1,063 yo-yo, sing, hop for unity, record

Sunday, on the track behind Kings Park High School, 1,063 people engaged in a simultaneous yo-yo, then sang the nursery school classic "If You're Happy and You Know It" three times, then stood on one leg for two minutes.

For these feats they will achieve worldwide fame in the "Guinness Book of World Records" -- or maybe not.

Seven hundred and three people kept one-legged balance, which would seem to shatter the previous record of 360 standees, set in April in Darien, Conn. -- take that, Darien! -- while the yo-yo record of 2,036 people, set at a Boy Scout jamboree in 2010, stands. The residents of Kings Park must wait to learn about the "If You're Happy" record, as Guinness officials could not be reached Sunday.

Anne Carlin, a Kings Park homemaker who organized the event on behalf of Kings Park in the kNOw, an anti-drug group, said it could be several weeks before the group hears from Guinness. She remained stalwart in the face of uncertainty Sunday.

"We smashed one record, which was what we wanted to do. But the real purpose wasn't to break a record -- the purpose was to get the word out about who we are and bring the community together."

One might reasonably ask, as did Maureen Rossi, the group's president: "What is the connection between this and the drugs?" Her answer was "Family fun," on the theory that children who have wholesome fun with loved ones are less likely to take drugs. Also, given enough community activities, said Kings Park Central School District Superintendent Susan Agruso, students "don't want to do drugs."

About 2 in the afternoon, everybody filed past signs with warnings about bathroom breaks ("Go before you yo!!!") and escape for any other reason ("You can't leave until AFTER the record attempts") and onto the track.

Video cameras were turned on and volunteer judges warned they were going to be scrupulous. "We do things fair here in Kings Park," said one, Sean Lehman, president of the Civic Association.

Then the countdown began, and mere minutes later freshman Catherine Paleno, 13, described what it felt like to possibly be a world-record-holding one-legged stander and "If You're Happy" singer: "They could have picked a better song, I thought . . . It's not going to go to my head."