Big misshapen Cheeto being sent from Hawai'i to Iowa
By Joe Nugent
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Its being billed — unofficially — as the world's largest Cheeto and it's on its way from Hawaii to rural northwest Iowa to become a tourist attraction.
Bryce Wilson, a disc jockey at KLGA-FM, was able to lure the giant lump of orange snack food to Algona, a town of just 5,700 residents whose current claim to fame is the annual display of a wooden nativity scene carved by German prisoners of war during World War II.
Wilson, 24, said Thursday that the super-sized Cheeto is comparable in size to a small lemon.
"It only weighs about six-tenths of an ounce," Wilson said, "but its girth is really big. It must be four to five inches long and five to six inches in diameter."
Wilson first learned about the big Cheeto on a Web site while he was trying to find silly news stories for his afternoon radio show.
He read about Navy Petty Officer Mike Evans, stationed at Pearl Harbor, who bought a bag of Cheetos for his 3-year-old son and discovered the massive hunk of the cheesy food inside.
"I thought it would be really great if we could get it as a tourist attraction for Algona. I thought we could change the face of northern Iowa," Wilson said, acknowledging that his request was tongue in cheek.
Evans was trying to auction the Cheeto to the highest bidder on e-Bay.
Wilson began soliciting contributions from listeners to buy it. Bidding was fierce and Wilson had only been able to collect about $180.
Then Wilson talked to Evans by phone.
Evans took pity on the town and shipped the Cheeto for free.
"He mailed it Tuesday," Wilson said. "I've got the U.S. Postal Service Confirmation number. I'm anxious. I hope it comes tomorrow."
Wilson said he plans to contact the Guinness Book of World Records to see if its bulk is a record.
The Cheeto might be displayed at Sister Sarah's Restaurant in Algona, owned by Wilson's friend Tom Straub.
"I think we could bring people into town with this thing," Straub said. "We could maybe do billboards like Wall Drug in South Dakota."
As an added incentive, Straub said he'd be willing offer a free beer or soda to anyone viewing it for first time.
"We're awestruck," said spokeswoman Lynn Markley of Frito-Lay, maker of Cheetos. "This is definitely a history-making moment."
Markley called the giant Cheeto the most talked about item this week, noting that newspaper columnist Dave Barry has also written about it.
"It brings a smile to people's faces in these tough times," she said.
Wilson said Frito-Lay has donated $1,000 to the Kossuth County food bank to go along with the $180 that came from his listeners.
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