DEBORAH TRACY
The Daily World
The scent of sunscreen filled the air as natural redheads of all ages gathered to establish a new Guinness World Record in Sammamish on Saturday. Hoquiamites Denise Baumgardner and her daughter, Hannah, 12, joined the sea of red tresses glimmering in the sun to set a record for the most natural redheads in one place at the same time.
All told, 901 redheads from auburn to copper to mahogany to strawberry got together, more than surpassing the Guinness requirement of 250 to set the new record.
The event, entitled "Redheads and More Redheads Day," took place at the Skyline High School stadium and was the brainchild of professional photographer Anne Lindsay of Sammamish. A "bottle" redhead herself and thus not allowed to count as one of the redheads in attendance, Lindsay has been working on a book, photographing redheads and collecting their stories.
"A lot older redheads say they were teased unmercifully as a kid; but not the younger ones. There's a rise in appreciation for redheads in the world," Lindsey said.
Redheads make up only about 2 percent of the population. The redheads were counted by two official "clickers" who were watched by two notary publics. The mass gathering resulted from a combination of public relations and social networking on Twitter and Facebook.
Baumgardner was "Facebooked" by a friend who had heard of the event. She was glad she and her daughter made the trip.
"We met a lot of nice people. It was fun to be with other redheads, we didn't feel like the minority," she said.
She acknowledges she and her daughter do feel a little different here on the Harbor, estimating there are only three or four kids at Hoquiam High with red hair.
"It's a great thing, I'm not dissing it. We are unique and we are blessed by that," Baumgardner said.
A second Redheads and More Redheads Day next year is scheduled for Saturday, July 16, 2011.
