Wisconsin Town Falls in Love With Wayward Beach Ball

August 6, 2021January 31, 2023 journo

A giant beach ball has attracted a devoted cult of followers this summer in Stoughton, Wisconsin, after the unusual new mascot rolled into town.

The errant inflatable, since dubbed ‘Roly Poly Ole’, escaped the confines of its yard, and soon became a source of entertainment, a Where’s Waldo of behemoth beach balls, bringing spontaneous happiness wherever it appeared.

Ole’s excursion as a neighborhood goodwill ambassador began as a fluke.

“Honestly it started as misplaced. Someone on the Stoughton Facebook page reached out asking if someone was missing a huge beach ball because there was one that had blown to the end of a road. And that’s literally how it started,” Instagrammer Katherine Marshall Kartman told 98.1 KHAK.

From there, people started spontaneously signing it, and moving it to different streets.

Like a colossal colorful tumbleweed Ole has rolled from thoroughfare to thoroughfare, making friends wherever he goes, collecting signatures and smiles. There’s even a map on the town’s private FB Group to show its current location.

Katherine Marshall Kartman wrote on Instagram: “The Stoughton Community Beach Ball greeted us first thing this morning by rolling up onto our driveway 😄🙃😜. Thanks to the Davie family for helping it get a good nights sleep…We all signed it and then sent it on its merry way, traveling north down Hilldale. Keep it rolling! #stoughtonbeachball”

Ole has run into trouble a few times, like springing a leak and losing serious amounts of vital air. But, city residents like Fire Chief Josh Ripp have stepped in with patches and pumps to repair the damage, filling him back up again and sending it along for the next leg of an ongoing adventure.

Stoughton Police officers have signed the ball, too, after finding it one night and jokingly calling it a “neighborhood prowler” on their FB page.

Since beach balls have a notoriously short lifespan, it’s likely the original Ole will likely be retired at the end of the season, but the jaunty orb has been such a hometown hit, there’s talk of making the “Ole Crawl” an annual event.

And the growing suburban legend is spreading, with copycat inflatables now rolling down the streets of nearby communities that decided they want to play, too.

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