2017
Guinness Record Break Attempt
This event also helped me stand back up. It was a jolt into the power of music; the most powerful therapy without needing to speak or move- unless inspired to.
Two years after the last guitar raffle, I learnt the guy who accepted me to raffle my guitar off at the Markham Village Music Festival (Kevin Ker) was going to attempt to break a Guinness World Record Break! Whaaaat?! How exciting!
City TV Story, Melanie Mg
Being part of something big to do with music? How exciting! This also served as an incredible distraction, as had full head and spine radiation just 2 years prior.
Aside from the record break attempt being awesome, all money from the super cheap entry tickets and daily fundraising events was dedicated to a different charity.
I hold close the memory of asking Kevin Ker (aka ‘the big cheese’) if one of the days could benefit the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. Without hesitation, he said yes to March 26th! I joined the volunteer planning committee with Mom. I took on doing the Facebook coverage which was going to be part of the evidence for the official record break. Of course, this was merely a crumb compared to all the evidence needed to be documented!
OH, I almost forgot- MY GUITAR! (raffle#3) Perfect opportunity to set up my guitar to be raffled off… AGAIN… hopefully for the last time! Aaron and Eileen (from the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada) manned the table for a while and kept an eye on my black beauty! The poster advertised this guitar was worth $2000 and in small font under wrote because that’s how much this cheap guitar raised for charity (Always read the fine print, people!). 🙂
True to nature, I had to have some fun with the posts. I got an idea (muhahaha)… I researched former Guinness World Record Breakers & found the PERFECT person, who sent us a custom message!
Here’s who I found: ‘The Burper King of London England’ who holds the GWR for LOUDEST burp!!! (Yes, you read that right – I STILL laugh every time I watch this! haahhah)
It was SO MUCH FUN doing Facebook for the event. Glad there was other team members who also helped fill in more pics/video. Although made jokey posts as a filler, what meant most to me was being trusted to help the with the evidence of taking pics and some video. I was involved in something- I felt needed. I was part of something BIG, and was thriving in it.
What kind of music did they play? Oh, a little of EVERYTHING! I have many favourites of independent musicians- but when it comes to hearing covers of Bob Marley music, I animate again by ‘wiggling’ and singing.
(videos below: 1) Cover of Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds” (don’t remember the band who was playing, sorry!) 2) hearing this song at home while sitting out on the deck that summer, and 3) LOOK HOW FREAKIN PACKED it would get! (what was this guy’s name? Mark?)
The community came together to attempt to brake the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for ‘THE LONGEST CONCERT BY MULTIPLE ARTISTS’, and
WE DID IT!!
The ‘cherry on top’ of this sweet success was the money raised for the 16 CHARITIES!!
How was money raised you asked? Sheesh, I don’t remember every way, but do know the admission tickets were cheap, event tshirts were sold, and each charity had a rep who manned and raised money ex 50/50 draws.
The SUCCESSFUL Guinness World Record Break by EMG went 16+ Days, 24 HOURS STRAIGHT, AND BENEFITTED 16 CHARITIES!?! WOW! All together, we raised an incredible
*DRUM ROLL*
$90,000!!!! thats
NINETY
THOUSAND
DOLLARS!!!
Mid-way through the attempt (March 26th) rolled around, and it was my turn to reveal how much was raised for the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada; those 24 hours worth of admission tickets, 50/50 draw, donations, and, of course, my beloved guitar. At the end of the day, the Charity of my choice was announced:
We raised an astounding $7,663 for the BRAIN TUMOUR FOUNDATION OF CANADA!!!!!!
‘Behind the scenes’- When told how much was made, I cowered to the back room instead of being the one to proudly announce it to the roaring crowd. I remember feeling selfishly disappointed. It was if the music stopped… does that make sense? ‘My day’ was over. I couldn’t go out front and proudly announce the total. Why couldn’t I have raised more? It should have been more. What purpose did I have now?
Luckily, my post 2 year radiation brain came back to reality, and the distraction of the fun music, new friends and memories with Mom brought me back from being too hard on myself (as usual) and back to glowing reality.
I heard the winner of the guitar was a young boy, who was told about how truly special the guitar was. I hope he enjoys that magical guitar.
Standing Back Up: Musical Muses
Doug and the Slugs (’11-’22), Guitar Raffles (’15, ’16, ’17), Guinness Record Break (2017)