'Eggshelland' creator Ron Manolio of Lyndhurst dies from blood infection

LYNDHURST, Ohio - The mastermind behind Eggshelland has passed away, and his wife says 2013 will be the last year the display will be shown in their Lyndhurst yard.

According Ron Manolio's wife Betty, her husband passed away Tuesday at Regency Hospital from a blood infection, stemming from an infected tooth.

Betty said this year's display with be a "goodbye display" and the last one.

Eggshelland is a unique Easter display, presented by Ron and Betty Manolio. For more than 50 years, the entire front yard is transformed into different eggshell mosaic designs, always including a 50-foot cross and the mascot Easter Bunny.

The display began with 750 shells back in 1957.

Eggshelland was located at 1031 Linden Lane in Lyndhurst. Eggshelland has a different theme each year, and is known to attract people from all over the region.

“The basic idea is to think of something that children can be recognized easily,” Betty Manolio told NewsChannel5 in 2010.

The story of the holiday display became available as a documentary on DVD a couple of years ago.

“I knew a documentary was inevitable because there were a lot of people that have burning questions about Eggshell Land and a lot of them have been coming here for years and years and years," producer Julie Matthews said in 2010.

The documentary follows the Manolios for months before Easter to show how the display comes together.