one, but instead drove 345 miles both way to get one of my own...

Home Again - for a bit!

GREAT trip to Louisville, with some additional WL Things Sightings - short list includes W.L. Baseball Bat, W.L. Bat (you'll see in the Flickr postings what I mean...), some very scary Santas from Santa Claus Indiana (where the small Art Car in the WLT fleet turned 240,000 - how appropriate), and a brand new place saving Roadside Architecture! More as I catch up on what's been happening while I've been on the road...

Thanks, WLT Fans! We handed out over 750 postcards promoting WLT Inc. and the website to get those stories out there. Embarrased to tell the last person at the truck stop (11:00 p.m. last night) that he had the last one of the ones I brought for the event... Yay!

Workin', Emailin', and Writin'

It's been a great catch-up set of days, including:

 

Direction-finding for the giant Doctor's Bag in the Wlimington DE area, slogging through Weekly Whats Large Where columns (getting there!  Just a few more dates needed for August), uploading images to the image blog, responding to an extremely nice letter from a man in Audubon Iowa, detailing his personal experiences as one of the structural builders of the World's Largest Bull, sending off products to members and fans, and ordering a new bit of merchandise for the museum (members, you'll find out first!). 

 

Heading out Wednesday for a show in Lousiville, just a block over from the World's Largest Baseball Bat, then a lecture in Pittsburgh Kansas to a Housing Conference, Community Art Car Painting in St. Joseph Missouri, and then we'll be in the middle of August.

 

Keep on Living Large, and thanks for all the eyes and info gatherers out there along the American Roadside.

Re: Where's the World's Largest Doctor's Bag?

From: "DP

To: <info@worldslargestthings.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 11:45 AM
Subject: Where's the World's Largest Doctor's Bag?

I couldnt find its address for that. I know it is located in Wilmington, DE. Id really appreciated if u found the address or directions for that. Many thanks



Hi there - sorry for the delay, but we've been on the road for a week or so, and I needed to get out the Wilmington area map with the circle on it... While I didn't write down the address, I believe I located it on Google Maps while cross-referencing - If I'm looking at it right, the giant doctors bag should be here:

39.698220, -75.654480

Not sure if this is considered Newark DE, Newport, Wlimington, or something else alltogether.

Nearest major navigation points would be Christiana hospital (which is a bit south and west of the Dr. Bag) and the Hale-Byrnes House...(which is just across Hwy 7/Hwy 4 to the East).

The Doctors Bag is sitting on the NE corner of a large building (medical? doctors offices?) that faces Stanton Christiana Road (Hwy 7/Hwy 4). You actually access it from Twin C Lane

Hope this helps, and gets you there! If you do go and see, would you write back with the business name in the large building, and address, so future seekers can have clearer directions?

Thanks for asking!
-Erika Nelson, Director, World's Largest Things, Inc.

More Hobo Soup Fans

Those pics will also be appearing soon on the WLT Flickr Photo blog, but in the meantime, here's what another Hobo Soup fan says, from a graphic design perspective:

 

http://www.draplin.com/2008/07/post_319.html

 

And, a follow-up from the original designer of the label, Dick Stuck (Really!  That's his name!):

 

From Dick Stuck, Minneapolis, Minn., to his grandson Eric out in Portland,

"Eric, I got a very big kick out of the Hobo Soup you mounted on the web.

At the time I did that label, the originator of the soup, Lem Kaercher was in the state legislature. They happened to have a Saturday session when I took the finished art to Lem in the House of Representatives. He dropped everything and walked around and showed it to every one in the chambers. Forget the State's business, let's take care of the important business ... a soup label.

It's still the same label, and the soup is still in stores all over. I wish I were getting a percentage. I have an exhibit of my stuff at the Old Log Theater. No sales yet, but its only been up a week.

I really hope we can all get together again soon.

Love, Grandpa"

Best thing I've read all week. Hands down.

From the Catsup Bottle Lady, regarding the Hawaii Pineapple destruction...

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Judy DeMoisy

To: Worlds Largest Things

Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 10:00 AM

Subject: Re: Freshest Weekly What's Large Where

on the way to work, but gotta say that the reduction of the pineapple was an inspiration for my first press release announcing that the catsup bottle's distant cousin was an example of what we did not wan to happen with our bottle! I lived in Honolulu and the pineapple has upside down Minihunas painted on it, they are like trolls or elves in Hawaii.....spelling is probably worng, but I bet the loss of elevation made the spirits angry!!!!! I used to laff at the pineapple and play with my girls because the roads wind around so much on the island that one second you are looking out of the left side of the car and the next the pineapple has "moved" to the right side view from the car! Now that was cool!!!!! gotta run, late!!!!! thanks again for joining us for the fest!!! Love, Judy

 

Golden Spike, Council Bluffs IA

See?!?  HUGE!!!  This was the first shot from the vehicle - base stands approx. 7' tall.

According to Roadside America, the monument is 56' tall, and marks the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad. The monument's dedication, April 28, 1939, coincided with Omaha's premiere showing of the film, "Union Pacific." Recently refurbished.

YAY!!! W.L. Golden Spike is HUGE!!!

