EXTREME MAKEOVER: More than 400 turn out to set wheelchair formation world record

With an excited jump by Paige Hemmis and a wave of Ty Pennington's arms, the Miracle Field crowd knew they had made it.

Volunteers and more than 400 people in wheelchairs broke into cheers. They had showed up to the Moorhead field to set a Guinness World Record of creating the largest wheelchair logo image.

Danny L. Girton Jr., an adjudications executive with Guinness World Records in its New York office was on hand to immediately certify the record.

Girton said the criteria to create a record would be that the 347 people in wheelchairs needed to remain in formation for at least 10 minutes and the formation must be recognizable.

In this case, the formation created the logo for Hope Inc., which is the nonprofit run by the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" family, the Grommeshes. Hope Inc. gives children with disabilities the chance to take part in sports and other activities.

While volunteers continue putting the finishing touches on the Grommeshes' Moorhead home, show stars Pennington and Hemmis, among others, were at Miracle Field in Moorhead to help create not only the world record but to photograph the image. The photo will be given to the Grommesh family when they return to see their new house.

Additional wheelchairs were on hand to create a border for the picture.

For more than three hours, volunteers waited patiently as crews filmed the process and the chairs were organized.

Among them was Stefanie Gaulrapp who waited patiently to take her place as part of the "H" in Hope. She wheeled out to the field with her son, Quentin Cuperus, 3, along for the ride.

Before Friday, Gaulrapp said she didn't know there were so many others like her in a wheelchair in the F-M area. She doesn't know the Grommesh family, but she wanted to be there to support them.

"It's amazing," Gaulrapp said.

Holding an umbrella to protect herself from the sun, Dora Martin, of Breckenridge, Minn., who will turn 100 years old next Saturday, also took part in the record breaking event.

Michelle Anderson and her son Izak Swift, 12, came with extra wheelchairs from Golden Living Center. Swift was hoping for an autograph from Pennington, but Anderson said she was already grateful to an even higher power for making the week happen.

"The average temperature is 60 for October here. Somebody is definitely watching over this situation," she said.

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