PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. Jul 27, 2006 (AP) What do you get a 288-pound man for his birthday? How about 288 pounds of jelly beans? His family didn't plan it that way, but when Mike Lively became the 1 millionth person to tour the Jelly Belly Center on his birthday Wednesday, he won his weight's worth of the sweet treats.
The 41-year-old Indiana man, who claims he weighs only 278 pounds, said he wasn't planning on sharing his windfall.
"Fork it out to my family and kids," said Lively, a steel worker, when asked what he would do with his prize. "None of the guys at work are getting any."
The factory reached the million-visitor milestone in exactly five years, according to store manager Mary Plebanek.
The tour, which allows visitors to see how the candy is made, is one of the most popular attractions in Kenosha County. It draws about 200,000 visitors annually, almost double the 110,000 people who visit the Kenosha Public Museum on average each year.
Lively, a first-time visitor to the factory, stared at the stack of bean-filled boxes, weighing one-seventh of a ton.
