Beanie Mania Sprouts In Lima

LIMA, Ohio - Sure, this blue-collar city has weathered some tough times. Sure, hundreds of Lima workers have been idled by factory closings - one plant's work force dropped from nearly 4,000 to 750.

But Lima has something special going for it.

Lima has Beanie.

Beanie is a 7-foot tall lima bean who wears a smile and a red baseball cap. He attends public events and visits schools; his mission is to make the folks in Lima feel good about this city of 45,000.

Amazingly, it seems to work.

Beanie, says Bill Anderson, 56, is "a real bright spot for the community. Especially after everything we've been through. We need Beanie."

Christine Rodabaugh, head of Lima's Neighborhood Support Program, created Beanie two years ago to draw attention to the agency's work.

She presented city leaders with her idea last year. They were impressed - so much so, that local businesses chipped in. A restaurant paid $2,500 for Beanie's costume, designed by the same company that created characters for McDonald's.

Beanie's first appearance was July 4, 1995, at a city parade.

"Everybody just loved Beanie. Kids. Adults," Rodabaugh said.

Why a lima bean?

"When you look at it, the first thing you think of is Lima," she said.

Beanie is ageless, genderless and speechless. It communicates through a Beanie buddy, who leads it through crowds and answers questions on its behalf.

Twenty-four people have been trained to be Beanie and Beanie buddies, who wear "Love Thy Neighbor" shirts and caps.

The costume is huge - 7 feet tall, 4 feet wide and, of course, shaped like a lima bean. It weighs 9 pounds, 7 ounces and rests on a padded harness.

What does it take to be a Beanie?

"You have to like people and you have to keep your mouth shut. The hardest part is not talking," Rodabaugh said.

Penny Daniel, a trained Beanie, said it's a lot of fun. Any ribbing - jokes about bean soup, for example - are laughed off, she said.

"If you like working with children, showing them positive, happy things, you can be a Beanie," she said.

Beanie's popularity has spawned a line of "Beanie-wear" to benefit Lima-Allen County Neighborhoods In Partnerships, a nonprofit network of 26 neighborhood group associations.

Beanie T-shirts - adorned with a picture of the mascot and the slogan "I've Bean to Lima" - sell for $10. For another $10, a Beanie baseball cap can be had, and a gold-plated pin with Beanie's image that says "I'm a Lima Bean," sells for $5.

Does all this bring to mind a certain tyrannasaurus whose name also begins with a B?

"We would love to do some large-scale marketing," Rodabaugh said. "We just got a marketing committee together. Beanie's message of `love thy neighbor' really pertains to everybody. I guess if a purple dinosaur can talk to children, why not a green bean?"

----------------- Beanie theme song -----------------

Sing to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

"Beanie, Beanie, we love you,

And we love each other, too;

Love thy neighbor,

Love thy town,

Lima is the best around;

Lima, Lima, I love you,

And I love my neighbor, too!"