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How was the official measurement made?
I had finished working on the scarf in October of 2000, and now had to find some way of "officially" measuring it to fulfill the Guinness Book of World Records requirements.
I had been in communication with the Guinness Book of World Records for some time -- both with the New York office, and with the London, home office (by e-mail). They sent me a packet of materials listing very specifically the steps, and the verification materials, needed for submission to the Guinness Book of World Records.
I approached the Police Resource Officer, Phil Dickens, at William Chrisman High School, and asked him if there would be a way for the Police Department to measure the length as they would skid marks, etc. from an accident scene. He spoke with a colleague of his, and then recommended that we go to a section of 23rd Street (Highway 78) in Independence called "the flats". It is a long, straight section of 4-lane road on the way to the Lake City Arsenal where the police actually calibrate their LASER measuring guns.
But, we began to have some fall rain at that time, and I knew I would be laying the scarf on the ground, so we had to wait. Then winter arrived. In February of 2001 everything seemed to clear up and get nice for awhile, but conflicts of scheduling and more wet weather delayed us again.
Finally, around spring break from school in April, we had a stretch of nice weather, so we set the meeting for the "official" measurement. I contacted all of the media to hopefully gain some coverage as well (another form of submission for the Guinness Book of World Records). 3 students from William Chrisman, 2 police officers, and cameramen from KCTV5 and WDAF41 all met on a sunny afternoon on the flats. I opened the back end of my van and my students began pulling out the scarf. I kept driving and driving! Much further than I expected. It was very difficult to get the scarf out and laying in a straight line along the shoulder of the road. There were many little curves and buckles in the scarf, and it may have stretched out further! But, I was very happy with what had been done.
One police car was parked at each end, and when the scarf was all laid out, the LASER was fired off from one car to the next. TV-41 got the actual measurement on video --- 3523 feet.
The worst part of it was piling the entire scarf back into the van --- and then once I had it home again, unpiling it, and refolding it back into 2 3x3x3-foot boxes.
I prepared all of the materials to send to Guinness Book of World Records --- a signed affidavit from each of the police officers, copies of videos from both TV stations, a copy of the Examiner's first article (see below), all of the wrappers from the 153 skeins of yarn used, and my statement of how the scarf was begun and completed.
Apparently, I just missed the submission deadline for the 2002 Guinness Book of World Records, as they actually went to print during the summer. But, by August I received word that the submission was in consideration. And then in September, I received an e-mail saying that I had been accepted as a World Record Holder! The official certificate arrived in December!
There is no guarantee that I will appear in the Guinness Book of World Records, but I'm planning on checking in the 2003 edition. Whether or not it is in the printed version, I have the certificate, and the self-satisfaction of setting a goal for myself --- and following through to a successful conclusion.