The numbers don’t lie. If they don’t add up, well, that’s the hard, cold reality of math.
For the members of Elmira District Secondary School’s First Robotics team 4917, last weekend’s attempt at getting into the Guinness Book of World Records was all about the numbers. On Saturday, they just weren’t big enough.
That’s not to say, however, that another go isn’t in the offing.
The event to create the largest human number out of the club’s four-digit name had a sparser turnout than expected, with only 182 of the 501 people expected to show up actually making it to the school to fill out the numbers chalked on the floor of the EDSS gym on the morning of March 29.
The scaffolding erected for photographs and recording of the attempt showed some gaps in the giant 4917 figure as supporters clad in dark colours funneled into the gym after throwing their tickets into a counting container for the record. Still, as organizers ended the event, they announced all was not lost and they will try again.
The record attempt was chance for the team to get a spot in the book’s achievements in robotics. This particular attempt at the world’s largest human number had yet to be claimed above the basic standard of 500 people.
The event was open to the public, so the club is hoping for a larger response from the community when it makes another attempt during the EDSS 75th reunion event scheduled for June 6-8.
More information about the record attempt and the club itself can be found online at www.4917.ca.
