From Johanna Hessling in Minnesota
Reading is power! On 10 September 2011, I travelled to Shakopee, Minnesota to witness the attempt for most adults reading to children (single location).
The event was hosted by Valleyfair Amusement Park who chose to attempt this record in honor of National Literacy Month. The book chosen and read by all participants was "Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown," written by Charles M. Schultz, the creator of Peanuts™, who is a Minnesota native.
Readers and listeners were given purple and yellow tickets, respectively, to distinguish between the two types of participants, and lined up to be let into the Planet Snoopy area of the park. Each reader was given a book as they came into the area and I was on hand with my trusty clicker to ensure all of readers were properly counted.
The rules for the attempt were straightforward. Each adult (person age 18 and older) had to read to a group consisting of 1 to 10 children (ages 17 and under) for a total of 3 minutes. Each participant did not have to read at the same pace, but all had to read the same book, to qualify for a new world record. The previous record, held by Matzke Elementary School in Houston, TX was 347 adults reading to 991 children.
Once everyone was accounted for and were in place and ready to read, the 3-2-1-go! countdown began! When the three minutes required by the guidelines were up and the stewards who were put in place to observe all participants I could not observe turned in their total counts, it was determined that there was a total of 360 adults who read to a total of 367 children, setting a new Guinness World Records record!
The official certificate was presented to Snoopy and Robin Stinnett, Director of Marketing and Sales for Valleyfair Amusement Park, on behalf of all who participated.
Congratulations to Valleyfair Amusement Park, Todd, Kim, Justin, and all who participated and contributed to the successful event. Welcome to the Guinness World Records family!
