Teacher’s Collection Is

 ‘Egg-stra’  Special

By Nancy K. Crevier

Head O’ Meadow second grade teacher Sara Washicko recalled her eager anticipation of the holidays at her maternal grandmother Nana and great-aunt Boopie’s home in New Britain, especially Easter.

“They would hang our Easter baskets in the hall from the ceiling,” she said. A tiny chick made from pipe cleaners dangled down at the end of a string, just within reach of Ms Washicko, her three sisters, and her brother. The string was attached to a chocolate bunny in the basket, which also contained an envelope with $5 in it.

But on Aunt Boopie’s buffet in the dining room was the Easter present that has led to her love of finely crafted eggs, and a collection that numbers nearly 90.

“There would be gifts for us, always some kind of a decorative egg. I think they started giving us eggs at Easter when I was about 10 years old. When Nana and Aunt Boopie passed on,” said Ms Washicko, “we tried to keep the tradition going.”

So her mother continued to add to the siblings’ egg collections, and then as her mother grew older, Ms Washicko and her sisters continued to add to each other’s collections. “My brother stopped getting the eggs a long time ago,” she said.

“It was unspoken. No one ever decided to do it; we just carried on the tradition,” she said. Her husband, Al Washicko, a former Newtown elementary school teacher, contributed to the collection as well. Whenever he traveled on a field trip with his classes, he kept a look out in gift shops for unusual and beautiful eggs to give his wife. Over the years, said Ms Washicko, she has received eggs for many occasions, not just Easter. Nor does she receive them only from her family members.

“One lovely hand-painted egg I received from a girl, Kate Yackel, who was a former student both of us had,” said Ms Washicko. “She had visited China a few years ago, and when we made contact through Facebook, she sent me an egg she had picked up there for me. I was amazed that she had remembered about my egg collection,” said Ms Washicko.

If she spots a very special egg when she is out and about, Ms Washicko will not hesitate to buy it for herself, as well as a duplicate for one of her sisters. Most of the eggs do come with a special egg stand, but not all of them, so while she keeps her eyes open for those hard to find, one-of-a-kind eggs, she is also on the lookout for the stands on which to display them.

The eggs fill four shelves of a large curio cabinet in the corner of her family room. They are whimsical, artistic, and colorful. Many are fragile, but there are those, like the alabaster eggs, that are quite sturdy. Some are made from genuine chicken, duck, or goose eggs, while others are carved from wood, chiseled from stone, or made of paper maché. They are blown from glass and made of porcelain. Some are so tiny they barely fill the center of her palm, while others are large enough to require two hands for careful handling.

Because they come from near and far, and have come to her over the course of so many years, it is difficult for Ms Washicko to remember the origins of each egg. The Barbados mahogany egg, though, is unforgettable, having been purchased on their honeymoon. From her sister in New Mexico, a blown egg with a decided Native American look reflects the artistry of that desert state. A strip of fabric printed in a geometric design encircles the egg, with tiny stone beads and a chip of turquoise strung on natural string and wrapped about the fabric. A feather and a small, silver spoon run through and through the body of the egg.

Poised at the end of a delicate chain that is attached at the top of an ornate holder is an egg in which the scene of a panda gnawing on a branch of bamboo has been painted — from the inside. That egg came from one of her husband’s travels, said Ms Washicko.

Most precious, of course, is the very first egg that she remembers receiving from her Nana and Aunt Boopie. Like miniature French doors, ornately trimmed with gold and pearl beads, the front half of the pale pink goose egg opens wide to reveal a diorama. There, a porcelain Mother Goose wears a jaunty Easter bonnet and a crocheted shawl tied at the neck with a strand of golden thread. Her expression seems to say that she is quite pleased with her basket of pearl eggs, at her feet. A background of paper trees and flowers finishes the scene.

“This egg, and I think the egg from Kate, are extremely special to me,” said Ms Washicko.

The eggs are on display year around in her home, she said, and give her a great deal of pleasure when she has the time to admire them.

“Most of the time when I look at them, I think of Nana and Boopie. Holidays were always special with them, and fun. [The eggs] give me a lot of fond memories,” said Ms Washicko.

See a slide show of more of Ms Washicko’s egg collection at www.newtownbee.com (this story will be filed under the Features tab).