Life is Good

Soft spot for Peeps spreads in YorkBY MICHAEL AVOKWORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERYORK, Neb. - There's going to be a peep show at Wessels Living History Museum on March 15, and it has the full support of the local Chamber of Commerce.In fact, Todd Kirshenbaum, the chamber's executive director, is organizing it.Don't worry. This show is a community art project devoted to an Easter staple - Marshmallow Peeps.The chamber is asking adults and children to create art using Peeps as the main characters. Entries will be on display at the museum next month."The participants can make any sort of art display using the Marshmallow Peeps," Kirshenbaum said. "Last year, a friend of mine found an old Styrofoam turkey and hot-glued peeps all over - a Peeping Tom. We are going to go for more mainstream displays for this event, but we'll take some of the funnier ones, as well."State tourism officials will judge entries in several categories: kids 5 through 10, kids 11 through 15, young adults 16 through 23, and adults over age 24. There will be a "Peeple's choice" award, too. Winners will get ribbons, a supply of Peeps and gift certificates.It's the first year for York's communitywide contest, but Kirshenbaum is a veteran of smaller office contests."Last year, I took a vase and filled it with flowers and cut-up peeps to make Peepouri," he said. "The winning entry was Michael Jackson . . . the King of Peep. It was a collection of vignettes of M.J.'s life depicted in Peeps. Very funny."State tourism officials will be judges because the idea for the show came from that office.Mary Ethel Emanuel, a Lincoln author and longtime public relations and marketing manager for the state tourism division, conducted an annual Peep Art Show. .Emanuel died of pancreatic cancer in 2006 at age 54."She loved peeps and made little art displays in her office," Kirshenbaum said. "This kind of caught on, and it turned into a contest. I asked permission from the tourism office to do a version here, and they said 'yes,' and they will be the judges."Heather Hogue, an office assistant at the Nebraska Division of Travel and Tourism in Lincoln, said she and co-worker Michael Collins team up each year for their office contest. They once did a "Parade of Peeps" that featured more than 30 characters."One year we did a scene from the movie 'Fargo.' We did the wood-chipper scene. (The one where a kidnapper kills his accomplice and puts the body through a wood chipper). That was pretty gruesome. But it was fun."Hogue said they buy Peeps year-round, but usually they hit the discount stores the week after Easter."All the Peeps are on clearance, and we buy a lot of them," she said. Then, they sit in storage for nearly a year before the next contest. "Most of the Peeps we use are months old. Good to work with; not so good to eat."Kirshenbaum said he would be thrilled to get 20 entries in York, and he has heard that folks already are stocking up on Peeps"I love Peeps, always have. Mostly because they are goofy and I can stash them away for months and they are still yummy."Kirshenbaum noted the art projects have a long shelf life, too."There are still many of the exhibits on display in the state tourism office," he said. "Peeps never die." ,