Thursday, September 06, 2007

The Civil War for a Guiness Record

Maine claims to have the largest sand castle in the world... but so does South Carolina. Ed Jarrett from Casco, Maine, organized a group of 1500 people to build the world's biggest sand castle, and it got up to 31 feet 7 inches.

So how are they playing this up? Jarrett claims that Myrtle Beach's sand castle doesn't count because it broke the Guiness record guidelines, but the beach authorities explain that they had permission from Guiness due to special circumstances.

However, Jarrett is determined to nullify their sand castle's credibility in order to see his in the book. Here's the catch: Jarrett claims they were doing this to "raise money for children with life-threatening illnesses." However, his determination to see his record usurp Myrtle Beach's record unearths the question of true motive. Did he do this to raise money and awareness of "life-threatening illness" (that's pretty vague, considering that for a child, the flu could be life-threatening if not treated), or was it all about getting in the Guinness book of world records, and sick babies make for a convenient heart-string to pull?

There seems to be no information available as to the amount of money the project raised or to whom it was donated. Read more