Andra Meyers holds up a piece of glass to the sun as she picks out glass to make windows for her kitchen cabinets. Meyers traveled from Indianapolis to Kokomo Opalescent Glass’ Ragland Park on April 16. Photo by Kelly Lafferty Gerber | Kokomo Tribune
Andra Meyers drove from Indianapolis to Kokomo Opalescent Glass to search for the perfect pieces to make new windows for her kitchen cabinets.
She came to the right place.
Around 100,000 pounds of glass heaped into huge, glittering mounds sat in an open lot surrounded by the brick walls of the 136-year-old factory.
“A lot of my artist friends are jealous that I’m so close,” Meyers said.
Scrap glass has always been available for purchase at KOG, but interest skyrocketed last year thanks to a popular social media post.
KOG employees decided to use the new hype to brand the scrap glass piles as Ragland Park. The name comes from Russ Ragland, a former KOG president. For $1 per pound, one week every month, visitors to America’s oldest art glass manufacturer can search through all the unusable pieces. Some end up there because of streaks or inconsistent coloring that make it hard to reuse or remelt.
But for glass enthusiasts, the huge selection of uniquely colored and shaped pieces is often inspiration for art projects of all kinds, according to KOG employee Catie White.
“It’s definitely like a treasure hunt,” she said “A lot of people just like going out there and seeing what’s there.”
Some use it for mosaics or stained glass work. Others use glass chunks as simple and sparkling accent pieces in their garden beds or landscaping. Some people just like to collect it.
On a recent afternoon, three sisters from the Warsaw area searched through the piles hunting for pieces to make an artsy porch floor.
KOG employee Austin Shapiro used a rake to help them retrieve the coveted pieces from the top of the piles as the sisters excitedly filled their buckets and boxes with the perfect glass pieces.
“It’s an experience in a lifetime,” said Cindy Walker, one of the sisters. “You don’t get to see this all the time.”
Over 3,000 pounds of scrap glass were sold during April’s Ragland Park sale. The next dates are set from May 13-18. Hours are noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Kokomo Opalescent requires closed toe shoes and asks that visitors bring their own containers or boxes for the glass. They supply safety glasses and gloves.
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