The Toy Hall of Fame is housed at the Strong National Museum of Play here in Rochester, New York. Every year the Hall recognizes a select few toys as worthy of the Hall of Fame.

This year toy selections [PDF] have been inducted, the skateboard, the baby doll and…

wait for it…

the stick. Yes, the ordinary, extraordinary stick finally gets its due.

And last but not least, one very unconventional “plaything”—the Stick!—has now taken its honored place in the hall. Found in all sizes in nature, sticks inspire spontaneous, unstructured play and can be used in unendingly imaginative ways—to draw in the sand on a beach, or to use as a magic wand, slingshot, light saber, fishing rod, or walking stick; not to mention playing stickball, toasting marshmallows, or playing “fetch” with your dog. Sticks are the original construction toys: children make toy buildings out of sticks and design toy boats with leaves for sails. Many an adult has picked up a driftwood souvenir from the beach, and artists and crafters use sticks in wreaths, chairs, and sculptures. The stick now keeps proud company with another untraditional “toy”—the Cardboard Box—inducted into the hall in 2005. After all, the best toy is often a plaything that’s free, easy to get, and a source of endless creativity.

That darn stick, the “poke your eye out” stick. It served as a rifle, a bat, a way to touch yucky things like dog poop and girls. Dogs love it. Moms hate it.

What a great day in America! The stick makes the Hall of Fame.