To garner publicity for a coming county fair, Lorie Seadale started with the idea of husking corn, but wound up with Cadillacs.
Ms. Seadale is one of the organizers of the Orleans County Fair in northern Vermont. Orleans County includes Barton, the hometown of Henry Leland, the founder of Cadillac and Lincoln.
The organizers thought a Guinness World Record attempt of some kind would attract attendees to the fair and the region. “It was just a matter of zeroing in on just what record we might want to do,” Ms. Seadale said.
Ms. Seadale found the record for the most corn husked in one minute, 17, was held by a team of four people. The odds of beating it didn’t suit her. One day, while in Barton, she glanced at a historical marker.
“That marker is dedicated to Henry M. Leland, the inventor of the Cadillac,” she said. “He grew up in Barton, in our own little village.”
Leland founded Cadillac in 1902 and in 1909 he sold it to General Motors.
Ms. Seadale learned that the record for the largest parade of Cadillacs was set in 2002 in the Netherlands and consisted of just 102 cars.
“That sounded quite doable, and we thought it tied into our area and was a great opportunity to honor one of our native sons,” she said.
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