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Podcast: レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast
Episode: Why a Minneapolis neighborhood sharpens a giant pencil every year
Description: More than 1,000 people gathered in a scenic Minneapolis neighborhood for an annual ritual—the sharpening of a gigantic No. 2 pencil.
The 20-foot-tall (6-meter-tall) pencil was sculpted out of a mammoth oak tree at the home of John and Amy Higgins. The beloved tree was damaged in a storm a few years ago when fierce winds twisted the crown off. Neighbors mourned. A couple even wept. But the Higginses saw it not so much as a loss, but as a chance to give the tree new life.
The sharpening ceremony on their front lawn has evolved into a community spectacle that dr...