Seasonal Displays

!Seasonal Displays

A slideshow containing images by photographer Fred Scruton.

Midwest Region

Midwest

Ron and Betty Manolio's Eggshelland (2013 final year) in Lyndhurst, Steve Kaselak's Jellybeanville (currently active) in Euclid, and Jeannie Tagle's yard display in Conneaut, Ohio

From a small scale beginning in 1957 to 2013 – the year after Ron’s death – Ron and Betty Manolio filled their suburban Cleveland front yard with real hand-painted (by Ron) eggshells.  Based on Betty’s graph paper designs, new themes and figures appeared annually.  A three-generational-family-installation-project overseen by Ron and Betty in later years, sometimes more than 30,000 eggshells were needed.  The Lyndhurst, OH Fire Department sent a hook and ladder truck yearly allowing fireman photographers to capture the full Busby Berkeley overhead effect,.  As of 2019, a local preservationist group, the Euclid Beach Boys has for several years arranged to display sections of Eggshelland at indoor Cleveland Easter-time location

Ronald Manolio photographing visitors at Eggshelland; Lyndhurst, OH 2010
Ronald Manolio photographing visitors at Eggshelland; Lyndhurst, OH 2010
The final Eggshelland tribute to Ron Manolio; 2013
The final Eggshelland tribute to Ron Manolio; 2013

 

Steve Kaselak lives in the Euclid, OH family home of his childhood and he’s decorated the house and yard at Easter-time since he was a young boy in the 1960’s.  Since the late 1980’s, the full scale Jellybeanville extravaganza has been on annual display, and like Eggshelland, its become a local tradition that brings generations of visitors.  Jellybeanville is a mixture of hand-crafted figures and commercial purchases that change annually: for example, Steve’s wooden cutout mother is always in residence, wearing a new dress every year.  On Easter Sunday, Steve is nowhere to seen (no doubt resting from the one-man two-week installation), but the Easter Bunny (AKA Peter Cottontail) comes to Jellybeanville and spends the day handing-out basket of treats, greeting the constant stream of visitors, and posing for pictures.  Jellybeanville raises money for a domestic violence center, gets lots of local media coverage, and in 2019, this photographer was there 24/7:

Mother and Sister
Mother and Sister; 2019
Peter Cottontail; Jeallybeanville 2017
Peter Cottontail; Jeallybeanville 2017
Fred Photographer
with Fred Photographer; 2019

After buying a shopping cart full of skeletons for her display in about 2018, the plastic-bone creatures began to linger around Jeannie Tagle’s property long after the annual Halloween ghouls had disappeared from other Conneaut, OH yards.  Now seen year around, Jeannie also uses the skeletons to celebrate holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and St. Patrick’s Day.  Easter 2020 occurred during the COVID Virus lock-down toilet paper shortage, giving the oft-feared and misunderstood skeletons a chance to offer free rolls and accrue some community service appreciation:

Jeannie Tagle Easter display; Conneaut, OH 2020
Jeannie Tagle Easter display; Conneaut, OH 2020

See also:

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