Big Chuck is Now in the Guinness Book of Records…at last count! (VIDEO)

I am now in the Guinness Book of Records (I think).

Lititz, Pennsylvania is a beautiful, charming little village of about 9,000 folks situated right in the heart of Amish Country, near Lancaster.  After a massive community wide effort that took months to come to fruition, Lititz was named "America's Coolest Small Town for 2013" by Budget Travel Magazine!

Lititz has a lot going for it:  quiet neighborhoods, a downtown chocked with delightful stores, some serious food history (Wilber Chocolate Buds are made here and they even preceded the Hershey's kisses by a few years) some beautiful older homes and lots of lush, green Amish farmlands.

But enough of that.  Let's get to the sunglasses.

This past Friday my family went to Lititz where they attempted (successfully) to set the world record for wearing sunglasses at night.  Why they did this, nobody knows.  But talk about community spirit!  WOW!

My brother, Bob D'Imperio, lives there with his family and Bobby was the emcee for the evening.  Now remember.  The Main Street of Lititz is usually quiet, and perfect for family strolling.....

Well I could not believe my eyes when we pulled in to downtown Lititz this Friday night.  Here, meet my brother Bob....

The crowd was positively pouring into the little two-block Main Street area.  Families gathered, tourists came from the surrounding areas to be a part of this history, and, well, frivolity ensued...

Soon, an hour before the official sunset time, the sunglasses were handed out to the throng.  By this time little Lititz had swelled to an uncountable number of party-goers!

The village of LItitz had ordered up more than 2,500 pairs of sunglasses and soon they had all been handed out, ensuring that a record would be set tonight.  EVERYBODY HAD SUNGLASSES ON!

Even Lititz's State Senator, Mike Brubaker, showed up for some sunglasses! Here we are together....

And like any good politician, Sen. Brubaker really got into the act.  He is obviously well-like by his constituents and faced with the largest crowd perhaps ever to assemble in downtown Lititz, well, stand back because here comes Senator Mike!

As you can see by now, the crowd stretched as far as the eye could see with thousands looking up at the cherry picker in the sky which held the official judges and camera men.

And finally, the time had come.  Because of the rules the crowd had to wait until the official sunset time 8:50 p.m. before putting on the glasses and playing the song "I Wear My Sunglasses At Night."  When the time came, the place went nuts.

It was a great time in Lititz.  I have rarely seen such unanimous community support for such a village pride event in such a small town.  From babies in strollers all the way up to grandparents on the park benches it was an unforgettable evening of sillinees,  fun and fellowship in the "Coolest Small Town in America."  I was glad to be a part of it.

Here is how it looked like at the end: