Organizers stage winter practice for summer sand angel event.

January 17, 2017

Organizers stage winter practice for summer sand angel event Wednesday.

#LudingtonWorldRecords.

LUDINGTON — The Guinness Book of World Records has stimulated all manner of astonishing, sometimes irrational and amusing, behavior all around the globe.

Ludington’s briefly-held record for the longest ice cream dessert is a prime example of the incredible logistics and perseverance required to get in the record book.

This June, Spectrum Health Foundation—Ludington Hospital is working with the chamber, city and a volunteer committee to secure a new Guinness World Record for Ludington. They are organizing an attempt to set a new record this summer for the most people making sand angels simultaneously.

The sand angel world record event is scheduled for 1 p.m. on June 10 at Stearns Park Beach as part of the Love Ludington weekend.

A practice session for the event will be held at the beach tomorrow, Wednesday, January 18, at noon.

The world record attempt in June will be free and open to the public, but voluntary donations are encouraged to benefit the Patient Assistance Fund of Spectrum Health Cancer Center at Ludington Hospital.

Kaley Petersen, director of the hospital’s foundation, volunteer and community services, is shooting not just to break the record, but to obliterate it. She’s set a goal of 5,000 people to take part in the event. The current Guinness record is held by Pembrokeshire, England, with 352 people simultaneously making sand angels on June 6, 2015.

Asked “why practice making sand angels in the dead of winter?” Petersen conceded it’s an attempt to create awareness of the coming event. She noted that Michigan’s traditional January thaw, with temperatures predicted in the 40s, provides a perfect opportunity.

“Besides,” she said, “it’s fun. If we had a foot of snow, instead of a thaw, we’d practice by making snow angels.”

House of Flavors Restaurant, which orchestrated the ice cream record last summer, is contributing its expertise to help the hospital prepare for its sand angel event. Barry Neal, owner of the iconic Ludington ice cream business, is on the organizing committee.

Details on registration to participate in the record-breaking attempt will be announced when the online registration and donation site has been set up.

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