Interact breaks world record

Interact Club is breaking the boundaries of normal club activities by creating the world’s largest LEGO chain.

20 members of the club helped build the chain on Saturday, Sept. 27, alongside community members who paid a small fee to participate and help fundraise.

“The Interact Club helped the participants at the tables putting the links together,” said Joe Joyce, 2011-2012 President of the Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks Sunrise and Region 2 Youth Service Advisor.

“They were also helping on the lawn for the links that were being broken, putting them back together, and supervising to make sure that no one was running through the area.”

“There were lots of little kids and their parents helping out,” added Anastasia Pyrinis, junior and member of Interact Club.

Almost 200,000 LEGO bricks were donated to build the chain. All revenue raised will be used to fund the renovation of Old Meadows Park, a playground for children with disabilities.

The Conejo Recreation and Park District, along with the Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks Sunrise, are working toward expanding Old Meadows Park.

They want to add safer and more disability-specific elements such as calming areas, enclosed spaces, and places that help suggest social interaction with others.

The project is scheduled to be completed by 2016.

“I think the community is just finding out that we had a special needs park and that we are expanding it, so this helped bring awareness to that issue. But those who have special needs and are related to the issue know about the park and are excited for the renovation,” said Joyce.

The measurement of the chain was recently sent to the Guinness World Record Staff. The chain was 902.51 meters long, best the previous record of 565 meters.