Douglas County town rallies to preserve world's heaviest ball of twine

Over the course of nearly 44 years, a guy living in rural northwestern Wisconsin meticulously collected and wove together pieces of twine to create what is considered to be the world's heaviest ball of twine.

The giant ball of twine was a defining compulsion in the life of its idiosyncratic creator, James Frank Kotera. As the ball grew to eye-popping proportions, word got out, and people from all over the world made pilgrimages to see the creation, located under a gazebo next to Kotera's town of Highland home, about 30 miles southeast of Superior.

Kotera, who called himself JFK, could be painfully shy when speaking to strangers, said Terri Nelson, a neighbor and friend. But if anyone asked him about the ball of twine, he would light up and talk, punctuating his sentences with his catch phrase, "Having a ball." He would demonstrate to strangers how he wove lengths of twine into the ball. But he never allowed anyone else to add to the creation; it had to be done by one man, he'd say.

When Kotera died of cancer in January at age 75, his twine ball weighed 24,100 pounds, a weight that compressed it so that instead of being round, it was shaped like an egg. How do people know it weighs that much? Because Kotera carefully weighed all the twine he put onto the ball and added the total himself. He was that kind of a guy.

Toward the end of Kotera's life, Nelson began to wonder what would happen to Kotera's creation after he was gone. She determined that the giant ball of twine needed to be preserved and started to work to make it happen. On Sept. 21, she gained a major victory when volunteers from a local trucking company and a towing company teamed up to move the ball from Kotera's property to the land where the Highland town hall, fire department and transfer station are located.

"I wanted to do it for me, because I wanted to keep the ball of twine, because it was part of Highland history," Nelson said.

But as she raised money to help pay for the move, working out the logistics to make it happen, the project took on a bigger significance. It became about more than the ball; it was a way to remember and honor Kotera, who had become a friend and in many ways, a role model to Nelson and others who knew and loved him.

"He was an amazing man. He really was," Nelson said. "We can't let people forget that."

James Frank Kotera loved his job as transfer station attendant

Nelson said she first met Kotera in 1980. She often fished at a nearby lake and drove by Kotera's property and the giant twine ball. She was compelled to stop and look at it. That kind of thing is just up Nelson's alley, she said, laughing as she told the story. She loves quirky, unusual roadside attractions. She and her husband, she said, "once drove two hours to go see a giant snowman."

But she didn't get to know Kotera well until she and her husband moved to their Highland home about eight years ago. They even started contributing to the ball itself.

"We have horses, so we'd give Jim the twine that we had," she said.

They also got to know Kotera, along with all the residents of the town of Highland, at the town's garbage transfer station. Highland doesn't have a trash pick-up service; residents take their garbage to the transfer station. Kotera was the attendant at the station for years. That work was the other passion in his life.

"He wanted to do his job so well," Nelson said.

Before moving to Highland, She and her husband lived in other rural areas where they had to use a transfer station, Nelson said. They typically would throw their trash into bins themselves. They quickly discovered that things were different in Highland.

Kotera would greet residents as they pulled into the transfer site, grab their trash and place it meticulously in the various receptacles, making sure they were packed as efficiently as possible, Nelson said. That efficiency meant the town had to do less hauling.

"He saved the town lots of money," Nelson said.

Kotera retired after being diagnosed with cancer. But by way of thanks for his years of service, town officials changed the name of the transfer station to JFK: James Frank Kotera Transfer Station. It just made sense to locate the giant twine ball adjacent to the transfer station.

'Having a ball' creating a giant ball of twine

When Nelson and her husband first started going to the transfer station, Kotera couldn't bring himself to speak to her. She could tell he was very timid, but she was determined to crack through the barrier. She told her husband she would take the garbage to the transfer station alone, so Kotera would be forced to talk with her.

It worked, and as she got to know Kotera better, the more she began to appreciate what kind of person he was.

"A lot of people thought he wasn't very smart," Nelson said. "But I think he was really smart."

She said she learned that Kotera was never expected to graduate high school, but he did. Some didn't think he could hold a regular job. He proved them wrong again.

Nelson says she admired the way Kotera found his place in the world.

"He was happy with what he had, very happy with his simple life, and I think that's why I liked him," Nelson said.

After all, she said, it's a rare person who can find happiness in something like making a ginormous ball from stretches of twine, and maybe that's a kind of lesson that everybody should learn.

Saving an icon of JFK and the town of Highland

There's one YouTube video featuring Kotera in which he was asked what will happen with the ball when he's gone. He tells the interviewer his nephew would take over.

Nelson laughs at that idea. In an area where everybody knows everybody ‒ "for better or worse," she said — she's gotten to know Kotera's family. His nephew is definitely not the kind of guy who builds extraordinarily large twine balls. In fact, when she asked family members about what they planned to do with it, they really didn't know. They thought maybe they would bury it in a hole or something, Nelson said.

She asked if it would be OK with them if she started a GoFundMe page to raise money to preserve the ball. Sure, they told her, go ahead. But who would pay for that?

It turns out, quite a few people. Nelson started the page after Kotera's funeral with a goal of raising $10,000. Soon contributions started to flow in, often with notes from people sharing their experiences with Kotera and the ball. As of Sept. 29 the page had 98 donations totaling $4,810. People have made donations of about $2,000 through other means, as well, Nelson said.

That's been enough to have a slab built for the ball, and Nelson has ordered construction materials. Once they arrive, volunteers will build a gazebo-style shelter to once again protect the ball. Highland officials plan to build a new office/shed for the new transfer station attendant along with that structure.

Meanwhile, the ball is protected by a large tarp.

Volunteers from a couple local companies — Lake City Towing and Walt Moss Trucking — moved the ball. The transfer was nerve-wracking, Nelson said.

She worried the straps used to lift and move the ball would tear it apart. When they didn't, "I could breathe again," she said, "and it was the best feeling in the whole world. ... Obviously twine holds up really well."

At the same time, Nelson knew what care Kotera took when he built the ball. "He was very dedicated to it. He'd be out there in the rain, even, tying on more twine. He was just very serious about it," she said. "That thing is solid."

Now that the twine ball is in its permanent home, Nelson hopes people will come and see it. She plans on having signs installed that explain the ball and give people an idea about what kind of guy created a giant ball of twine.

Whenever Nelson would visit the transfer station, Kotera would be there. He'd give a report about how much twine he added to the ball in the preceding days, and how much it weighed with the new twine.

"I laugh every time I think about it," Nelson said.

Now she smiles at the thought of the ball being on display at the transfer station.

"Jim would be so proud," she said.

You can help

Nelson said the fundraising effort will continue to help pay the expenses to preserve Kotera's giant ball of twine. People can learn more at gofundme.com/f/help-us-move-jfks-twine-ball.

Keith Uhlig is a regional features reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin based in Wausau. Contact him at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com. Follow him at @UhligK on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram or on Facebook.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Wisconsin town rallies to preserve world's heaviest ball of twine