Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 21, 1992                   TAG: 9203210204
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: ROME, GA.                                LENGTH: Short

EGG LOVERS TAKE JOVIAL STAND TO GREET SPRING

"I have done it other times of the year, but they don't seem to do it as easily as on the spring equinox," said Susan Harvey.

She was one of about 75 people who turned out Friday for the eighth annual Standing Ovation festival in Rome to balance eggs on the steps of the city's clock tower.

The theory is that an egg will stand only at the vernal equinox - when the sun crosses the equator, making night and day equal and marking the start of spring.

That's just a myth, said meteorologist Jim Buckley of Decatur. "You can stand an egg on end at any time of the year, especially a raw egg, because the yolk drains down and weights the bottom."

Harvey said that's really not the point, and her group doesn't care if it works on other days.

"We have turned it into a spring festival in Rome, to have fun and do something crazy," she said.

- Associated Press