Before the game against Lake Erie College takes place on Saturday, many pink discs will be flying through the air.
Since October is breast cancer awareness month, Ferris students plan on tossing about 2,500 pink discs into the air in hopes of breaking the current world record of flying discs which is 1,903. That record was set by South Carolina’s Hilton Head Inn in 1988.
“Paint Big Rapids Pink” is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. at Top Taggart Field prior to kickoff at 7 p.m.
Brian Pacholka, national elastomer center lab manager, said that approximately 2,800 discs have been created for the event.
In a university news report, Pacholka said, “The goal for this event is to create fun for the campus and the Big Rapids community for a good cause.”
Pacholka has also produced plastic discs for orientation, giveaways and various events on campus. In addition, he said, “It’s also nice to receive recognition for the plastic engineering technology program at Ferris because of the time the program has spent developing this project.”
A Facebook event page titled “Guinness World Record Flying Disc Toss Challenge – Paint Big Rapids Pink” was created by Nicole Leyder from the Mecosta County Medical Center to invite Ferris students and the Big Rapids community to the event.
The page stated there will be a ten minute window between the game’s pre-practice and the kick-off to get all participants on the field, beat the record, and clear the field to avoid a penalty for the football team. Announcers will provide directions.
Currently, the event page indicates that 465 people are planning on attending. The page states that cancer survivors will receive free admission to the game and to contact Tom Hogenson at 592-4409 for tickets. Tickets for adults will cost $7 each. FSU staff, senior citizens and K-12 student tickets cost $5 apiece. A group rate of $4 per ticket is available for groups of 20 or more by calling ext. 2888.
All gifts collected will be donated to the Susan P. Wheatlake Women’s Cancer and Wellness Fund.
In the Aug. 26 issue of the Torch, Lynn Scheible, Paint Big Rapids Pink committee member, said she hopes for 3,000 people to get involved. Scheible also said last year’s events raised $25,000.