Going For Guinness Glory in Loveland

Words and Photos by Nicholas Stock

Some people see an opportunity for immortality and they stop at nothing to get there. Sharon Lipinski founder of Living Generously Every Day and Change Gangs: Virtual Giving Circles along with Christine Forster president of Change Gangs and founder of My Big Day Events saw their window of opportunity in the form of a toothbrush. Clubs held the previous record for the “Longest Line of Toothbrushes” in Queensland Australia and comprised 6000 toothbrushes and stretched.6 miles. This attempt in Colorado was looking to blow that out of the water.

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February marks National Children’s Dental Health Month and there are lots of reasons to raise awareness. 1 in 5 children go without dental care and over 40% of kids have cavities by the time they enter kindergarten. So it’s important not only to get the word out but to help provide the tools necessary for proper dental hygiene to everyone. With the help of Delta Dental of Colorado, Nanci Garnand of Re/Max Real Estate and the Loveland Design Center Sharon and Christine could buy 55,000 toothbrushes for the record-breaking attempt. The goal is after the attempt to donate the wrapped brushes to various bag programs and food banks around the state. Walmart would pitch in with volunteers and 15,000 tubes of toothpaste.

So on February 26th over 60 volunteers descended on The Ranch Complex in Loveland Colorado to give it a go. Sitting on small scooters reminiscent of a grade school gymnasium volunteers meticulously laid out the toothbrushes leaving them slightly overlapping so as not to have any gaps. By noon the previous record had been shattered, but still, our heroes continued. They invited AdSortium Media to document with video while the Colorado Department of Transportation sent out a full survey crew to get actual measurements from the ground. Our band of scrappy misfits would lie out 41,769 brushes for 3.571 miles of teeth cleaning goodness. After the measuring was complete those same volunteers quickly scooped them all up for their previously mentioned recipients. This was a great feel-good event that did real positivity in the community.