RED BANK – To its list of accomplishments, Red Bank Catholic High School can now add being in “The Guinness Book of World Records” along with helping a good cause.
Members of the Catholic High School community broke the world record for the number of people in one room to wear two pieces of tie-dye clothing for at least five minutes on Wednesday morning.
The current record was 250, according to RBC senior Caitlin Rogers, who organized the event to break the record. And the official count on Wednesday morning, at the Vincent J. Eck Center gymnasium on the school’s Broad Street/Peters Place campus, was totaled at 454. That count, which still has to be verified by Guinness Book officials, secures the school’s place in the record book, said Rogers.
“You get so choked up by this,” Rogers said after the final count and time countdown. “Everybody came together, so many people worked so hard. I’m so proud of everyone.”
Rogers, 17, Allenhurst, is an officer in Red Bank Catholic’s Make-A-Wish Club, which conducts an annual fundraising carnival to benefit the Make-A-Wish-Foundation of New Jersey.
Rogers said she did a little investigating for possible fundraising opportunities connected with a doable—and not dangerous—way to break a world record. This one seemed possible and allowed the club to sell tie-dye t-shirts. “This is a win-win situation,” she said.
The club raised about $1,000 selling the shirts, said Ashleigh Kennedy, an RBC science teacher who oversees the school club. That money will help pay for the carnival, scheduled for May 16, allowing more money to go to the state chapter, according to Kennedy.
Everyone in the gym wore not only the t-shirt, but also tie-dye wristbands for the second tie-dye piece of clothing. The wristbands were donated by Rogers’ family, Rogers said. And the event was done in coordination with the school’s dress down day, Kennedy said.
“It’s also an easy way for everyone to be involved,” said Kristen Gatens, a 17-year-old senior and Middletown resident, who is also a club member.
“The kids came up with it and they’re running the show and they did a great job,” said Principal Robert Abatemarco. “This is a neat way to start a Wednesday morning,” and for “a good cause.”
To have Guinness representatives on hand would have cost approximately $6,000, said Rogers. That was cost prohibitive. But rules allow for the club and school to have independent witnesses to verify and video record their assessments for Guinness’ determination, according to Rogers.
Selected as the designated witnesses were Red Bank Borough Council members Arthur V. Murphy III and Michael DuPont and Police Capt. Thomas McDonough.
Verification could take up to six weeks, Rogers said.
“We hope to have this record for a while,” Gatens said, but then adding, “unless another school thinks of this.”
— By John Burton
