Wis. Town Plans Egg Battle Re-Enactment

Link : http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=817&ncid=757&e=10&u=/ap/20041001/ap_on_fe_st/egg_battle


EGG HARBOR, Wis. - Plans to re-enact the egg battle that led to the naming of this town in 1825 were simply too true to be good, state officials have decided.



The Department of Natural Resources said Saturday's event must use plastic eggs, not the real thing, in depicting the historic egg-throwing battle between crews of two boats docked in the harbor on Lake Michigan's Green Bay.


Organizer George Bisbee initially said he wanted to use 3,000 real eggs to re-enact the fight, although he later said he had exaggerated the number.


"It just got so controversial, and I know there are some concerned citizens out there," Bisbee said. "I had plastic eggs as a backup plan all along, so there will be no environmental impact."


After Bisbee announced his plans for a true-to-life egg fight, shoreline property owners and others called the DNR to complain, said Tom Hansen, DNR warden supervisor in Green Bay.


"We've asked that the real eggs not be used, and we will be prepared to enforce that request," Hansen said. "It just wasn't appropriate. With 3,000 eggs, that would be 250 pounds of protein and organic matter entering the bay. I can't allow that while still writing people tickets for dropping a candy wrapper."


Hansen said eggs are breeding grounds for bacteria, and the invasive zebra mussels growing on the bottom of the bay would feast on the calcium shells.


The original egg fight among sailors was apparently a spur-of-the-moment release of tension, as recounted by Green Bay diarist Elizabeth Baird, who happened to be sailing by on another ship.


The egg fight and other attractions at Saturday's event will raise money for local scholarship funds.