STATE COLLEGE — State College set a Guinness world record Feb. 4 as the community came together in the cold to make and light 5,622 ice luminaries on Allen Street.
The Light Up State College project aimed to beat the record of 2,561 ice luminaries held by Vuollerim, Sweden, and the local effort ended up more than doubling that total.
Many of the luminaries were made from kits that people picked up at The Make Space, which organized the event along with the Centre Foundation.
“They’re pretty easy to make, and we had fun doing it,” said Colleen Andreychik, who made luminaries with her own children and helped people make a large number of them at the Discovery Space, where she works. “It is such a cool event to be a part of, and to maybe break a world record is so awesome.”
The Make Space, a community-based nonprofit on Fraser Street, promotes creativity through building and making things, and was designated as a location for people to pick up kits or instructions to make the luminaries.
People were encouraged to use their own designs, and that resulted in luminaries of many different sizes. The only specification was that they had to be made of ice and hold a tea light candle inside of them.
Volunteers spent all afternoon collecting the creations and carefully setting them up on the street.
“It has been a lot of fun, so many nice people from the community have helped to get this record set, hopefully,” said Penn State student Ashley Smithers before the tally. “My hands are really cold, so frozen from dealing with ice all day.”
The end result of all that hard work was a beautiful street that was lit up with thousands of little candles reflecting in the ice.
“It is all about bringing the community together and doing something neat that has never been done,” said Centre Foundation CEO Molly Kunkel. “We have town and gown here working together, and it is going to be beautiful.”
The volunteers counted the luminaries as they put them out, but a little after 6 p.m. inspectors cleared the area and made a final count. The flames all had to stay lit for five minutes for the record to count, and video of the process will be sent to the Guinness record keepers to be evaluated.
After the total was announced, the crowd cheered loudly and many felt happy to be part of something so big.
“I made one and brought it here and it is awesome to be a part of,” said Bette White, who came all the way from Huntingdon County. “It is just a beautiful sight to see.”
