Community Corner
Conch You Hear It!
Ship Bottom merchant organizes conch shell blowers to go for the Guinness World Record
Move over clams!
Chowderfest might have been the mollusk du jour on Long Beach Island last weekend, but the conch was making some noise of its own.
Actually, it had help from around 200 folks in Ship Bottom looking to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the largest group to blow conch horns in unison.
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Organized and sponsored by Things-A-Drift in Ship Bottom and Echoes of LBI magazine, the group conch blowing was just one of the events held during their annual Sea Glass Festival in Ship Bottom.
Cheryl Kirby, owner of the shop specializing in shells and Echoes magazine, said the organizers were hoping to set the record by getting 200 or more people on Saturday afternoon.
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Through out the day the bleating, blaring and honking of the shells was heard around the 4th Street shop as people tried out their shells, many provided by Things-A-Drift.
They also shopped from the vendors offering sea glass jewelry, art work and speakers made from sea shells.
There were contests for the best Hawaiian shirts, who could blow their conch shell the longest and, of course, sea glass during the day and on Sunday during the two-day festival.
When the 4 p.m. registration deadline rolled around, the crowd, shells in hand, assembled in front of the video and still photographers on hand to document the event.
After a couple dry runs, Kirby gave the countdown and the assembled crowd let forth a blast that may have been heard all the way down to Key West, or at least Surf City.
“We now need to send in the registration forms, video and still photos to Guinness to document the event,” said Kirby. It will take four to six weeks to hear back from them, she added.
