Big Brothers, Big Sisters attempt to break record

It wasn’t the largest “Telephone” game ever played in the world, but it was the largest game ever played in Bloomington.

By about 1 p.m. Saturday, it was clear to Kathy Delaney-Willett, director of outreach and enrollment for Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana, the record wasn’t going to be broken.

BBBS’s attempt to recruit 1,400 participants Saturday at the University Gym to break the record fell short, as only about 70 participants showed up.

Megan Oldham, marketing intern for BBBS, said the lack of turnout might be due to the time of day. She said it might have been more successful if it were a type of midnight bash.

“I’m still glad people came,” she said. “Regardless of the fact that we didn’t break the world record, we still brought awareness to the organization.”

Alongside the “Bigs” and “Littles,” students from the greek system, wrestling team, tennis team and auditorium ushers corps showed up to participate.

The telephone message started as, “Big Brothers Big Sisters is breaking records and building lives” and, naturally, the message became skewed with variations such as “Big Brothers Big Sisters are building bills and breaking cars” and “Big Brothers Big Sisters bricks and tars.” It ended closer to the original version – “Big Brothers Big Sisters is breaking a record today.”

“It’s the largest game of Telephone I’ve ever played,” IU senior Marcie Grimard said.