Worlds Largest Things, Inc., home of the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things. Here's the scoop on the latest from World's Largest Things, Inc. Official Home Page: www.WorldsLargestThings.com
Either the riders had shrunk, or it was one ginormous skateboard.
Motorists driving Thursday morning on Main Street couldn't help but be all agog when they saw a 31 1/2-foot-long skateboard on the bed of a tow truck from Michigan.
Residents will have plenty of opportunity to check out the world's largest skateboard. Skateboarding enthusiast Jen Stewart of Jen's Deli in Wilmington acquired the skateboard, and she said it will show up at local parades and serve as a stage at fundraisers for the Clinton County Skatepark Association.
Its first appearance will be a 5 p.m. Nov. 7 fundraiser at the Clinton County Family YMCA for a costume dodgeball tournament.
The huge skateboard, a product of an engineering class project, is recognized as the world's largest skateboard in the 2009 edition of the "Guinness Book of World Records." In order to qualify to be in the book, a "Big Wheel" skateboard has to be operational just like a normal skateboard.
"There's no motors, no brakes, and it moves side to side. It has a 50-foot turning radius. Takes 12 people to ride," an elated Stewart said Thursday after her first time on board.
A while back, Stewart and her father Dan talked about building a float for the upcoming second annual Holidazzle Parade in Wilmington.
"So we thought it would be really cool to build a skateboard for the parade. And we thought if we're going to go to the time and trouble to build a skateboard, why don't we build the world's largest skateboard?" Jen recalled.
She began googling to find out how big the largest existing skateboard is and heard about this 31-1/2 feet long board. Jen's subsequent phone call was answered by an engineering professor at Bay de Noc Community College located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The professor told Jen it was funny she had called because he and his students were thinking of putting the skateboard up for sale the following week, and he asked her whether she wanted it. After an exchange of e-mails, Stewart bought the skateboard, with all the money going to Special Olympics, Toys for Tots, and to the school's engineering department to engineer a special walker for a man with a handicap so he can exercise.
The community college's engineering department regularly takes on these larger-than-life projects, according to Stewart. The department also can lay claim to having built the world's largest tricycle. As a learning experience, they build the world's largest things and then sell them with the proceeds going to charities.
There are still some logistics to figure out with the skateboard, Stewart acknowledges.
"We're excited. Maybe we can be in the 'Guinness Book of World Records' for riding the longest distance on the world's largest skateboard. So, we're hoping to get some sort of world record along with it," she said.
"I pity the fool who wants to build a bigger one. Because how are they going to move it?" laughs Stewart.
WLT Inc. is a federally recognized 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, established to research, collect, and disseminate information relating to the history, preservation, production, and promotion of Roadside Vernacular Architecture known as World's Largest Things.
We collect stories of rural communities who have chosen to erect a World's Largest Thing, which often serves as a key to understanding community identity. We collect these stories through photo-documentation of the sites and primary and secondary research, and share the stories and images with the rest of the world through articles, lectures, community programs, home website and associated online blog and image archives. These community icons and their stories are used in an effort to promote economic development in the represented communities through tourism, community-building, aid in marketing or branding of their community, and renewed interest in rural life.
One of our major educational outreach tools is a Mobile Museum which houses photographs and stories of these rural communities as illustrated through their World's Largest Thing. The museum also holds the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things, which features miniature replicas of World's Largest Things, used as a catalyst for sharing these unique community profiles. The interactive nature of the museum speaks to all ages, and creates an atmosphere conducive to learning in a unique, approachable way. We liken the WLCoWSVoWLT Mobile Museum to a cross between the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and a Bookmobile.
We recently retired the old Mobile Museum, and are embarking on the development of a new, expanded mobile educational unit. As the collection has grown, we outgrew the original grassroots version. We need help in developing a fundraising campaign package, for use in presentations to potential corporate and foundation sponsors.
The nuts-and-bolts operations of World's Largest Things has been supported mainly by volunteer hours (we have no paid staff), with memberships covering costs for membership letters, website maintenance, and grants funding specific projects. We simply do not have the capacity to develop a professional campaign with our current volunteer personnel, and cannot expand our capacity without sponsorship of the current project.
We are looking for an information packet that will explain the concept of the museum, showcase the plans for new Mobile Museum development, and make the case for sponsorship of the project. The 'hook' is there with the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things, while the importance of the project to sustaining rural culture through the sharing of the stories is harder to convey. We need help in presenting this fun concept in a serious way to people who have the resources to fund the development.
We feel that our project examines an important port of our national identity, which is rapidly disappearing. The preservation of these icons doesn't quite fit into the established preservation programs, even though the communities that create and care for them know the importance of their World's Largest Things. Through the increased awareness of these unique monuments and the stories behind them, we act as a catalyst for economic development and rural renewal, as well as documenting a marginalized section of roadside culture.
Thank you for your consideration, and please, don't hesitate to contact us for more information.
-Erika Nelson, Director
World's Largest Things, Inc., home of the World's Largest Colleciton of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things.
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NEW WLT Sideshow Banner Poster
Glossy, full color, 11" x 17"
Price includes shipping and handling
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11" x 17" Sideshow Poster
You can now order a poster of the first WLT Sideshow Banner that will make up the new traveling exhibit, due to make its first appearance in May, 2010. Poster is glossy, full color, 11" x 17", and features paintings of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things.
Price includes shipping and handling
