Richmond residents are being called on to try and set a Guinness World record on Friday - one word at a time.
The attempt is set for the first day of the Richmond Martime Festival where at
Britannia Heritage Shipyards people are being asked to sign up and help sing the nursery rhyme Row, row, row your boat.
Sounds easy, right? But in order to make the attempt, a minimum of 155 people are required to sing one word of the song each, in series, in time, and in tune.
The current record is held by members of the Jim Pattison Group, which had 154 people turn out in March 2011 at its JPG Partners in Pride Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Organizers here are hoping to not only break that, but clearly own the title with as many as 200 or so singers doing their oneword part in the lengthy relay.
A group of 18 city staff members recently made a video demonstrating how the Guinness attempt has to be performed (scan page using Layar).
"There's 18 words in the song, so we expect to be going through it about nine times in total to set the record," said City of Richmond spokesperson Ted Townsend.
"Each person sings just one word, but it has to be done in tempo to musical accompaniment, without any miscues in order to set the record. On the surface it may sound easy because it's a song most people know by heart. But when you attempt it, you find very quickly that it often doesn't take long before somebody miscues, or falls off
tempo."
The public, 12 and older, is encouraged to pre-register for the attempt at the Richmond Martime Festival website (richmondmaritimefestival.ca). Registration can also be made on the day.
Those taking part will be awarded a commemorative certificate, a button, and have their name entered for a $200-gift card at Richmond Centre Mall.
"Plus, they have the potential of being a co-world record holder," Townsend said, adding participants are asked to be at Britannia Heritage Shipyards at 3 p.m. to rehearse before the actual attempt begins at 5 p.m. Part of the judging panel for the Guinness attempt is Canadian Olympic silver medalist (women's eights) rower and Richmond local Darcy Marquardt.
In addition to a second judge, video certification will be used to verify the event and submitted to the Guinness World Record officials.
For the full story, and to see the video, visit www.richmond-news.com.
