Man plans to scoot toward world record in Batavia Saturday

Randy Simonian was fascinated by "The Guinness Book of World Records" when he was a kid. He lapped up the weird information about who had the longest mustache, was the tallest person, pulled the heaviest aircraft and the like.

He's been eager to set a record himself - and he hopes a kick-scooter parade Saturday in Batavia will do the trick.

If 490 people participate, the parade will beat the record set in December 2013 by the people of New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand.

"You have scooters in your garage! Two wheels - no motors!" Simonian implores viewers in a video on worldrecordbatavia.com.

People can sign up on the website, but will also be welcome to register the day of the event. Cost is $5 per kick-scooter. All proceeds will go to two charities: the Batavia United Way chapter, and CHIP-IN Batavia. CHIP-IN provides help to low-income and homeless students in the Batavia school district.

The parade will scoot on the Fox River Trail. Registration begins at 9 a.m. at the Peg Bond Center on the Riverwalk, 100 N. Island Ave. The parade starts at 10 a.m.

Everybody is welcome, Simonian said, no matter where they live. "Genevans can wear (Vikings) blue!" he said. (Simonian's brother, Tom, is a Geneva alderman).

Why kick-scooters? Simonian said he rides them with his children nearly every day. And it seemed like a much more attainable goal than his first idea, the world's largest group hug. That would have required 10,555 people.

Community leaders are getting in on the fund, with aldermen Jamie Saam and Marty Callahan issuing challenges to other aldermen and to the library board to see how many of their constituents they can get to sign up. Alderman Dave Brown is going to count the participants.

And a performance team from Sky High Scooters of Mokena, one of the sponsors of the event, will be there.

There are a few rules.

• Participants should bring their own nonmotorized kick-scooters. Simonian has asked people to bring extras, for people who don't own one, but can't guarantee how many he will get;

• The riders have to be at least 10 years old;

• The parade is 2 miles long, so you should be able to ride a scooter, unassisted, for at least 30 minutes; and

• Do not bring pets.