Among Kansas roadside attractions, this one’s unbeatable

In Kansas, we have it all:

World’s largest sisal ball of twine (Cawker City), World’s Largest Outdoor Concrete Municipal Swimming Pool (Garden City), World’s Largest Hand-Dug Well (Greensburg), World’s Largest Prairie Dog (Oakley). And then, of course, there is Lucas with its concrete Garden of Eden and the town’s HUGE public toilet.

Comes now the World’s Largest Hand-Painted Czech Egg – Kansas’ newest roadside attraction.

The finishing touches were put on it this week.

Thirteen years in the making, the town of Wilson has created a lumbering 8,000-pound fiberglass and steel egg that’s 22 feet tall, 15 feet wide and painted in Czech designs to last into eternity.

Why you ask?

Because people in Wilson can do those things – with a little help from some companies in neighboring towns.

“We’d been saving up money to do this egg but we couldn’t find anyone to manufacture it,” said Jerry Florian, the Wilson Chamber of Commerce president. He credits Sharon Halloway, who was the town’s chamber president in 2003, with coming up with the idea. Major funding for the $16,000 egg came from LaVange Shiroky’s Revokable Trust Improvement Fund, as well as other grants from the Czech Republic, Midwest Energy, Smoky Hills Charitable Foundation and bake sales – because who doesn’t like a fruit-filled kolache with some egg.

Hess Services Inc. of Hays manufactured the egg; Maico Industries in Ellsworth made the gazebo the egg sits in.

And Wilson art teacher Christine Slechta, with the help of volunteers, created the traditional Czech design on the egg.

“Yeah, it’s a big egg – couldn’t get the chicken to come with it,” Florian joked.

But it may take some time to establish Wilson’s egg credentials – Winlock, Wash. claims the world’s largest egg as does Mentone, Ind., which also lays claim to being the Egg Basket of the Midwest. The town of Vegreville in Alberta, Canada, claims the World’s Largest Easter Egg.

Not to worry, Florian says. Wilson’s World’s Largest Hand-Made Czech Egg is already pulling off travelers on I-70 to visit.

“Oh, it’s been hundreds already,” Florian said. “Just two weeks ago – my wife and I have a soda shop – and people stop by. I don’t always know where they are from but the reason they came to Wilson was to see the egg. One of the couples was from New England. The other from Switzerland.”

The Ellsworth County town has a population of about 760 residents, many of Czechoslovakian descent. In Czech culture, the egg is often a symbol of new life. Chicken eggs are often hand painted at Easter time and the skill is passed down from grandmothers to mothers and daughters. The old way often involved using hot wax, a bent spoon stuck in a potato and a pie plate, said Slechta. In the big egg’s case, Sherwin Williams paint was used to make the paint durable to last through Kansas summers and winters.

Wilson is also known for its annual After Harvest Czech Festival. This year’s festival is July 28-30.

The egg will be dedicated at 3 p.m. on July 29 at the Ed and LaVange Shiroky Park.

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Among Kansas roadside attractions, this one’s unbeatable."