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 Fallingbrook resident Janet Hart sits in the middle of her completed 40,320 piece Ravensburger puzzle which depicts hard-drawn scenes from 10 different Disney movies |
Orléans resident and Disney fan Janet Hart has completed one of the largest commercial puzzles in the world.
The Ravensburger Disney Moments Puzzle has 40,320 pieces and is ranked as the third largest puzzle in the world. The next two largest puzzles are 42,000 and 60,000 pieces respectively.
The puzzle, which depicts hand-drawn scenes from 10 different Disney movies, measures 22 feet by six feet when completed.
According to Ravensburger, it should take the average person about 600 hours to complete the puzzle. The record is held by a Belleville woman who managed to put it together in 150 hours during the pandemic.
Hart never kept track of how many hours it took her to accomplish the task, but she started more than 14 months ago working on the puzzle in her spare time after she received it as a Christmas gift from her children.
She did most of the work on her dining room table one section at a time. She then brought each section down to her basement where she assembled the puzzle sections on the floor.
While assembling the section of the puzzle depicting a scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Hart noticed that a piece was missing. She sent a picture showing where the piece was missing to Ravensburger and they sent her the missing piece from Germany. She also found two extra pieces which were duplicates of an existing piece.
Hart has been building puzzles since she was a little girl. Prior to starting on the Ravensburger puzzle, she did a 1,000-piece puzzle once a month.
“It’s very calming,” says Hart in explain-ing the attraction of puzzle building. As for taking on the task of the world’s third biggest puzzle, Hart refers to her favourite Walt Disney quote, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible”.
Hart belongs to a group of puzzle builders in Orléans who often swap puzzles. She plans to mount the 40,320 piece 22x5 foot Disney puzzle on an upstairs wall which could prove even more difficult than building the puzzle in the first place.
ORLEANS FARMERS MARKET every Thursday from 11 am to 4 pm in the parking lot at the Ray Friel Recreation Centre on Tenth Line Road. Shop the freshest seasonal produce, meat and dairy, baked goods, prepared foods, crafts and more while getting to know the folks who grew and made it.
STATION 71 PANCAKE BREAKFAST from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Fire Station 71 in Navan with a freewill donation to the CHEO Foundation. Come enjoy pancakes with local maple syrup Erabliere des Wats Sugar Bush, local coffee from Papa Bean coffee roastery, and sausages and bacon from Lavergne Meat. After breakfast check out the Navan Fall Fest at the Navan Fairgrounds.
