LBI World Record Attempt Gets High Turnout

SHIP BOTTOM, NJ — The LBI Sea Glass and Art Festival took another shot at the world record for most people blowing a conch shell on Oct. 5.

They hoped for 350 participants and got an unofficial tally of 303. That would exceed the current record total, but now they must wait and see whether Guinness World Records makes it official.

LBI held the record in 2012 but lost it two years later to participants in the Bahamas with a count of 295. They tried again in 2017 unsuccessfully.

But this year's festival brought renewed optimism to the record attempt. Participants bought or rented Queen conch shells while some brought their own.

The rules for the event were strict. All participants had to register and could only use the Queen conch shell. Only participants could be featured in official video or photographs for the Guinness World Record.

Cheryl Kirby, owner of Things A Drift, a local shop, organized the record attempt. According to Kirby, her brother-in-law Mark Simmons participated in a similar event in Key Largo in 2008. He did it again in 2009 and brought the idea to Kirby, who decided to go for the world record.

Todd Brill is a music teacher at Master's Musicians in Pennsylvania. Brill was the maestro for the event and spent the day teaching participants proper conch-blowing technique, a technique he liked to using a brass instrument. While Brill wanted to play the theme song from "Jaws" he decided to lead the participants with an easier tune in "Hot Cross Buns."

According to Brill, he has a personal connection with conch shells since his mother brought on home from Jamaica.

"She used to call me home with it and on one occasion, the kids I was playing with thought it was a truck," Brill said. "When I told them what it really was they nearly died laughing."

Brill spent a lot of time on the island as a child and kept the tradition alive as an adult. He saw Kirby's advertisement for the record attempt, and the two partnered up to make it happen.

"We agreed it would be a great fun fact for ourselves to get into the Guinness Book of World Records," Freeman said.

According to Simmons, it is best to start with a "raspberry sound" — unlike a whistle where you put air into it.

"The key is to focus more on finesse than force," Simmons said. "You determine how hard to blow and it's mostly air volume and how much pressure you put on to make the sound."

Participants were given an official participation certificate after signing a registration form. Sections of East 4th Street were roped off with 50 people per section so judges could count accurately.

"This is the craziest thing I've ever seen," participant John Mohrbacher of Pittsburgh said. "We have old and young people here. It's just a great event."

The Sea Glass and Art Festival was also in full swing. There were numerous vendors selling seashell-inspired jewelry, art, tree ornaments, picture frames and a sea glass contest.

Check out the "Hot Cross Buns" rendition below:

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