Just returned from the Corning Iowa show, and will post pics here and on Flickr, but had to say YAY!!! I HEART WORLDS LARGEST THINGS! Took a detour through Council Bluffs, with a tiny scrap of paper that had directions (maybe) to the World's Largest Golden Spike. Yes, they were correct, and yes, it's HUGE! Yay! You'll see...

Products In the Mail

Sent off a tee and some postcards, as a result of the latest WLT Big Idea mailing. Also, packing for tomorrow's trek to Corning Iowa for an Art Car Show and some Big Things scouting...

From the Snail Mail In-Box: W.L. Pumpkin Pie, Circleville Ohio

From the back of the vintage postcard:

 

The World's Largest Pumpkin Pie is baked annually for the Circleville Pumpkin Show, by Lindsey's Bake Ship, Circleville,, Ohio.  Weight:  273 lbs., Recipe: 32.5 lbs. pie dough, 12 gal. pumpkin, 36 lbs. sugar, 12 doz. eggs, 4 lbs. cornstarch, 1 lb. salt, 1 lb. spices, 102 lbs. milk.  Bake 6 hours - cool 6 hours - and serve.  Cost - $61.08.

W.L. Ice Cream Cone, Wadena (Verndale) MN

We're back home for a day from a Minnesota trip, with great WL Things spottings - see pics as they are uploaded on the WLT Flickr Page.

 

This is an oversized ice cream cone that used to sit in a park, downtown Wadena.  A few years ago, I noticed it was missing, but re-emerged at a private residence south of Wadena on MN 71 - Yay! 

 

Next up, "Scout" participates in Corning Iowa's Art Car event this weekend...

W.L. Last Supper Light Bright for sale on Ebay

Oh, so sad to see another World's Largest Thing looking for a home...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-WORLDS-LARGEST-LITE-BRITE-Last-Supper-5-x-10_W0QQitemZ230272295027QQihZ013QQcategoryZ20158QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

The pegged image itself measures approximately 4'9" tall by 9'9" wide and is comprised of exactly 124,418 brand new, original Lite-Brite pegs. After running out of clear/white pegs from my initial bulk peg order from Hasbro, I had to buy out the entire Lite-Brite stock of every Toys-R-Us, Wal*Mart, and Target in a 15 mile radius several times over just to replenish the shortage of pegs in that color!

               An actual Lite-Brite toy has a black background which utilizes blank spaces as "black", but does not have actual black pegs. For artistic and Guinness certification purposes (now an official record, see below), I was unable to leave blank spaces. What to do? Unused pegs were painted black with several layers of a special glossy paint made specifically for plastics. The result is a strong-bonded paint that doesn't chip or flake in the slightest.

               The pegs are fixed to the "canvas" with 8 layers of glue. Not just any glue, but non-fogging cyano-acrylate (the most expensive and hard-to-find of the super glues). This non-fogging glue was chosen for its unequaled bonding strength and the fact that it wouldn't discolor the pegs, inhibiting light transmission.

Corn of Corns

Brilliant!  An ear of corn made of ears of corn, billed as the World's Largest Ear of Corn, Alta Iowa.

W.L. Velvet Elvis for sale on Ebay

Need a World's Largest of your very own?  This one's a beauty...

http://cgi.ebay.com:80/The-Worlds-Largest-Velvet-Elvis-painting_W0QQitemZ330252839031QQihZ014QQcategoryZ551QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Paperwork

After a great weekend in Collinsville IL for the 10th annual Catsup Fest with the World's Largest Bottle of Catsup, it was time to catch up on some paperwork.  So, we're now registered for the first three classes through the Kansas Small Business Develoment Center, working on an updated budget for actual expenses for the upcoming Society for Commercial Archeology conference, and wrapped up outstanding invoices for the most recent issue of "Big Idea" (now in mailboxes across the state!)

 

We're back on the road for about a week, so keep on Living Large during our absence!

 

-Erika Nelson, Director, WLT Inc.

Newest Issue of "Big Idea" goes out today!

You should be receiving them soon.

And, we're off tomorrow to Collinsville to the World's Largest Bottle of Catsup SummerFest, with a small portion of the collection. See ya' on the road!

-Erika

World's Largest Things and the Kansas Arts Commission

.. a great combination! We've been working our tails off here, re-vamping the short-term goals of World's Largest Things, making smaller portable sections of the Collection to keep it mobile while Big Mobile Museum Development continues, and doing some grant-writing to help out with the various stages of development.

We'll be bringing an Illinois/Missouri/Route 66 collection with us to the upcoming Collinsville Catsup Festival this weekend.

Newsletters are folded and ready for address labels.

And, in the snail-mail today, a notification from the Kansas Arts Commission that we've received our first grant! It's earmarked for developing the financial bookkeeping side of WLT Inc., as well as support for attending the Society for Commerical Archeology conference in Albuquerque, NM.

Yay, Kansas Arts Commission!

Yay, World's Largest Things!

Yay, World's Largest Bottle of Catsup!

-Erika Nelson, Director, WLT Inc.

World's Largest Golden Spike, Council Bluffs IA

Gotta stop by and see!  Not far from our region, and there IS an upcoming Minnesota trip in the works...

 

Golden Spike Monument:
Address: Council Bluffs, IA [Show Map]
Directions: 9th Ave. just east of South 21st St.
Hours: Daylight hours.