Hope Sinks for Lake Saint Louis World Record Attempt

I was worried as soon as I pulled into the Community Association parking lot Saturday evening and saw all the empty spaces. Granted, it was only 5 p.m., but registration for the World Record Float Attempt had opened at 4. I had expected to see a beach full of colorful inflatables when I drove over the Lake Saint Louis dam and looked across at the CA.

Was it the cloudy day and threat of rain that kept floaters away? Had our long string of record-temperature days sapped the energy out of the usually eager participants?

"I don't know how it will go. We could have 100 or we could have 1000," event organizer Greg Jones said. "But we will still have the Missouri and US records, and if we can't go for the record, we're going to try to spell out 'Joplin' with the rafts."

100 percent of the registration fees were earmarked for Joplin. The Lake Saint Louis Police Officers Association sponsored the event.

Jones said that the idea for the event came from his niece Amanda, who received a Guinness Book of World Records one Christmas. This was Lake Saint Louis' third attempt at the record. Previous attempts in 2008 and 2009 came close, but didn't quite beat the Australian record of 863. The registration fees, which are suggested donations, always go to charity.

When 6 o'clock came, only a few dozen rafters waited on the beach at Lake Saint Louise. Jones and his assistants waded into the water and organized the participants into a fair representation of the letters J,O,P,L,I and N.

"Some of you on the lower part of the L need to move up to the top," directed one raft-herder.

"O, you're a little small. Can you spread out? N, beautiful job!" said another.

The event drew the attention of KSDK Channel 5, who filmed the floaters from the balcony of the CA clubhouse.

In the final count, 84 registrants participated in the attempt, a far cry from the numbers needed. "But we raised $1000 for Joplin," Jones said. "And that's the real purpose."