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The whole ball of wax

What’s red, waxy and has taken four years to make? If you guessed Emilie Lewis’ wax egg made from red cheese wrappers, you’re right. The local high school student began the “project” on Thanksgiving weekend in 2007.
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Emilie Lewis and her mom, Janet, have been building a wax egg out of Baby Bell cheese wrappers for the last four years. Photo by Jenny Jelen

What’s red, waxy and has taken four years to make? If you guessed Emilie Lewis’ wax egg made from red cheese wrappers, you’re right.

The local high school student began the “project” on Thanksgiving weekend in 2007. Despite having a mild case of lactose intolerance, Emilie has managed to make the egg grow.

It now measures in at six inches tall, 15 inches wide and weighs almost 2.3 pounds. It has outgrown the mug it used to sit in, but the family pulled it out to Northern Life when the paper visited the family’s home. Emilie described the texture of the egg as “candle-like — like a really rough candle.”

Emilie and her mom, Janet, haven’t been alone in building the egg. Friends and family have contributed wrappers to the cause. “People are always saving for us,” Janet said.

Once Janet received a donation of cheddar-flavoured wrappers, but said the orange wax didn’t complement the traditional red wax quite as well. The orange wax has since been covered up.

Emilie Lewis and her mom, Janet, have been building a wax egg out of Baby Bell cheese wrappers for the last four years. Photo by Jenny Jelen

Emilie Lewis and her mom, Janet, have been building a wax egg out of Baby Bell cheese wrappers for the last four years. Photo by Jenny Jelen

The makers of Baby Bell cheese know about the project — they sent the family a coupon for a free package of cheese.

With the help of donations and more family meals, the mother-daughter team plans to keep adding to the wax egg. Janet said she hopes to eventually make it weigh at least five pounds. At that point, she said she’d like to cut it open, just to see what it looks like inside, but not before submitting it to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Janet said there are no other wax eggs in the record books. “How many people make the world’s biggest wax ball,” she asked with a laugh.

Both Emilie and Janet have agreed to continue building the egg because they enjoy it. “I think we both have fun with it,” Janet said.

Anyone interested in making donations to the wax egg is welcome to drop off red Baby Bell wrappers at the Rhythm Circle Janet runs at O’Connor Park on Wednesday nights from 7 to 9 p.m.

Out of the Ordinary is a series of articles celebrating the uniqueness of Sudburians. If you’d like to be featured in this section, or know of someone who should, e-mail [email protected].

-Posted by Arron Pickard


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