TAMAQUA, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY (WBRE / WYOU) – Honoring our members of the armed forces comes in many shapes and sizes, and an artistic egg display in Schuylkill County is proof of that.

Over the voices of this week’s veterans, a local artist wanted to do something special to honor her military grandfather, so she designed a delicate piece of art for her local American Legion post.

Michelle Argust makes pysanky Hungarian Easter eggs as a hobby, but her job has a serious side to it. She created a series of eggs for the American Legion Post 173 in Tamaqua, one for each branch of the military.

The work pays homage to his grandfather who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and in northern France during World War II. Joseph Soika received three bronze stars and eventually settled in Kline township.

Argust recently added the Legion Gifts to the display with an egg honoring the American Legion Auxiliary. She learned the trade from her grandmother when she was young, a tradition in Ukraine. Over the years, the designs have become more complex.

“As I got older, I decided to master the craft and create various models over the years. So I’ve been doing it for 35 to 40 years, ”Argust said.

The American Legion was founded in 1919, a few years before the birth of his grandfather. So she asked the post commander what she could do to honor the two and that’s how the pysanky egg donation began.

“Michelle has an incredible talent for removing those eggs, incredible detail. If you stop and have the opportunity to look at them closely, you will see the details that go into this type of work. It’s really amazing that someone is taking the time to do something of this magnitude, ”said Thomas Isleib, commander of post 173 in Tamaqua.

Soika passed away in 2001, but Michelle says her memory lives in her heart.