PAST PUPILS' REUNION
BELAGAVI
Scores of Goan ex-students of St Paul's High School in Belagavi will join thousands of alumni in a bid to create the Guinness world record for the largest gathering of past pupils on Saturday.
The event is being organised to mark the 160th anniversary of the school. St Paul's already holds the Limca record for holding the biggest reunion organised in 2010.
The Jesuit school's alumni will hold its biggest alumni reunion on December 17 in an attempt to break the Guinness world record of holding the biggest school reunion of 3,299 past pupils created by the alumni of Stadium High School, Tacoma, Washington, USA in 2006.
Addressing a joint news conference, members of Paulites of Belagavi Worldwide (PBW), an association of the school's alumni said, several attempts were made by alumni of various schools in different parts of the world to break the existing record, but in vain.
According to St Paul's alumnus Siddarth Jagtap, St Paul's needs at least 3,300 of its ex-students for its reunion on December 17 to create the new Guinness record, but more than 4,200 ex-students already officially confirmed their entries so far.
The PBW is trying to rope in more students for the upcoming reunion and expects an addition of another three hundred ex-students in the next two days.
“We are sure that more than 4,000 ex-students will be present for the Guinness record attempt. Most of those already confirmed their entries are arriving in Belagavi on Friday to make the reunion one of its kind in the world,” says Jagtap.
While responding to school's alumni who confirmed their entries, the PBW has requested them to get their self-attested identity cards or any other proof to show their past association with the school.
“A committee or experts which reports to the Guinness World Record Committee will be present at St Paul's campus on December 17. All ex-students have been asked to assemble at a place marked by experts from 3 pm to 4.10 pm, during which time verification of all ex-students records and numbers will be done,” PBW President Manoj Michael said.
“Hundreds of school's alumni living across the globe have already arrived and the number of alumni arriving in Belagavi is expected to swell in the next two days,” Manoj said.
The PBW held a series of meetings in the last one year while preparing for its Guinness record attempt. Thousands of ex-students were contacted by the association, while many others voluntarily decided to make it to the unique celebrations.
