“I decided to join in because it’s my birthday today, and I’m 65 years old,” said Marion Light of the Zumba group, “and afterwards they have to take me out to breakfast!”
Another group of family and friends, all sporting tee-shirts that said “Hokey Pokey Anonymous,” were excited by the challenge. “I love anything that can only be done once,” said Deb Powers, who hails from Hyde Park. Her 13-year-old granddaughter, Beverly, said that she wanted to come because “I love the Hokey Pokey! How can you not? And I also think it’s a very cool opportunity to get into the record books.”
One couple from Patterson remembered walking with their five children, one in a stroller, along the old railroad planks back in the mid-1990s as one of the original fundraisers to help jump-start the renovation of the bridge into the state-of-the-art pedestrian Walkway that it is today. “We walked over the old railroad ties that had a two-foot-wide metal grate over them, attached with hose clamps,” recalled Tom Herman. “It was damn near suicidal! Nothing like what it is today.”
“And I was scared of heights!” said his wife Kim. “But it was a fundraiser to get the Walkway started, and it had an 1890s theme, where everything was priced as it would be during that era, with hot dogs being 3 cents. It was a memorable event for our entire family, and we’ve been members and supporters ever since.”
After waiting and dancing and chatting, taking pictures of the carnival-like event, the participants followed their marching orders, got into a line as far as the eye could see. After a countdown, they proceeded to put their left foot in, then their right foot; and as this happened, the entire bridge swayed back and fourth. “Did you feel that?” one volunteer said. People were too busy dancing to notice, and by approximately 9:30 a.m., the turnstile entries and tickets had been counted, the stopwatch held by Girton, Jr. verified and it was announced that a new Guinness World Record has been set. “We did it!” shouted groups of dancers. “We did it!”
It was a moment in history unlike any other, and those who came will likely not forget it. But if they do, they can just turn to the Guinness Book of World Records book and photo to remember that place in time, June 9, suspended over the Hudson River, where they danced in sync with thousands of people and etched their own footprint into the sands (or bridges) of time.
For more information on the Walkway over the Hudson go to www.walkway.org. Now that’s what it’s all about! ++
I think that’s what it’s all about. Awesome job, Erin and Lauren both. Fun.