It's a major award! 'Christmas Story'-inspired leg lamp going on display

BRUNSWICK — An inflatable 20-foot-tall leg lamp modeled after the famous one in the holiday classic "A Christmas Story" soon will be making its way to the most appropriate home of all — right outside the Cleveland-area A Christmas Story House and Museum. The word "fra-gee-lay" might be Italian, but the company responsible for the larger-than-life lamp is local. Inflatable Images, 2880 Interstate Parkway in Brunswick, is responsible for manufacturing this piece. "It started last year in a giant pink nightmare for them," owner David Scherba said of the first inflatable made for the museum. "That's when Ralphie puts on the pink bunny costume, so we made a giant 20-foot-tall Ralphie, that's the character's name, in a bright pink bunny costume." The museum, at 3159 W 11th St. in Cleveland, has a foundation called the A Christmas Story House Foundation that raises money to help restore and maintain the neighborhood around the museum. The foundation hosts a 5K and 10K run every year the first weekend of December. Last year, the pink nightmare inflatable added a fun twist to race day. This year will be all about the leg. "We put it at the starting line, just something fun to add to the race," said museum owner Brian Jones. "It's worked pretty well; we actually got 20 percent more registrations this year so we figured let's do it again. What's an obvious one? Let's do a leg lamp." This year, one of the inflatables will be stationed at the starting line and the other will be at the finish line. The race is on Dec. 7 and the inflatables will be displayed at the museum for the rest of December. The race will start in the center of Cleveland, in front of the old Higbee's building. "It's been awesome," said Jones about working with the local company for this project. "Inflatable Images has done a good Job. They really have gone above and beyond to make sure it is exactly what I want." Scherba said the process of making one of these inflatables — between planning, revisions, mock-ups and construction — takes about six months. Simply putting together the inflatable takes about 100 man hours. "It's exciting from my personal point of view ... we were born and raised in Parma and our original inflatable company was in Cleveland," Scherba said. "We started our company in 1982, so we are celebrating our 38th year in business. We produce products for just about every Fortune 500 company out there." And you have probably seem more than one of their designs, too. Remember the world's largest rubber duck? Or have you been on campus at The Ohio State University when Brutus the Buckeye loomed large overhead? Yep, both are Inflatable Images products. The business, which manufactures cold-air inflatables and not helium balloons or floats, has previously provided holiday, cartoon or pop-culture-inspired creations for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The A Christmas Story House and Museum opened in 2006 on the day after Thanksgiving. At this year's 5K/10K fundraiser, Jones said they are expecting about 6,000 participants. For more information on the race or to register, visit achristmasstoryrun.com. For more information on the A Christmas Story House and Museum, visit achristmasstoryhouse.com. Contact reporter Alyssa Alfano at (330) 721-4063 or at aalfano@medina-gazette.com.