Tiny Georgia city claims title that other sites own

Actually, the record has been broken many times by other locales.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
HOMER, Ga. -- Nothing in this small town of sprawling green pastures and white picket fences distinguishes it from any other rural community in America, except for the sign posted at the Homer city limits proclaiming it the "Home of the World's Largest Easter Egg Hunt."
Never mind that the city of 950 people set the coveted Guinness World Record in 1985 or that it has been broken many times since. When it comes to Easter egg hunts no place, it seems, does it quite like Homer.
For 47 years, the 10-acre horse pasture on Mack Garrison's farm has been the site of the most popular Easter egg hunt in the South. About 5,000 children, with their parents in tow, come from Atlanta, about 70 miles south, and from as far away as North Carolina and Alabama to trample through the grass in their Easter Sunday best in search of 100,000 candy eggs.
Buried among them are 125 prize eggs that can be claimed for a live rabbit, a stuffed rabbit or an Easter basket filled with goodies.
"This is a family tradition that began when I was a kid," said Garrison, 51, whose grandfather started the hunt for children of people who worked in his sawmill.
What's changed
The event is as much a part of the Easter tradition in the South as sunrise service at the Baptist church. But in the competitive world of Easter egg hunting, Homer has fallen behind the times. Twenty-one years ago, it won the title by hiding 80,000 eggs, brought in fresh from a farm on Easter morning and boiled in cast iron pots over an open flame.
These days it takes a lot more eggs than that. Last Sunday, Georgia's Stone Mountain Park set the Guinness World Record with 301,000 plastic eggs, stealing the title from the reigning record-holder, the Rockford, Ill., Park District, which hid 292,686 eggs last year.
The modern Easter hunt has grown into one of the biggest rituals of spring, with cities trying to outdo each other in how many eggs they can hide and how many people hunt.
Just as Georgia and Illinois have battled over who has the busiest airport and the biggest aquarium, there is likely another fight on the horizon over which can hide the most Easter eggs. Organizers in Rockford said they are thinking about trying to regain the title next year.
If they do, Stone Mountain will be standing by to challenge them the next year.
"We all know that records are meant to be broken," said Christine Parker, a spokeswoman for Stone Mountain, a scenic park near Atlanta. "If someone breaks our record, we will probably go for it again."
Obsession
The obsession over hosting the biggest Easter egg hunt is an example of what some economists call a "winner-take-all" society. Everybody wants to be in first place because there is little regard for those who come in second or third. And cities are no exception.
"Cities see themselves as competing with one another for corporations, for a labor force, for baseball and football teams and for tourists. They are trying to get attention wherever and however they might get it," said Glenn Altschuler, a professor of American studies at Cornell University.
"One way to do that is what we might call the Guinness Book of World Records strategy, which is to have the largest cake manufactured in your city or setting the record for hiding Easter eggs. It is a way to put your city on the map and getting another 15 minutes of fame."
Setting a world record is not easy. A Guinness official flew in from London to observe the event at Stone Mountain and handed over the certificate on site. But in most cases, the event must be videotaped and well documented to prove that everything is accurate.