One egg to rule them all at Grangeville Border Days

GRANGEVILLE - Bryan Laufenberg and Kallan Shira had one strategy for Friday's Super Egg Toss.

"It's called, catch the egg and don't let it break," Shira said, laughing.

And it was a winning strategy for the Grangeville cousins on the first morning of the town's 104th Border Days.

The egg toss started simply, with young and old filing into a block of Main Street from the wooden benches lining the roadway. A total of 1,152 participants readied themselves under the clear and sunny skies, the day's heat just starting to creep in.

Announcer Mike Johnson of Grangeville asked if the crowd was ready and said he saw all of them shift into the egg-catching stance - knees bent, eyes focused.

The first round, just a simple toss back and forth between the couples, was greeted with cheers.

Then Johnson started throwing in some tricky shots.

First, a toss with the non-dominant hand, which the partner had to catch one-handed.

Then the hook shot.

It was the around-the-back toss that had the already-dwindling crowd whooping with equal parts pleasure and pain. Main Street grew speckled with shells, the yolks oozing out.

But Lewiston couple Becky and Joe Travis pulled through. Joe Travis even managed to snag a photo of his wife while she tossed the egg to him in the style of a football hike, catching the egg one-handed.

"I am impressed," Johnson announced.

Joe Travis said he had a "moment of inspiration" right when his wife turned around for the toss.

"I just wanted to catch the egg in the air," he said.

The couple, who grew up in Grangeville, said they've been back for the Border Days egg toss almost every year out of the past 25 - save for the year one of their four children was born days beforehand.

The years of participation were all the practice the couple had. They laughed about honing their technique, but Joe Travis saw where their skill came from.

"I would say, for her, years of juggling all of her many chores and jobs and duties. She can multitask and block out distraction, and so she's razor-sharp focused in on egg-tossing," he said.

As for him?

"Natural ability," he said.

Becky Travis missed the one-handed catch after her husband's one-handed toss, but the couple blamed a "weak egg" for the fault.

"It was cracked, and we tossed it two times cracked. And then he threw it way high and I wasn't going to try to catch it," Becky Travis said.

The couple plan on continuing to compete next year.

"Our goal is, before we die, to win the egg toss," Joe Travis said.

"That's your goal," Becky Travis retorted.

The crowd continued to be whittled down by increasingly difficult tosses, including using the non-dominant hand for an under-the-leg toss and an around-the-back toss.

The 10 couples left standing lined up for a few practice tosses from a distance. Then the final challenge - tossing the eggs over the line of American flags hanging high above the street - saw bunches of eggs turn into material for omelettes on the ground.

But Laufenberg went to any means necessary to keep his egg from breaking, including a catch that landed him on the ground.

"Whatever it takes to win," he said.

Laufenberg has participated in the egg toss for years, but Shira's first go at the game came last year.

"He was the game-changer this year," Shira said.

The two hadn't practiced at all but felt confident in their beginner's luck.

"We'll win it tomorrow," Shira said.

Scott Winkler of Grangeville, who's been organizing the Border Days street sports for 12 years, said the egg toss was his favorite part of the affair.

"The streets just really fill up," he said.

Border Days continue today and Sunday, with more street sports at 9 a.m., parades at 11 a.m. and rodeo events at 2 p.m.

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Embree may be contacted at cembree@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2278. Follow her on Twitter @chelseaembree .