Bubble bursts for Greensburg record attempt

Greensburg blew it.

The city’s attempt to set a new world record for group bubble-gum blowing fell short Saturday. But organizers pledged to try again.

“We did get a Westmoreland County record but did not make the world record,” said Amy Beeghly, president of the Greensburg Business & Professional Association, which organized the annual Summer in the City event, of which the bubble blow was part. “But to our knowledge there had never been another attempt before in the county.”

Officials had sought to top the record of 881 people blowing gum bubbles at the same time, set in July 2018 in New Jersey and documented by the Guinness Book of World Records. Local organizers sought about 1,200 bubble-gum blowers for Saturday’s record-breaking try in Greensburg.

They fell a bit short.

Beeghly estimated about 250 to 300 people were on hand to blow bubbles over a 30-second period, as observers photographed and took video from an airborne drone to document the attempt.

“When we saw the numbers weren’t going to be close, we abandoned our effort to document our numbers,” Beeghly said.

A variety of factors may have kept people away, Beeghly suggested, starting with morning forecasts of rain. The No Kings political rally, held a block away at Westmoreland County Courthouse, was also scheduled for noon and was expected to draw as many as 1,000 people.

The political rally was organized just a few weeks ago, long after Summer in the City organizers scheduled the bubble gum record attempt. Initially, the group was hopeful the large numbers of people coming into Greensburg would bolster attendance, but it appeared to have the opposite effect.

The event’s pet parade, which in past years had been a popular component of Summer in the City, drew just five four-legged marchers this year.

Those who did participate in the range of activities, including the bubble gum blowing, said they were ready for the challenge.

“We thought this was something fun to do, then we’ll go to the craft beer festival later (at St. Clair Park),” said Meghan Caterson, 43, of Greensburg.

Cassie King, 30, of Mt. Pleasant and friend, Dalton Barbus, 30, of Ruffs Dale, initially planned a Saturday trip into Greensburg to shop for baked goods and heard about the record-breaking attempt.

“We came for pastries, but now we’re here to blow,” King said.

Barbus said he was excited for a chance to be in the Guinness World Records book.

“I can’t wait to tell people, not to brag, but I have a world record,” Barbus said.

That brag will have to wait, but officials said they were still pleased with the event and said they will put into practice in future years what they learned, how to market the record attempt and how it should be operated.

“We had fun,” Beeghly said.