Pearl River Record Sundae Event Raises $7,500

The Franklin Avenue Playground Committee estimated that Friday's Guinness World Record ice cream sundae drew over 1,000 people to the Central Ave. Field in Pearl River. 

The event raised $7,500 at $10 per bowl. 

"It was double what we thought it was going to be," said event co-chair Tom Warren. "We would have been happy with $3,500 or $4,000. Raising that much was just amazing. And the turnout, plus people stopping me and saying what a great time it was." 

The oranizers built an ice cream sundae officially measured at 406 feet, eight inches long, more than twice the current world record. Warren said that the information will be mailed to Guinness World Records within the next day or two and the process of certifying the record takes two months. 

He also offered further details from Friday's event.

• Official length of the sundae: 406 feet, eight inches
• Pounds of ice cream: 630
• Pounds of syram: 55
• Pounds of sprinkles: 28
• Pounds of cherries: 24

The sundae was actually built in rain gutters lined with tinfoil. They used dry ice placed every 10 feet to keep the sundae cool, which was a challenge with the temperature in the low 80s.

Another challenge was to keep the very large crowd of children at a distance until the sundae was measured and buiilt.

"All the kids knew the world record had to depend on the measurement after we made the sundae," Warren said. "That's all the kids could talk about. They knew they had to wait." 

The money raised was part of the ongoing effort to renovate the playground at Franklin Ave. Elementary School in Pearl River.