Hannah Schmidt, 10, of Sac City, tries to clean the bottom of her shoes between rounds of packing.

Workers wear gloves so they can touch the hot popcorn ball material without it sticking to their hands.

The backs of the participants' shirts show their determination.

Jack Bensley of Odebolt catches freshly made popcorn ball material as it comes off the conveyor belt. Sac City Townsfolk attempted to build the world's largest popcorn ball. They have set the record twice before, only to be upstaged by Boy Scouts in 1997 and an Illinois popcorn maker in 2006. They spent all day on Saturday packing the sugary popcorn onto a platform. They want to bring the title back to Iowa.

The popcorn ball material is dumped from the pot onto a conveyor belt where it cools a little and then is dumped into buckets and then packed onto the ball.

 

More Popcorn Ball Drama!

 

Popcorn Ball Supremacy - March 3, 2009

In small town America, there's a ceaseless struggle underway for recognition. Sac City, Iowa, makes its mark as home of the World's Largest Popcorn Ball, a title the town lost for a time, but has snatched back with a new, super-sticky corn boulder.

 

 

Read the whole story on Roadside America's Trunkations pages:  http://www.roadsideamerica.com/blog/popcorn-ball-supremacy/

Why I Love My Job - Bowling Ball Field

During the recent Belger Arts Center opening, I met this wonderful man, who told me a bit about his bowling ball field in a small town south of Kansas City.  In today's mail, I received the full story:

I have this little slab house on 28 acres in the country.  I had a bowling ball a few years ago and told the grandkids who are onery as hell and bang around in this little house when they come to visit that a big bird had been on the property and they needed to go out on the trails I have mowed and find his nest.  They came in all excited after they found it.

I thought this is kinda fun so I got a couple of bowling balls at a garage sale the next week and then when they came out I had two nests.  Well, it went on for a year or two and I must have had about 18 bowling balls scattered around in nests all over the place and they came in after a search and yawned and said, "Grandpa, thems just bowling balls." 

Well what to do with 18 bowling balls.  I had a tent in the garage that the mice ate but the poles were functional so I took them up in this three acre field by the road and stuck them up in the thumb holes and people started stopping by asking what the hell is this?  I went out after the mail one day and there were two bowling balls just laying there by the mailbox. 

I kept adding to the collection and when I had over a hundred bowling balls somebody called the Kansas City newspaper and they came out and did an interview and put a picture of the whole silly thing on the front page.  I got calls from all over.  I did an interview with a radio station while I was on the crapper that morning.  A lady from the next little town called and asked if I needed any more bowling balls and I figured she had a couple so I said sure and she showed up with bowling balls sticking up beyond the back of her pickup and dumped a hundred and twenty more. It seems her sister bought a bowling alley and closed it and opened a furnature store at the location and dumped all the bowling balls out on her sisters farm.

Today there are more than 350 bowling balls in that field and it has taken on a life of it's own.  People are coming by all the time and whenever a friend comes by I save up my newly aquired bowling balls so they can put one up.  I have everybody who comes by put one up of my most recent aquisitions so they can't talk about the crazy old guy with the bowling ball field because they are an accessory and put one up, too.  We live 30 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri, outside a little town named Freeman. 

There you have it.  Well, except for the fact that it is a big deal in my little town that every new years eve I drop a bowling ball into a bucket of horse shit in front of city hall at midnight Rome time.  About 5 in the afternoon here.

2018 Update:  The Parkers have moved, so the bowling ball field is now closed.

Detour Art Show Images on Flickr

For those of you who  missed the opening, QueenODesign and NarrowLarry are now uploading their finds on Flickr:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/detourart/sets/72157615028556386/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23280022@N08/sets/72157615050436664/

Rare Visions/Detour Art Show Opening

Great event!  And, you can finally see some images, uploaded by photographers at the scene (AND, who just happen to have provided most of the collection - Miss Detour Art herself!)

 

Check out her Flickr Photo Stream here:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/detourart/sets/72157615028556386/

Raven

Ravendon Arkansas

 

http://www.weird-tourist-attractions.com/arkansas-tourist-attractions.html#E0195

KCUR Public Radio interview

Laura Spencer from KCUR stopped by the Belger Arts Center in Kansas City's Crossroads district for a pre-opening night look at the new Rare Visions/Detour Art show, on display through May 1st.

Listen for the final piece in the near future, or find it online once it's edited:

KCUR Kansas City Public Radio 89.3FM

And, come by and see the show!

Belger Arts Center

Goin' to Kansas City!

The Mobile Museum is on its way - here's to living large and outsider art!

Big Idea Volume 2 Number 2

Re-construction Started

The Kansas Collection of WSVs had been living happily on the front porch of the WLT Home Base, until a major wind eddy did some major damage.  We're now half-way to getting back to this point, and doing maintenance work on the background for re-installation. 

 

Hoping to have all of this done before leaving for Kansas City next week, but reconstruction takes more time than initial construction... No World's Smallest Versions were hurt in the damage, just the wooden cases themselves, and the glass and plexiglass. 

Another Book from a WLT Board Member

You may have already seen Brian and Sarah Butko's books on roadside attractions (titled "Roadside Attractions", and "Roadside Giants" - go figure!), and Brian is at it again - he's putting the finishing touches on a look at the recently destroyed Grandview Ship Hotel, formerly of Pennsylvania.

 

We'll keep you posted on publications dates!

 

Blog Posts of the Day, from Unusual Life

We love to be included!

 

http://unusuallife.com/2009/02/22/bill-gates-livin-large/

New and Renewing Members

Packets going out tomorrow to Renewing Members in:  Salina, Downs, Wichita, Inman, Lucas, Humboldt, and Kansas City Kansas, as well as New Members in Brooklyn NY and the Solomon Valley Highway 24 Heritage Association.  Thank to everyone for your continued support!

 

WLT on TV!

Just got our copy of the DVD in the mail yesterday, and the Driven By Vision episode featuring Lucas KS and all of our eccentricities airs in Canada on April Fools Day (Whoops - pre-empted by Easter.  April 15th).  The Ovation network has picked up the series, so the episode should air shortly after our Great White Northern Neighbors see the piece.  Find out more at their site:

 

http://www.visiontv.ca/Media/Releases/DrivenByVision.html

 

"Are We Still in Kansas?" - Wednesday, April 15, 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT
"Expect the Unexpected" is the official town motto of Lucas, Kansas – population 436. This tiny community is home to S.P. Dinsmoor's famed Garden of Eden: a collection of enormous cement sculptures depicting the ravages of big business, along with – incongruously – some of his favourite Bible stories. Lucas is also known for such curiosities as a museum of visionary art, a shrine of repurposed mutant Barbie dolls, and the ever-popular "Worlds' Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things."

WLT Biz Humming Along

Working on interpretive signage for the Mobile Museum, coming out of mothballs briefly for the Belger Art Center show opening March 6th, Kansas City

 

Re-insured said de-mothballed museum

 

Caught up on posting Weekly What's Large Where for members, and welcoming a new batch

 

Notice received from Kansas Arts Commission that last month's grant is in order, and organizational fingers are crossed for funding from the Legislature.  TBA.

 

Now, back to the endless Big Little Big list!

 

Good Weekend for World's Largest Things

The WLT Board met to hash out short-term and long-term strategy, as well as logistics for the upcoming Kansas City Belger Art Center Rare Visions/Detour Art Show. We're all in a wait-and-see by necessity, but support from members (we have 3 new since January!) is still strong, and we're known for doing a lot with a little.

Advice request: Is there an easy online calendar/scheduling system? Fans want to know about upcoming lectures and shows, so we're looking for an intuitive, social-network-friendly way of posting events.

Today's Project: Interpretive signage for the formerly Mobile Museum, and investigating insurance and licensing as a parade vehicle

Tonight's Project: New and renewing Member Packets, and Mailing List updates.

Tomorrow's Project: Completing above list, and remembering to enjoy the Big World out there in all of its Small Wonders.

Coffeyville Lecture today!

Join us at the Coffeyville Center for the Arts today for a Roadside Attractions lecture and dinner. Dinner at 6:30, lecture 7:30, call for tickets:

Cultural Arts Cabaret, "World's Largest Things, Roadside Attractions, 620-251-0088

Coffeyville Center for the Arts

Member packets off today

We welcome five new members and one renewing member, with packets in the mail today. All new and renewing members include a Genuine WLCoWSVoWLT Wooden Nickel, along with the normal premiuums. Your support helps us tell the story of World's Largest Things across the US.

Become a Member, get neat stuff, and help preserve Roadside Vernacular Architecture.

World's Largest Pencil now at City Museum, St. Louis MO

City Museum is now the proud owner of the World's Largest Pencil. This mother-of-all writing utensil stretches 76 feet long and weighs 21,500 lbs. It writes--and erases. It's a No. 2, so it's accepted for standardized testing.

From the City Museum website, via WLT fan email:

When World's Largest Pencil creator, Ashrita Furman, needed a place to keep his Giant Pencil, he had one choice: City Museum. As current holder of the World's Largest Underwear, the World's Largest Pencil fit right in. City Museum and many St. Louis citizens welcomed the arrival of the World's Largest Pencil on January 18, 2007.

Though the pencil arrived at City Museum in two pieces, City Museum plans to re-assemble this 76-foot, 21,500-pound bad boy. And, when City Museum is finished weatherproofing, sharpening, and writing with the World's Largest Pencil, we plan to add it to City Museum's outdoor MonstroCity. Where, exactly, hasn't been decided quite yet.

http://www.citymuseum.org/pencil.html

Wally's Eccentric Creations, Mt. Horeb Wisconsin

Wallace Keller from Mt. Horeb Wisconsin (home of the Mustard Museum) phoned this morning, to make sure we'd gotten his images of the amazing things dotting his property along Hwy. 78.  Giant clothespins, pirates, slinking beasts, and an amazingly put together hand drill are just the tip of the iceburg. 

 

He's had a colorful life, dabbling in antiquing and real estate along the way, and when he retired he just couldn't help but start something new.  He started making sculptures.  Lots and lots of sculptures.  He'd grown up on a farm, where, by necessity, he learned to weld and fix and tinker until things worked, and was a machinist in the Navy.  That, combined with his fabricating shop past (yes, another carrer path - when you're curious, they add up!) informed his current creations.

 

They're mostly old metal, combining bits and pieces to make what looks 'right', and there are more than a few Big Things hidden in the menagerie.  He said that the clothespin is one of the few 'new metal' pieces, but the hand drill is an amazing amalgamation of pre-used parts.  He's not sure what part of his brain generated the Big Stuff, he just likes 'em, and makes things that will stand out.

 

His work can be seen along Highway 78, only an hour from the Wisconsin Dells, and an hour from House on the Rock.  In the realm of metal sculpture, he's also well aquainted with Dr. Evermore (Tom Avery) and his giant Forevertron - they met in the 70s, and the friendship has been a source of inspiration (and scrap metal!) for Wally ever since.

 

You can also see his work in numerous books, including "Weird Wisconsin", and "Miracles of the Spirit".  Stop on by - he'd be glad to show you around!

They have ARRIVED! WLCoWSVoWLT Wooden Nickels

We put off fufilling new and renewing Membership Packets, in hopes that these lil' beauties would arrive for inclusion, and they just did!  A whole big(ish) box of Americana, going out to WLT Fans.  These are exclusive items, for New and Renewing Members or through the Belger Art Center Rare Visions show, coming up in March, Kansas City MO.

 

Whoop!

Kansas Arts Commission, We Love You.

And hope you feel the same about our newest grant proposal/request, in the mail today.

KIND Radio Friday Morning Show

Just recorded an interview with KIND Radio, Independence KS, about the upcoming Kansas Humanities Council lecture on World's Laregest Things and Roadside Attractions.  Event will be in Coffeyville, at the Coffeyville Center for the Arts, with dinner and a presentation.  Dinner starts at 6:30, lecture 7:30, contact the Center for details.

 

http://www.coffeyville.com/Culture.htm

 

You can listen to the interview online, which should air Friday morning:

 

https://radiotime.com/station/s_33169/KIND-FM_1029.aspx

 

We'll also post audio on our Blog, Facebook, MySpace, and Press section of the WLT online network.

 

Thanks for Living Large, in Kansas: As Big As You Think.

Wooden Nickels, Whats Large Where, and Members

All coming in, going out, and in the mail!  Member packets for the newest three will be slightly delayed, as our San Antonio Shipment of Wonderfullness just left Friday, and we wouldn't want to make a packet without the Newest Super-Special Limited Edition Premium!

 

Thanks for your patience, and welcome to 2009!

Writers Block, Unblocked.

...amazing what a deadline can do.

World's Largest Things is now caught up to the submission deadlines for the upcoming Think Big! articles for American Road magazine.

The first column should come out in the Spring 09 issue of the quarterly publication from Mock Turtle Press. One WLT Member has already subscribed (with some of the loot from his Christmas stocking), bringing stories of the American Road in glossy form to his mailbox.

American Road Magazine, now with World's Largest Things.