At a local paint shop, two high school boys tossed a baseball when a bad throw or catch later, it was smothered in paint. The two let the paint dry overnight, which sparked an idea in Michael Carmichael’s mind.
He now owns the world’s largest ball of paint at his home in Alexandria, Ind.
Though he donated his original ball to a children’s home after the 1,000th coat of paint, Carmichael started to paint a new ball with his three-year-old son in 1977. In 2004, the Guinness World Records named that one the world’s largest ball of paint with about 17,994 layers. The paint ball was 9-foot-1 in circumference.
“We were just goofing off,” his wife, Glenda, said. “But it ended up being really popular.”
Visitors have come from 33 countries and all 50 states to visit it. Visitors get to add to the legacy by adding a layer of paint to the ball, which now has more than 23,000 layers and weighs more than 3,000 pounds.
Muncie’s Minnetrista is celebrating its 25-year anniversary by honoring 25 weird and wonderful reasons to love East Central Indiana.
Minnetrista asked the community to decide which strange places to include in the exhibit through an online survey, and the world’s largest ball of paint was one of 25 things chosen.
“There’s so many great things [in East Central Indiana], it was an honor to be chosen,” Carmichael’s wife said.
Although the actual ball is not on display, the smaller version with 1,000 coats of paint and pieces of the largest paint ball are featured.
Allison Schroer, Minnestrista’s visitor experience manager, said the exhibit is different than anything Minnetrista has previously done because it does not have one specific theme.
“We wanted to focus on the legacy of our community,” Schroer said.
She said the creators of the exhibit collaborated individually with each place to create a representation.
A “Garfield” wall in the exhibit is macaroni-and-cheese orange and displays 35 shelves of memorabilia. Fairmount, Ind., is home to Jim Davis, “Garfield” creator, and Paws Inc., the “Garfield” studio.
The exhibit displays the addresses of the Delaware County Garfield Trail and the Grant County Garfield Trail. Both trails have “Garfield”-themed statues, including a statue at the Ball State Alumni Center called “The Graduate.”
Another exhibit at Minnetrista includes a display with an authentic red booth and mosaic light surrounded by red brick walls for Pizza King. Two brothers in Lafayette, Ind., created the pizzeria in the 1950s. Following a business dispute, one brother moved and opened the Muncie chain.
Schroer said the goal of the project is to encourage people to not only come to the exhibit, but to take pride in their community. She said the exhibit challenges the myth that people have to leave Indiana to discover something weird and wonderful.
Bill Pitts was very proud to have his business, The Lemon Drop, chosen for the exhibit. Pitts said his little, yellow-brick restaurant operates under the motto “Quality never goes out of style.”
“When people get tight with money, they will still pay for quality, which is why we’re still in business,” he said.
The Lemon Drop is the oldest restaurant in Anderson, Ind. For 52 years, locals have known the restaurant for its ’50s diner atmosphere, complete with burgers, malts and shakes.
However, it is also known for the outspoken phrases in a red block lettered displayed outside the restaurant. This week, the sign reads a cheerful, “Go get ‘em Colts,” but sometimes, Pitts stirs up commotion with his words.
When restaurants began creating non-smoking sections, he had his on thoughts on the topic.
“A no smoking section in a restaurant is like a no peeing section in a pool,” the sign read.
Pitts said he chooses topics that are newsworthy and controversial, but he tries to steer clear of religion and politics.
In creating his section of the exhibit, he wanted his current and past employees to be featured.
“My employees are really important to me,” Pitts said. “I’m nothing without them.”
Minnetrista created a community passport that encourages people to visit all 25 places featured. The exhibit is open until March 30 and will have monthly visitors by those featured in the exhibit.
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