Longest ribbon cutting: Jersey shore breaks Guinness world record (VIDEO)
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J., USA -- After New Jersey governor Chris Christie cut the 5.51 miles ribbon to open the Jersey Shore for the unofficial start of summer, a representative from Guinness World Records announced that New Jersey beat a Guinness world record for the Longest ribbon cutting,
according to the World Record Academy: www.worldrecordacademy.com/. Photo: Governor Chris Christie and First Lady Mary Pat Christie ceremoniously cut another ribbon with Guinness World Record Adjudicator Mike Janela who announces the record broken for the World's Longest Ribbon Cutting in Seaside Heights, N.J. Photo: Governor's Office/Tim Larsen (enlarge photo)
The previous Guinness world record for the longest ribbon used in a ribbon cutting ceremony measured 6.75 km (4.19 miles) and set by the city of Schwäbisch Hall. The ribbon was used to open the newly renovated quarter "Kocherquartier" in Schwäbisch Hall , Germany.
Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the most participants in a ribbon cutting ceremony; it was 4,200 at an event organised by Icon Computers and Service Center (Maldives) in Malé, Maldives.
"Anybody who lives in New Jersey, the Jersey Shore is in your heart . . . this means everything to our state," Christie said before cutting a 5.51-mile-long blue ribbon - the longest such ribbon anywhere to be cut ceremonially ever - declaring the storm-battered Shore recovered and ready for summer business.
The 5.5-mile ribbon symbolically tied together some of the hardest-hit towns by Sandy, and bested the previous Guinness world record-holder by about a mile.
"This is an incredible day for New Jersey," said Christie, who spoke even as front-end loaders carried poles and planks onto the sand for the still-not-quite-finished boardwalk.
"Seven months ago I saw the devastation on this boardwalk. I knew that if we all worked hard we could get this done."
Many of the 2,000 or so in attendance wore blue T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase "Stronger than the storm" to signify the region's resilience in recovering from Sandy, which struck Oct. 29.
The storm damaged 346,000 structures at the Shore, causing $38 billion in damage along the coast, and threatening to derail the state's lucrative $39 billion-a-year tourism industry.
