SELINSGROVE —
A plan to break the 1988 world-record 4.55-mile banana split has been derailed by the organizers’ inability to obtain insurance for the May event.
A disheartened Chris Schlieder told the Selinsgrove Borough Council Monday night that he was unable to purchase the necessary insurance and was ending his quest to build a record-breaking 5-mile banana split along Market Street on May 4.
“We are exactly two months away and it’s just not wise to sell tickets if we can’t guarantee safety,” he told the council.
Schlieder, 38, was working to beat the 1988 Guinness World Record banana split that was set in Selinsgrove and raise money to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He was planning to try and sell about 26,000 tickets for the event.
Insurance was much easier to obtain 25 years ago, prior to the terroristic attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, he said.
Council Vice President Peter Carroll encouraged Schlieder to look for help in keeping the venture afloat.
“You’re getting a lot of positive feedback,” he said.
Without event insurance, Schlieder said, large companies such as Hershey which would be asked to donate hundreds of gallons of ice cream, chocolate syrup and other items to build the large desert would not want to get involved.
The one bright spot on the sad turn of events is that Selinsgrove still holds the record for building the largest banana split.
And, Carroll said encouragingly, “Maybe next year.”
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