Kazoo!

Thanks to everyone who turned out at "Celebrate Hillsboro days" to join United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, Intel Oregon and the City of Hillsboro in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record. The event drew almost 4,000 participants. Below is an excerpt from a Hillsboro Argus article about the event.

No Guinness record, but Celebrate Hillsboro a definite winner
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
By Susan Gordanier, The Hillsboro Argus


Hillsboro's claim on a third Guinness World Record will have to wait another year.

That doesn't mean Celebrate Hillsboro wasn't a success.

Near-perfect weather brought out the crowds for Saturday's extended farmers market and Sunday's antique fair. The moderate temperatures meant the 145 teams in the Mainstreet Madness 3-on-3 basketball tournament could battle without overheating, beyond their enthusiasm.

Barbara Simon, the city's public affairs manager who was tasked with much of the event's organizing, said several food vendors ran out of product early Saturday and had to restock to meet demand.

So many stopped by Kaiser Permanente's table in the Health & Safety Village the health-care provider exhausted its supply of free apples.

At 5 p.m. Saturday with the event set to close until morning, kids were still lining up for turns on the play equipment on the courthouse grounds. "We had to deflate the inflatables to keep the kids from coming," Simon said.

For many, the event's high point occurred noon Saturday, as the crowd swarmed the Civic Center plaza for the attempt at the Guinness world record for most people playing kazoo. Toni Carlo, vice president workplace giving for United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, encouraged last-second sign-ups.

Then Hillsboro Economic Development Director John Southgate told the crowd, "Knowing the kazoo is a difficult instrument to play, taking years of study, we'll give you a crash course led by Bernie Kuehn, an all-around great guy and leader of the Oregon Chorale."

Kuehn corrected "the misconception that you blow into a kazoo," and surprised all by announcing they would play "Do-Re-Mi" from "The Sound of Music" for five minutes, "about seven times through on this tune," he said. The crowd groaned, but followed his lead.

Scott and Tiffany Bowden, of Hillsboro, had turned out with their three young children specifically for the record attempt. They'd been unable to attend in past years, but in 2008, their son Tyler wanted to be part of history. As soon as playing ended, he asked, "Did we set the record?"

An official answer to Tyler's question had to wait until Monday. Carlo, who as in years past would handle the communication with the Guinness Records organization, confirmed the final tally: 3980 willing kazoo players had signed up, short of the 5,300 or so needed to surpass the most recent, though unofficial record for simultaneous kazoo players.

Saturday though, Carlo said, whether the record was broken or not, the event was a winner. "Our theme with United Way is, how do we come together, to forge community." Thousands of people blowing kazoos together, win or lose, represented success.