DUNDURN — Estevan's Caroline Saxon and Joanne Choma were a part of the Dino Challenge on Canada Day in Dundurn and said that was one of the funniest days of their lives.
On July 1, a quaint Saskatchewan town witnessed an extraordinary gathering as people of all ages, donning inflatable-dinosaur costumes, flocked to the streets in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record breaking the previous one claimed by Portland, Oregon, with 380 participants in the previous year.
The unofficial number for Dundurn Dino Challenge is 1,163 dinosaur-wearing costume people.
The event was organized by Dundurn’s Big Mur's Tavern's owner Gary Grady, who hosted the festivities in front of his establishment, which became a real attraction for people from all over the world.
What started like a joke for Saxon and Choma, quickly grew into a real adventure.
"I was coming into work Monday morning, [and I heard an interview with] guy from Mur's Tavern, and they were talking about this thing happening on Canada Day," Saxon shared. "So I'm thinking 'Wow, they are going to try to break the Guinness record and the kids love dinosaurs nowadays, so it would be wonderful to take my grandkids there.' But my one grandson went to BC with his dad, his two sisters went to Manitoba with my daughter and my other three grandsons were stockcar racing on Saturday. So, I said to Joanne, 'Let's take your little guy.' But he was in Denver, Colorado. So, Joanne, you're coming with me."
The costumes were ordered Tuesday and came in just in time – Friday morning.
"She phoned me and asked, 'What are you doing on July 1?' Going to the parade in Bienfait, that's what we always do. 'We're going to Dundurn,' she said. I started to laugh. And I laughed, and I laughed. Came Wednesday, and I laughed. Thursday, I laughed," Choma shared, noting that only when costumes came in, she realized it was indeed happening.
"It was the best day ever," Choma said laughing.
"Everybody was just having so much fun," said Saxon. "My jaws were so sore from just laughing. And we met all kinds of people there."
To set the record, people just had to show up in Dundurn, wearing an inflatable dinosaur costume, and register.
"It was a lot of fun," Saxon said. "And when you do something like that everyone can participate and it's so hilarious."
"It was just 50 bucks [for costume] and get yourself there," Choma noted.
Many participants were accompanied by their families and friends, so the crowd that gathered at Dundurn that day was even bigger. Dinos got bracelets and received a meal and a drink with them. There was a DJ playing hits, and beer gardens on site, and Saxon and Choma both said they were really impressed with the organization.
"It was very well organized. They had water stations. They had first aid stations, and the police there. The registration went smooth," Choma said.
"And they had a nice big green area and lots of room to sit in the shade … And boy they played good music," Saxon added. "And when it was over, they played Jurassic Park."
Not only people got to partake in setting a record, but it seemed that participants and spectators got to enjoy the day and have fun without any serious efforts.
"If you watch videos online, you see people dancing, and everybody thinks their dance moves were so cool, right? But because everybody had costumes on, it don't matter how good your dance moves are. When you're in this, you can be a stick out there dancing, and you would look just as good," Choma said.
The event attracted people not only from all over Saskatchewan but from all over Canada, the U.S. and across the ocean.
"We met that group, they were from England, from Liverpool. He said he heard about it over there, and he told his friends that's it, he was going," Saxon shared.
"Three couples came," Choma added. "And there was somebody from Cork [Ireland], from Wales. Northwest Territories were there, someone from BC drove all the way there."
The dino crowd got some heat and then was rained on, they rode in an old dino hauler bus and had to wait in a long line to register, but the only real challenges Saxon and Choma noticed were getting into the costumes and then spotting each other in the crowd of over 1,100 dinosaurs with about 70 per cent being identical T-Rexes. Other options included triceratops, brontosauruses, velociraptors, and pterodactyls.
While the number of registrations is almost triple, the organizers await confirmation from the Guinness World Records, which will validate their triumph over Oregon's previous record. Grady explained that all relevant data, including numbers and photographs, will be mailed to the organization, with a decision expected within the next month.
In an interview with SASKTODAY.ca, Grady emphasized that the event aimed to promote Big Mur's Tavern and showcase the charming town of Dundurn, and seems that the trick worked.
"I have another pitstop now," Saxon said. "If I'm going to or from Saskatoon one day, I will literally stop in there and have a beer at his tavern."
The organizers plan to hold the event again next year to surpass their record, and those who joined it this time are already looking forward to the next dino gathering.
"As we were leaving, somebody yelled out, 'We'll see you next year and we'll do it all over again.' So if they do, it will be bigger," Choma said.
