WINLOCK — All eggs are fated to crack under the mounting forces of time and inevitability. As it turns out, the World’s Largest Egg is no different.
Instead of crumbling under the weight of that reality though, the pride of Winlock is bound to rise like an unhatched Phoenix and rest atop its lofty perch in the long shadow of the old Egg and Poultry Cooperative warehouse.
Cindy Malarz is a member of the Winlock Lions Club. Malarz is also, as she put it, “Chairman for getting the egg refurbished.”
Malarz says that it’s been quite a task to get the egg prepared for its repairs. Throughout the process, Malarz says she made sure to gather public input on the project, including on the new design.
She also posted photos of the egg being lowered and nested onto a trailer so that no one would be alarmed when the great egg came up missing.
Over the years, the egg has developed a few soft spots and cracks to its exterior. And because no egg’s bloom is impervious to the erosive effects of water, familiar tinges of rain-sprouted moss have grown over those breaches.
“Right now, our goal is just to get it up there and clean it and make it presentable before Egg Days,” Malarz said.
In addition to her Lions Club duties, Malarz serves as the vice president and community manager for Umpqua Bank in downtown Winlock, near the egg’s normal perch. She noted that the famed egg is a long-incubating source of community pride, so any missteps would not go over easy.
The World’s Largest Egg was crowned in 1989 by Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
“It amazes me the number of people who stop by during the course of the day just to take pictures,” said Malarz. “There’s a lot of tourists that come through.”
The egg was last painted during the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl-winning season just a few years back. However, that paint job was only to apply the Seahawk logo, so it did not address the underlying issues to the oblong icon.
“It’s never really been taken down and had work done on it,” said Malarz of the egg.
Today, the egg is strapped to a trailer at Fat Boys Hot Rods a few blocks south of its normal roost. The well-equipped custom hot rod shop will do all of the restoration work, including weather-resistant paint and fiberglass repair on those troublesome soft spots.
When it came around to taking the egg down, there were two things to consider. One is the timing of the annual Egg Days celebration in June, and the other was football season.
“We really didn’t want to take it down while the Seahawks were still in contention,” Malarz said.
Still, the new incarnation of the World’s Largest Egg will revert it back to its original all white design in homage to the town’s long history of egg and poultry agriculture, especially leghorns.
“Overwhelmingly the decision was to have it go back to eggshell white,” said Malarz.
It’s possible though that another popular Eggtown insignia could wind up on the egg at some point. With a nod to the local high school mascot, Malarz hinted, “Maybe we’ll put a Cardinal on there if they have a really good season.”
Most importantly, Winlock Egg Days are scheduled for June 18-19 this year and the annual theme is “An Eggstra Happy Day.”
Noting the theme, Malarz added, “And it will be an extra special day for me if we can get that egg up there in time.”
