Franklin Ave Playground Fundraiser Sets World Ice Cream Sundae Record

Families packed Pearl River's Central Avenue Field Friday afternoon and waited to hear two things.

First they waited to find out if the Franklin Avenue Playground Committee met its goal of breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest ice cream sundae. They did it easily with a length of 406 feet, eight inches, nearly 200 feet more than the old mark.

The announcement drew a cheer from the assembled crowd of hundreds, mostly parents and their children. 

Seconds later they got the announcement they were really waiting for. It was time to devour the record-setting sundae. 

Tom Warren, one of the event's co-chairs, said he would have the final fundraising numbers some time over the weekend, but was thrilled with the results. 

"It was amazing," Warren said. "The volunteers were amazing. Our donors were amazing. Gary's Gutters. Raffaele's Pizza. Dance Central. PLJ was here. It was a great time.

"In the beginning, I didn't think it would be this big. As we got the flyers out and told people about this and PLJ picked us up, I began to get the feeling I bit off more than I could chew, but it looks like we pulled it off."

Warren said the initial plan was to make the sundae 150 feet long, but that was when the record was 125. During the planning of Friday's event, the record was broken by a 200-foot, three-inch sundae, so the Franklin Ave. Committee altered its goal to 250. 

"Jean Beckerle, one of my co-chairs, we were with Gary's Gutters putting the gutters out and she kept saying we could do more," Warren said. "So just today, we kept expanding it and expanding it and expanding it."

Warren agreed that it was a good idea given the huge turnout. 

"Now we just have to clean it up," Warren said, smiling.

The funds raised Friday will go to the committee's efforts to upgrade the playground at Franklin Avenue Elementary School.

The full list of sponsors for Friday's event is below and attached to this report in a PDF file.

"It's nice to see the businesses in town do this," Warren said. "We charged them all $50 and it was like nothing. Johnny's BBQ today out of nowhere showed up and gave us all lunch." 

This report has been updated with more pictures, video and details. Check back with Pearl River Patch for the final numbers from the fundraiser once they become available. 

The Franklin Avenue Playground Committee passed along its thanks the following sponsors and supporters:

• Gary's Gutter Service                                                           
• T. O. Miller
• Johnny's BBQ Smokehouse Grill
• Abby Ice
• American Compressed Gases-Dry Ice Corp., Bardonia
• Beckerle's Lumber
• Central Auto
• Clifford Martial Arts
• Eileen Donaghue (PRHS)
• Empire Fire House
• Holt Entertainment
• House of Bounce
• Impress the Guest
• King Kone
• McConeghy Family
• Nelson Metals
• Neubauer Family
• Orangetown Highway Department
• Pearl River Fire Department
• Pearl River Gun Club
• Ringners Furniture
• Rockland County Weights & Measures
• Shoprite
• Torino's Deli Blauvelt
• Denis Troy
• Warren Family
• WPLJ
• Yogurt Sensations
• All our community service volunteers