Record bid puts new spin on Daffodil Day
On Daffodil Day, hundreds of toy pinwheels turned an area near the Church Steps into a sea of whirling yellow.
The collection of tiny windmills in central Nelson was an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest display of toy windmills/pinwheels.
The number to beat was 576 set by a display at an amusement park in Rome, a record held since October 2016.
Cancer Society Nelson centre manager Michelle Hunt said she had around 900 pinwheels put together by the Nelson Sea Scouts and Cancer Society volunteers.
Beginning the event at 10am on Friday on the lawn beside the Christ Church Cathedral steps, the event wound up with a display of 636 pinwheels, successfully beating the record by 60.
Hunt said she was ‘‘so very happy’’ to have set a new mark.
‘‘It was just a really nice, feelgood community fun event to celebrate Daffodil Day,’’ she said.
Many of the pinwheels were put in the ground as a symbol of friends and family lost to cancer.
‘‘A lot of people said this is for my aunty or this is for my grandad.
‘‘It was really touching, I heard a couple of really heartbreaking stories.’’
Local students from St Josephs and Hampden Street schools lent a helping hand by taking a numbered windmill and punching it into the grass.
Nelsonian Lance Jennings sealed the record breaking num- ber by planting windmill number 577.
Hunt said she had to abide by a ‘‘very large book of rules’’ to be considered for the attempt which included the display being in a public area, the windmills standing for five minutes, the event being recorded, two witnesses being present and every windmill documented and counted.
Once emailing through the results, the title would take a couple of months to be processed, she said.
Now, Hunt can only sit back and wait for the official word from Guinness.