I don't even remember how I first found out about this event, but I thought it would be really neat if our family could be a part of it. Registration for the event began at 8:00 a.m. and the record attempt was at 9:00 a.m. at Weems Elementary School in Manassas. I wasn't sure if we would make it because that's pretty early for us all to be up, ready and at our desired destination. BUT, when I told Sweet Girl about it the night before, she said she wanted to go and I already wanted to go, so I decided I would try to make it happen.
The morning of the event, I woke up before everyone and got ready to go. When I woke up Sweet Girl I asked her if she still wanted to go play the big Red Light/Green Light game and she perked right up and said yes! As my husband says, we broke two records that day--one for getting everyone up and out of the house by eight o'clock in the morning and one for the game!
When we arrived, we all registered and got a wrist band. The girls and I sat and ate breakfast while my husband parked the car. I brought breakfast along with us because I knew we'd have extra time after registering. We finished breakfast just as my husband found us. (He ate earlier.) We all headed in and got numbers written on our hands.
At one point, they announced that we were only 45 participants short of beating the record and encouraged us to contact our friends and family and get them to Weems' field to help us beat the record.
The Red Light/Green Light record attempt was just the start of something bigger that day. The Big Day of Serving was to take place afterwards in which youth and adult volunteers came together to be the hands and feet of Christ to the community. The volunteers went out into the Weems Community and served through environmental, recreational, and educational projects.
Before the record attempt, we sang "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" and prayed. The mayor of the City of Manassas, Mayor Harry J. Parrish III, even addressed the crowd. I was really excited about the day of service and for those who came out to serve.
The crowd was also informed that Ellen DeGeneres just recently presented the principal of Weems Elementary with a $50,000 check to fund school uniforms. A camera was on hand to film everyone saying "thank you" and then the group did the Harlem Shake. (I had heard of it, but had never seen it before. Guess I'm not that cool.)
When it was time to attempt to break the record, we had over 600 participants there! We were going to beat it! There were certain rules we had to follow in order to break the record. It was so fun to see people of all ages playing making their way down the field and getting tricked when the announcer would say "red light" twice in a row. It felt good to cross the finish line and know that we were part of something record breaking--literally!
I am thankful that we got up early and did this event as a family. Not many people or families can say they helped achieved a Guinness World Record!
**All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission.
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