Yesterday was International Guinness World Book Record Day. Some of the records attempted were: in the U.K. the fastest time to sort 30 jellybeans using a straw (existing record 21.96 seconds), in Nigeria the Largest Painting by Numbers record and in Germany the Largest Bikini Parade.
The world's biggest maple leaf is one record already confirmed. There's certainly no denying: that's one huge leaf. I listened as CBC Radio One interviewed Joseph last night. When asked what he would say to his classmates (who may now be trying to beat his record), he replied "Good Luck"!
The world's biggest maple leaf is one record already confirmed. There's certainly no denying: that's one huge leaf. I listened as CBC Radio One interviewed Joseph last night. When asked what he would say to his classmates (who may now be trying to beat his record), he replied "Good Luck"!
Alex Horkay
Not the hockey playing kind, but the national emblem kind — and a monster size, too. So big that it has set the Guinness World Record as largest maple leaf. Nine-year-old Joseph Donato was riding his bicycle home from the park with his family when he spotted it lying right there on the road — perhaps the greatest maple leaf of all time.
“The width is 13 and 5/8 (inches) and then the length is 15 and 5/8 with the stem,” says Joseph proudly. “It’s yellow with some green.”
Joseph and his mother, Angie Donato, reported the find to the local newspaper and the story was picked up by other media, which caught the eye of Guinness representatives.
“They asked me to send a picture with the measuring tape” to prove the size of the leaf, he said.
Subsequently, “they contacted us and said that they wanted to open a new record for me,” he added.
His Grade 4 friends at a Pickering elementary school didn’t believe him at first, but they will now, he said.
The leaf was found in mid-October near the Rouge River and East Woodlands Park in Pickering, Angie Donato said, noting the family learned they had the record a couple of weeks ago but had to keep it quiet until today’s announcement by Guinness.
Toronto arborist Tom Francis, after seeing a news clip about the leaf, said he’s never seen one anywhere near that big.
“Trees are like people,” he said, noting that a leaf, like a person, can sometimes just be unusually large.
Nutrients, sun, ideal amounts of rain and location can all contribute, but that doesn’t explain the size of this particular leaf.
Meanwhile, there’s a happy boy with a world record certificate and a day off school to deal with all the media attention.
Joseph doesn’t aspire to sell his leaf on eBay, either.
“I’m just going to leave it in the frame for myself.”
As it turns out, Joseph is a Toronto Maple Leafs fan and he sees the world record as a good omen for the team.
No doubt even Harold Ballard would be proud.
Thursday was the sixth annual Guinness World Records Day, with 200,000 people around the world attempting to break various records, from the wacky to wonderful. In Ancaster, a group of elementary and high school students was attempting to set the record for the largest Macarena dance while raising awareness for diabetes.
source: www.thestar.com
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com
source: www.thestar.com
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com
Loving this inspiring story, it really is "The Maple Leaf Forever."
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the interview on CBC so much that I had to share it.
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