Is It A Swing And Miss Or A Home Run Record?

— Story by Jordy McGowen, The ADviser, Hebron, NE —

Tell me it ain't so, Joe. This reporter's smile crumpled to the floor as I scanned the Guinness website to find the world's largest porch swing listing. It doesn't exist. The only category I could fin[d] that even came close was the world's longest swing. [S]o, is the Hebron Porch Swing still the largest in the world? Well, as a former boss of mine is prone to say..."My ball, my rules...I win!" So, I guess the answer is yes. Until somebody comes forward with proof that a bigger one exists, I think that we still hold the record for the World's Largest Porch Swing.

So, how's your history knowledge...? Do you know how this swing came to be built? Who was behind it? How much did it cost? Well, read on.

The scene was a smoke filled back room...the Hebron crowd was forming a plot to unseat Seward as Nebraska's Fourth of July city. During the course of the night, many an idea was floated, but one of the best came from Joyce Ortman.

She had been in Kansas City recently, and was amazed to see folks lined up for a couple city blocks just to have a chance to swing on an old fashioned four seater porch swing.

Tim O'Callaghan, prompted by a couple of others, including Don Vostrez, realized that if a four seater drew that kind of a crowd, then a sixteen seater ought to be the real deal.

Tim's dad, Paul teamed up with Reinke Engineering Vice-President, John Davis, to design and what was to become "The World's Largest Porch Swing".

Paul worked on the initial design and did the wood working on the seats, while John, utilizing donated Reinke Irrigation System components, came up with the design for "Super Swing" skeleton. Tim claims that the whole deal was done for a couple of hundred bucks of hard money and lots of volunteer time from folks all over the community.

Tim points out that it really brought the community together. The pride, camaraderie and the spirit of working towards a common goal were big dividends paid by the project.

For just plain, wholesome fun, it's hard to beat the big swing...and there have been a few not so...ahh, I don't think I'll go there, suffice it to say that there has been plenty of friskin' around on that ol swing over the years.

The main point is that right now we own the title of the World's Biggest [Largest] Porch Swing, even if the boys at Guinness have lost the information, and it'll be up to a challenger, not to us, to prove differently.

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A little known fact: The overhead span of the swing is actually a sub-component of the Reinke CornerGator, which was one of the most unique corner watering systems ever deployed. It was designed to telescope out in the corner of a field instead of steering a tower over a buried wire, as today's modern designs do.
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Original Site: Hebron CC Camp
Original Paint: Red, White, and Blue
Originally Buil[t]: 1985
Moved to present site: 1991
Estimated Capacity: 16 Adults, 24 Children
Sources: Omaha World Herald, Guinness World Record webpage, interviews.

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Show me all markers in:  Hebron, NE  |  Thayer County  |  68370  |  Nebraska  |  United States of America

A Tribute To Hebron, Its People and Its Schools
Veterans Memorial
Thayer County
The Hebron CCC And POW Camps
Friedensau
Home of 6 Man Football
Municipal Auditorium
The Skirmish at Spring Creek
The Initial Point of the Public Land Surveys of the Sixth Principal Meridian
In Memory of the Sons of Strang

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