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Electric Forest Festival coverage is sponsored by Springstead Law Offices, with locations in Hart and Fremont, 231-873-4022 (Hart),www.springsteadlaw.com.
By Mark Lewis. OCP Contributing Writer.
GRANT TWP. – Love is in the air, and not just in the rarified air of the United States Supreme Court.
Around 10,000 people gathered Friday afternoon at Electric Forest’s Sherwood Stage to have their go at a world record. Their goal? Gather together enough people to set the world’s largest group hug record.
Though the Guinness Book of World’s Records people have yet to weigh in, it looks as though they may have done it.
Not that it would have made any difference.
“Who cares?” intoned Christine Gold, a New York resident who was making her third trip to the forest. “This is cool to be apart, even if we don’t reach the record. But with so many loving people here, it seems like the perfect place to try it.”
The queue seemed to be the biggest obstacle to setting the record, as participants waiting in line to have their festival bracelets scanned faced another long wait once they entered the grounds. Queuing in groups of 50, the area slowly filled with over 10,000 people.
Once assembled, the DJ on call, Lafa Taylor, shouted to the crowd to follow his specific instructions, which included how to hug the people next to them. Two unnamed Shelby High School ‘officials’ clocked the
record attempt on their stopwatches.
“It’s nice to be a part of something like this,” said Johnny, hailed from “parts unknown.” Hugging his buddies to the right and left of him, Johnny thought it was appropriate to hold the hug today. “Considering what the (Supreme) Court decided today, it makes the whole thing even more special.”
As the folks piled out of the Sherwood Forest grounds after the attempt, someone could be overheard saying, “We gotta do that more often.”
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