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If you’re looking for something romantic to do on Valentine’s Day, grab someone you love — or just someone to suck face with — and head down to the University of Maine Field House.
This may seem like an absurd place to bring a date on V-day, but in 1996, on this fateful day of roses and romance, 1,420 people gathered at UMaine’s Alfond Arena to try and break the world record for the most couples kissing simultaneously. UMaine broke the standing record and held its title for four years. The record was even entered in the Guinness Book of World Records.
On Feb. 11, 2000, UMaine lost the title when the town of Sarnia, Ontario broke the record with a reported 1,588 couples kissing at once.
“This means we need nearly 1,600 couples to reclaim our record,” Sandra L. Caron, professor of family relations and human sexuality, said.
Caron, along with others, is helping to promote the event. Caron first came up with the idea for breaking the world record while on sabbatical in London during the fall of 1995. She acquired the necessary documentation from the Guinness office and began organizing the event with the help of students when she returned to UMaine.
“Anyone who is 16 or older can be officially counted,” Caron said. Those living both on and off campus are encouraged to participate.
The Field House doors open at 9 p.m., but the actual kissing won’t take place until 10 p.m. In order for a kiss to be counted, a couple must kiss on the lips for 10 seconds. While this may seem like a relatively long time to kiss in a public place, it allows for photographs and video footage.
To ensure the counting is accurate, there will be two people at each door. One person will have a hand-held clicker while the other person hands out numbered stickers.
“According to Guinness, we need to have three independent judges from off campus,” said Lauri Sidelko, assistant director for Campus Activities and Events. The event is part of this year’s Winter Carnival Week, which Sidelko coordinates.
The three judges include Ric Tyler of WLBZ 2, Mike Elliot from the radio station KISS 94.5 and an affiliate from the Bangor Daily News. Kiss 94.5 is the co-sponsor of the event and its announcer will count down to the big kiss.
The event will also give the Alpha Phi Sorority the chance to raise funds for the American Heart Association. Not only will participants be helping to break a world record, but they’ll also have the chance to help a good cause. There will be a booth, hosted by the sorority, where photos can be taken of couples for a fee.
According to Caron, the event’s sponsors have received a case of Dentyne Ice chewing gum, which the company donated for distribution prior to the kiss-off.
“The company is very interested in receiving photos and video of the event for possible use in advertising their product,” Caron said.
Both Caron and Sidelko feel strongly that UMaine will regain its once-held title.
“We have a lot of motivated people working to promote this event and I predict that we will recapture the record,” Sidelko aid.
